Jim Nolen is an instructor in Executive Education at McCombs and is a successful investor and member of the board of directors of three companies.

From 1980 until "semi" retirement in 2012, Nolen taught undergraduate and graduate classes in the Department of Finance as a Distinguished Senior Lecturer for which he won teaching excellence awards almost annually. He has taught in the Mexico City and Dallas Executive MBA programs as well as IMADEC University in Vienna. His research and teaching interests include entrepreneurship and corporate finance, including business valuation and mergers & acquisitions. He has served as faculty advisor for Venture Fellows and the Entrepreneurs Society. Nolen has extensive executive education experience working with corporate clients such as Dell, Texas Instruments, Essilor, PetSmart, St. Jude Medical, USAA, Shell Oil, HB Zachry, Fedex-Kinkos and Motorola. He also serves on the board of directors of an independent bank, a recycling company and a medical distribution company.
Nolen received his BBA and MBA from The University of Texas at Austin.