Hal Brierley

Harold M. (Hal) Brierley, Dallas, TX, is CEO of The Brierley Group, LLC, Founder of Brierley+Partners, and an Executive in Residence at SMU Cox School of Business.

A lifelong entrepreneur, Hal has launched three ventures focused on managing customer relationships. As CEO of The Brierley Group, he advises clients on customer engagement strategies. As an Executive in Residence at SMU Cox School of Business, he underwrote the Brierley Institute for Customer Engagement offering MBA candidates a marketing specialization in customer engagement.

He began his career as Founding CEO of Epsilon, a database marketing pioneer, serving as President and CEO for its first eleven years. In 1980, Hal served as the one consultant for the design of American Airlines’ AAdvantage program. In 1982, as Vice President of Pan American World Airways, he launched WorldPass, the first global frequent traveler program, and later served as Senior Vice President Marketing at Continental Airlines.

In 1985, he founded Brierley & Partners, serving as its Chief Loyalty Architect for some 175 major brands, including American Express, AT&T, Ford, Hertz, Hilton, Lufthansa, Neiman Marcus, Office Depot, 7-Eleven, Sony, and United Airlines. He served as CEO through 2006 and Chairman through 2015, when B+P was acquired by Nomura Research Institute, one of Japan’s largest technology services firms.

He graduated with a BS in Chemical Engineering with highest honors from the University of Maryland and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1968 as a Baker Scholar with High Honors where he has endowed a Professor’s Chair in Marketing. Hal and his wife Diane live in Highland Park, Texas.