Hal Brierley is CEO of The Brierley Group, LLC advising its clients on effective customer engagement strategies. A lifelong entrepreneur, Hal has launched three ventures focused on customer relationships.

As an Executive in Residence at SMU Cox School of Business, Hal has unwritten the Brierley Institute for Customer Engagement, offering MBA candidates a marketing specialization in customer engagement.

He began his entrepreneurial career in 1969 as co-founder of Epsilon Data Management, a pioneer in database marketing, serving as President and CEO for eleven years. In 1980, he helped design American Airlines’ AAdvantage program, the nation’s first frequent traveler program. Later, as Vice President of Sales and Advertising for Pan American World Airways, he launched WorldPass, the first global frequent traveler program. In 1983, he was named Senior Vice President of Marketing for Continental Airlines.

In 1985, Hal founded Brierley & Partners, a specialist in the design and operation of customer loyalty programs, serving as its Chief Loyalty Architect for some 175 major clients, including American Express, Amazon, AT&T, Blockbuster, Hertz, Hilton, Neiman Marcus, 7-Eleven, Sony, and United Airlines.

In 1999, Hal founded e-Rewards, Inc., now Dynata, the world’s largest online market research panel, serving as Chairman and CEO for ten years. Dynata has over ten million panelists in 36 countries, providing survey responses for some 2,500 market research firms.

He is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board at Harvard Business School, the Executive Board of SMU Cox School of Business, the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian National Zoo, the Executive Board of The Better Angels Society (supporting Ken Burns’ work for PBS), and the Board of the NPR Foundation.

He serves on the Boards of the AT&T Center for the Performing Arts, the Dallas Symphony, the Baylor Health Care System Foundation, North Texas Public Broadcasting, the Woodall Rogers Park Foundation, and the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas Foundation.

He graduated with a BS in Chemical Engineering with highest honors from the University of Maryland in 1965 and with an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1968 as a Baker Scholar with High Honors. Hal and his wife Diane live in Highland Park, Texas.