Principals
JAMES E. SOWELL
Mr. Sowell formed Jim Sowell Construction Co. Inc. in 1972, which is one of the largest subdivision developers in the State of Texas. Mr. Sowell graduated from Texas Tech University in 1970 with a BBA in Finance. He served in the U.S. Army in 1970 – 1971. Mr. Sowell has served on the Board of Directors of several New York Stock Exchange companies, including NL Industries, Todd Shipyards Corporation, and Ketchum Drug Company. He is currently a member of the Advisory Committee for the Byron Nelson Golf Excellence Fund and the Boy Scout Foundation Board of Trustees, as well as having served as the President of the Boy Scouts of America – Circle Ten Council and as Chairman of the Board of Regents for Texas Tech University and Texas Tech University Medical School.
STEVEN E. SMATHERS
Mr. Smathers serves as chief legal counsel for Sowell & Co. He worked as a corporate shareholder in the financial institutions group of the law firm of Johnson & Gibbs prior to joining Sowell & Co. in 1991. Mr. Smathers received his undergraduate degree in 1972 and his law degree in 1976, both from Ohio State University.
ALAN D. BROWN
Mr. Brown’s background is centered in finance and corporate acquisitions of which he has combined experience of over 35 years. Mr. Brown serves as Chairman of several of Sowell & Co’s major investments. Mr. Brown received his undergraduate degree from Texas Tech University and an MBA from The Darden School at the University of Virginia. Prior to joining Sowell & Co. in 1987, Mr. Brown served in various lending capacities at First National Bank of Dallas (Interfirst) including Executive Vice President of the U.S. Corporate Division reporting to the Chairman of the Board.
STEPHEN L. BROWN
After an eight-year career in sales and marketing with the IBM Corporation, Mr. Brown entered the real estate brokerage business in Dallas-Fort Worth in 1982. As President of Jim Sowell Construction Co., Inc. since 1992, Mr. Brown’s primary responsibilities are acquisition, development, sales and marketing of the company’s various real estate assets. Mr. Brown is a 1971 graduate of the University of South Carolina.
KATHY FOX POWELL
Ms. Powell joined Sowell & Co. in 1981 and currently serves as a Vice President and Legal Counsel, in charge of all Sowell & Co. Real Estate and Oil & Gas legal matters, in addition to Property Taxation. She holds an undergraduate liberal arts degree from the University of Georgia and a J.D. from Southern Methodist University School of Law.
JAMES S. CORNELIUS
Mr. Cornelius began his real estate career in 1979. Mr. Cornelius joined Sowell and Co. in 1984. His strengths include land assemblages, zoning cases, development financing, and lot development in the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth area, as well as other major markets in Texas and Colorado. Mr. Cornelius has developed over 6,500 lots and 4,000 acres in these markets. Mr. Cornelius is a 1979 graduate of Southern Methodist University.
DAVID L. CLARK
Mr. Clark joined Sowell & Co. in 1999 and leads the Sowell Private Equity Group. Mr. Clark is actively involved in serving on the board of American Integrity Insurance Group, CareCycle Solutions, Vedicsoft Solutions and Apache Enterprises. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a BA and BBA, Mr. Clark worked for the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. He obtained a Master’s Degree in Management from the J.L. Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University before joining Sowell & Co.
WILL R. SCHRAMME
Mr. Schramme joined Sowell & Co. in 2008 and focuses on sourcing, evaluating, structuring and managing private equity investments for the firm. Mr. Schramme serves on the board of Ace Aeronautics and Savantis Prior to joining Sowell & Co., he worked at Spectrum Equity Investors, a mid-market private equity firm, and UBS Investment Bank. Mr. Schramme received his undergraduate degree from Clemson University and his MBA from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.
ZACH SOWELL
Mr. Sowell serves as a Vice President within the Private Equity group. Prior to joining Sowell & Co., Mr. Sowell spent 6 years leading domestic channel and product sales at Essilor of America, Inc. With Sowell & Co., he served as President of Pinnacle Spine Group, LLC. He also lends strategic guidance and tactical support to other portfolio companies within the Private Equity holdings of Sowell & Co. Mr. Sowell received a degree in Business Management from the Texas Tech Rawls College of Business, and an MBA from Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business in Dallas.
SRIRAM (“Ram”) SRINIVASAN
Mr. Srinivasan serves as Vice President – Taxation, responsible for tax planning and compliance, entity structuring, and transaction planning. Prior to joining Sowell & Co., Mr. Srinivasan spent 11 years with the Dallas office of Deloitte Tax LLP, specializing in federal and state taxation of privately-held companies, primarily in the real estate, oil & gas, and health care industries, and tax compliance and planning for high net-worth individuals. He also participated in a 27-month international rotation program as an expatriate in the Hyderabad, India office of Deloitte tax, where his duties consisted primarily of training local professionals in the principles of U.S. taxation, as well as implementing processes in both the India and U.S. offices to facilitate working in virtual teams across different time zones and cultures. Mr. Srinivasan graduated from Southern Methodist University with a BBA in Accounting in 2000, and completed his Masters of Taxation in 2001 from the University of Denver.
CAROLYN S. MULVEY
Ms. Mulvey joined Sowell & Co. in 2014 and serves as Assistant General Counsel. Prior to joining Sowell, Ms. Mulvey was an associate in the Corporate & Securities practice group of Thompson & Knight LLP in Dallas and worked as a trial attorney for a local non-profit. She graduated magna cum laude from Texas Tech University School of Law in 2007 and also obtained her undergraduate degree magna cum laude in Public Relations from Texas Tech.
BENJAMIN A. LURIE
Mr. Lurie joined Sowell & Co. in 2014 as Senior Vice President – Finance and oversees the firm’s finance and accounting activities. Prior to joining Sowell & Co., Mr. Lurie worked at Morgan Stanley and at Colliers International. He has more than fifteen years’ experience in finance and has managed investment portfolios of over a billion dollars. Mr. Lurie received his undergraduate degree from Tulane University and an MBA with honors from Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University.
MATTHEW N. HATCHER
Mr. Hatcher joined Sowell & Co. in 2015 and serves as Vice President – Oil & Gas. Mr. Hatcher is responsible for overseeing the firm’s oil and gas investments. Prior to joining Sowell & Co., Mr. Hatcher was a Senior Analyst in the Corporate Finance group at EXCO Resources. Mr. Hatcher received his undergraduate degree from St. Edwards University and an MBA from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University.
ROBERT C. MARTINEZ
Mr. Martinez is President and CEO of Titan Rock Exploration & Production. Mr. Martinez has 20 years of experience developing and optimizing oil and gas assets throughout the United States, including the East Texas/North Louisiana Haynesville Shale and Permian Basin. Prior to joining Sowell & Company and Titan Rock, Mr. Martinez held key leadership roles at public and private operating companies such as XTO Energy, EXCO Resources and Compass Production Partners. Mr. Martinez holds a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University and is a registered Professional Engineer (P.E.) in the state of Texas.