Ted Bauer and Mike Cemo recognized the value of education, and endowed the C.T. Bauer School of Business and Michael J. Cemo Hall within the Bauer School of Business to ensure, as Dawn Hawley puts it, “a pipeline of talent not just for AIM, but for the greater Houston area as well.” In a similar vein, Glenda and Wayne Dayton endowed their alma mater, the University of Texas (UT), to repay the University they love and to help students realize their own American dream.

The Daytons’ endowment to the McCombs School of Business, the Wayne and Glenda Dayton Endowed Presidential Fellowship, is intended to help prepare scholastically gifted students who have limited financial resources. “We believe in the American dream, in American business and that education is the foundation of both,” Glenda says. “Wayne and I have been blessed with health, happiness, and financial security, and we have both enjoyed fulfilling professional careers. We have been able to meet the challenges that came with those choices, thanks in part to our experiences at The University of Texas.” She credits UT for some of the skills she has acquired in her professional life, saying “my UT degree gave me a tool chest of skills that has made it possible for my professional career to evolve along with our lives.” 

My UT degree gave me a tool chest of skills that has made it possible for my professional career to evolve, along with our lives. 

Glenda Dayton

“I was working in the family business, but during the two years at UT, decided I was interested in joining the corporate world,” shares Glenda. “I entered the IDS sales training program for financial planners. While I was learning to sell investment products I kept thinking, 'I want to be the person coming up with ideas about how the product should be positioned and sold.' I didn’t know at the time what that job might be called, or exactly where to find it, but I knew what I wanted to do. Right before graduation, I received a call from the Director of Human Resources at what was then TransAmerica Funds (now John Hancock),” recalls Glenda.

I didn't know at the time what that job might be called, or exactly where to find it, but I knew what I wanted to do. 

Glenda Dayton

Glenda got the job offer of her dreams: the position of product manager for the municipal bond funds in Houston. The only catch: Glenda knew Wayne couldn’t leave their business in Austin, which meant she would have to commute between Houston and Bastrop. Glenda was hired by Marilyn Miller, and they worked together for two years. After Transamerica sold, Marilyn left to go to work at Oppenheimer Funds in New York. When she returned to Houston a few years later to work for AIM, Glenda joined her. For 11 years, Glenda worked and lived in Houston during the week and spent weekends in Bastrop while Wayne ran the Austin businesses.

Glenda was at AIM from 1996 until 2005. AIM was becoming INVESCO, and with the transition she decided it was a good time to exit AIM and her life as a commuter. Glenda’s final position at AIM was Senior VP and Director of Product Development and Management. Her experience at AIM, she recalls, was one of the most fulfilling of her life.

She recalls how things were when she first started out, and how her position grew and evolved. “When Marilyn hired me there were two product managers, myself and Tisha Christopher, sharing an office and to an extent writing the script as we went along. The role of product manager met with success at AIM and it was soon decided to expand the department with me in the role of manager. In the beginning, AIM had a fairly limited product line, but the funds were very successful in terms of performance and attracting assets, so we soon focused on developing and introducing new ones in conjunction with the legal department. We created in excess of 50 mutual funds as well as designing the 529 college savings program for the State of Nebraska. “It was my dream job – a wonderful job at a wonderful company,” Glenda recalls.

The role of product manager met with success at AIM...It was my dream job - a wonderful job at a wonderful company. 

Glenda Dayton

“Sometimes it takes some distance to realize how great the trio (Bauer, Crum, Graham) that made AIM was. My years at AIM were rewarding in so many ways – fulfilling, challenging, financially rewarding, and fun, really fun,” Glenda reflects. She also recalls the important roles that women filled at AIM, saying, “Women were given tremendous responsibility and opportunities by Ted, Gary and Bob. Women filled many key leadership roles: my awesome boss, Marilyn, who was the director of marketing, Carol Relihan, our general counsel, the CFO Dawn Hawley, Dana Sutton, director of fund accounting, and more.”

Glenda currently freelance writes for a few select financial clients, works on a number of community-related projects, gardens, reads, and practices swimming which she finally learned last year. In January, Glenda became a trustee on the board of the Bastrop County Historical Society and serves on the fundraising and gift shop committees. “The Society runs the museum and visitor center in historic downtown Bastrop. Over Memorial Day weekend, the museum opened a new exhibit dedicated to the WWII veterans of Bastrop County. The exhibit also includes a collection of war memorabilia donated by local families that includes everything from ration stamps to a captured Nazi flag. “Our committee stocked the gift shop with WWII items for children. Struggling with local vendors to get t-shirts printed on time and according to specs is miles away from designing mutual funds,” Glenda laughs.

Glenda is also a member of The Ladies Reading Circle which, organized in 1897, is the oldest book club in the state of Texas. Members of the reading circle played key roles in making Bastrop the attractive community that it is today. Established in 1832, Bastrop is one of the oldest towns in Texas and the group is credited with founding the town’s library, they began the first adult reading program, founded the Fairview Cemetery Association, and carved out a park where the Old Spanish Trail Crossed the Colorado. This was named the Old Ferry Park, and in 1951 the Texas Legislature designated it as a Historical Shrine. Originally displeased with how the city was caring for the cemetery, the Circle managed Fairview for 119 years until it was turned back to the city in 2005. The cemetary contains graves of veterans dating back to the War of 1812.  In 1952, ladies of the Circle formed the Bastrop Historical Society to protect and preserve the history of the county, opening the Museum the same year.

Glenda and a small group of other Circle members are now writing a book about those indomitable Texas women. Searching through the Circle’s documents which date back to 1900 and are archived at the Museum’s library, Glenda came across the minutes from 1926. Back then, each meeting began with roll call which involved a question such as ‘who is your favorite short story author?’ The question at this particular meeting was, “How do you plan to get the money for your husband’s Christmas present?”

“It really struck home how these women had no money of their own, no legal rights – yet they created so much of the key social and cultural infrastructure of our town which exists to this day. People drive Highway 71 between Houston and Austin, passing through and over Bastrop with no idea of the history and charm of the town residing along the Colorado River.”

It really struck home how these women had no money of their own, no legal rights – yet they created so much of the key social and cultural infrastructure of our town which exists to this day.” 

Glenda Dayton

Similar to the town of Bastrop, of which Glenda is understandably proud to be a part, Glenda has had a rich history that continues to enrich her own life and the lives of others. Watch this space for information on when the book is released in print!