General Robert Herres - Founding Board Chairman
Bob's Air Force career began in fighter-interceptors, technical intelligence, the Flight Test Center and Space Systems before tours as a wing commander in Strategic Air Command. Later, he was commander of Air force Communications Command, The Eighth Air Force, and as Joint Staff J-6, was promoted to general to become commander of NORAD and the first commander of US Space Command. On retirement from active duty as Vice-Chairman of the JCS, the first to hold that position, he joined management of USAA and became Chairman and CEO of the company in 1993. After leading USAA for nine years and through its expansion to serve enlisted members, he retired in 2002.
Since his USAA retirement, Bob continues to be involved in a number of business and philanthropic activities and served on the board and later as chairman of Luby's, Inc. Over the course of his various careers, Herres has been involved in and led a broad range of business and industry activities and numerous community serving endeavors, including chairmanship of the 1994-95 United Way campaign of San Antonio-Bexar County.
James R. (Jim") Adams
James R. ("Jim") Adams retired as Chairman of the Board of Texas Instruments Incorporated. He had previously served with SBC Communications Inc. As Group President, he was responsible for International Operations. Prior to that, he served as President & CEO of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company.
Jim began his career in 1965 in San Antonio, as a Computer Supervisor. After some two dozen moves, he returned home when SBC moved its headquarters to our city. Jim serves on a number of corporate boards, including those of Texas Instruments, Inet Technologies and Storage Technology Corp. Personal passions have been secondary and collegiate educational thrusts.
Michael D. Beldon
Mike was born in Boston, MA but was raised in San Antonio. After graduating from Alamo Heights High School he attended Rice University. Upon graduation from Rice in 1960, he joined the family business, Beldon Enterprises, where he spent his entire business career before entering semi-retirement at the end of 2003.
He has been very active in industry, civic and charitable endeavors over the years having served as President of the National Roofing Contractors association, Chairman of The Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and most recently, Chairman of the Edward's Aquifer Authority for over eight years, a position he stepped down at the same time he entered semi-retirement. He and his wife, Louise, have four married children and thirteen grandchildren.
Alexander E. Briseño
Alex Briseño retired as City Manager of San Antonio in March of 2001 after serving almost 11 years in office. As Chief Executive Officer, he managed the administration of a full-service municipal government as directed by City Council and oversaw an annual budget of $1.2 billion. Mr. Briseño supervised the activities of all City departments with 12,000 employees, serving a community of more than 1.1 million residents and 417 square miles. During his tenure as City Manager of San Antonio, Mr. Briseño worked under four different mayors and 39 city council members.
Since his retirement, Mr. Briseño has been appointed Professor of Public Service in Residence at St. Mary’s University where he teaches graduate courses in Public Administration. In addition, he frequently addresses participants in public and private sector professional development seminars. He also has provided municipal consulting services for Estrada Hinojosa and Co., an investment banking firm, the North American Development Bank, and other clients. Recently, he served short-term appointments as Interim President of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, as the Interim President/Chief Executive Officer of the San Antonio Water System, as Interim President/CEO of the San Antonio Technology Accelerator Initiative (SATAI) Network, and as Interim Executive Director of the Brooks Development Authority. Currently, he is also serving as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the San Antonio Water System.
Alex has a Bachelor and Masters Degree from Trinity University. In addition to many professional memberships and past community boards, he currently serves on the University Health System Board of Managers and was recently appointed Chairman of the San Antonio Water System. A native San Antonian, he and his wife, Mary, have two adult children.
Jerry M. Brown
Jerry retired as Group Vice President of Amoco Corporation where he had responsibility for Amoco's U.S. oil and natural gas operations. During his 38-year career with Amoco in the oil and gas industry, he served in a number of executive positions, including Executive Vice President for U.S. exploration and production, Senior Vice President for worldwide oil and gas production, and Regional Vice President in New Orleans, which included responsibility for offshore operations in the Gulf of Mexico.
Jerry is a native of Fort Worth, Texas, and is a graduate of Texas A&M University where he received a degree in Petroleum Engineering. He received the Texas A&M Dwight Look College of Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award.
Jerry has served on a number of oil and gas industry boards and has been involved in various civic and community organizations. He is currently a member of the Texas A&M and UTSA College of Engineering Advisory Boards. He also serves on the American Red Cross (San Antonio Chapter) Board, the Communities in Schools Board, and the Advisory Board for the ACCD Leadership Institute. Jerry also makes leadership presentations to students at various colleges.
Michael D. Burke
Mike is President, MDB Capital Ventures, a private equity investment and management consulting firm. He was formerly Director, President and Chief Executive Officer of EOTT Energy, a $12 billion NYSE corporation and the largest marketer and transporter of crude oil in North America. Prior to joining EOTT Energy Corp., Mr. Burke served as Director,President and Chief Executive Officer of Tesoro Petroleum Corp. (a Fortune 500 Corporation) from 1992 to 1995. From 1980 to 1992, Mike held a number of senior executive positions with Texas Eastern Corp., including Group Vice President-Products and President/CEO of TEPPCO Partners, L.P.
Mr. Burke received a MBA in Finance and Marketing from the University of Texas and BS-Chemical Engineering degree from Texas A&M University. He currently serves as Director of Nutraceutical International, Pinion Software Inc., and Reasoning Mind. He also serves as a director for KLRN, Boy Scouts of America – Alamo Area Council, Free Trade Alliance – San Antonio and a trustee for Southwest Research Institute.
Mike and Louise have been married 34 years, have a married son, Michael in Austin, a married daughter in Alexandria, Virginia and a one year old granddaughter, Seina.
Jean Gaulin
Jean has more than 30 years experience in the energy business. Previously he was CEO of Gaz Metropolitain and Ultramar PLC and Chairman and CEO of Ultramar Corporation with operations in both the United States and Canada. In 1996 Ultramar and Diamond Shamrock merged forming Ultramar Diamond Shamrock Corporation (UDS). Jean retired as Chairman and CEO of UDS on January 1, 2002, at the conclusion of the merger with Valero Energy.
He formerly was a member of the Ordre des Ingenieurs du Quebec and Business Council on National Issues in Canada as well as the Canadian Red Cross and Heart Institute of Montreal. In San Antonio he previously was a member of the Board of Governors of the CTRC; chairman of the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee for United Way, and presided as the 2002 annual campaign chairman.
He is a graduate of the University of Montreal with a degree in chemical engineering and science and in 2002 received an honorary doctorate. In 2004 he was a recipient of the Medal of Honor from the Quebec Government. Currently his main occupation is a corporate director for both publicly traded companies and non-profit organizations in both the United States and Canada.
Janice Marshall Peebles
Janice retired from USAA in 2001 where she was the President & CEO of USAA Alliance Services. Her career at USAA spanned 34 years and her executive positions included property and casualty insurance, systems development, strategic planning, contracting and retail marketing. A graduate of SWTSU, Janice earned her degree over a 12-year period while working full time at USAA. She was ahead of her time in that her expertise focused on business operations, an area few women entered prior to the early 90's. She was the first female Senior Vice President at USAA and the first to become the President of a USAA company.
Janice has served on the boards of the Salvation Army, the American Heart Association, the San Antonio Symphony, and the USAA Federal Credit Union. In addition, she has worked with Junior Achievement, Big Brothers and Sisters, San Antonio CASA, and Leadership America.
Aaronetta Hamilton Pierce
Aaronetta Pierce has been an advocate for the arts for the past twenty-five years with an emphasis on the promotion of the art of Americans of African descent. Along with her husband, Dr. Joseph A. Pierce, Jr., they own Premier Artworks, Inc. which specializes in the sale of original works of art by African Americans and rare/out-of-print books by African Americans.
In 1993, she was inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame in the Arts. She has served on the board of the San Antonio Performing Arts Association, the San Antonio Museum Association Board of Trustees, and as a Commissioner on the Texas Commission on the Arts.
Ms. Pierce is currently serving on the Texas Cultural Trust Council and will co-chair the Texas Medal of Arts Awards held in Austin on April 5, 2005. She also serves on the board of the Cultural Collaborative for San Antonio and United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County.
Lionel Sosa
Lionel Sosa is an independent marketing consultant with LKSosa Consultation and Design. He founded Sosa, Bromley, Aguilar & Associates, now Bromley Communications, the largest Hispanic advertising agency in the U.S. with billings of $200 million. Lionel is currently a media consultant for President George W. Bush in the 2004 campaign and has been Hispanic Media Consultant in six Republican presidential campaigns beginning in 1980.
From 1991 to 1995, he was Chairman of DMB&B/Américas, a network of 23 advertising agencies in the U.S. and Latin America with billings of $500 million representing multi-national clients such as Coca-Cola, Burger King, Anheuser Busch, American Airlines, 23 Procter & Gamble brands, Western Union and Sprint.
Lionel was named to the Texas Business Hall of Fame and was selected as one of the 25 Most Influential Texans by Texas Monthly magazine. He received the Role Model Award for Diversity from the American Advertising Federation of New York. He is the author of The Americano Dream: How Latinos Can Achieve Success in Business and Life, published in 1998 by Dutton.
Currently, Sosa is a member of the Board of Regents of The Texas A&M University System and is a member of the Board of Directors of ACT (the college testing people) and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.
Harold L. Timboe, MD
Harold served as an Army air defense officer with duty in Saudi Arabia and Vietnam prior to attending medical school in San Antonio. He continued his Army service as a family physician in a series of assignments with airborne units and in command of hospitals including San Antonio’s Brooke Army Medical Center and Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC retiring as a Major General in 2002. He also held senior health policy positions at the Pentagon and was responsible for health support planning and services to the XVIIIth Airborne Corps during the first Gulf War. While in command of Walter Reed, Harold was responsible for health support to the September 11th Pentagon attack and the following anthrax letters.
Since 2002, he has been at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, as Associate Vice President for Administration and Director, Center for Public Health Preparedness and Biomedical Research responsible for homeland security-related activities at the university.
Julian Trevino
Julian Trevino has trained school board members from across the country in the Don McAdams’ Reform Governance Model for over four years. His personal experience as a public school board member and board president has given Julian first hand knowledge of the challenges facing school systems today in eliminating the achievement gap. Through real-world case studies and direct teaching modules, Julian engages participants with a friendly, interactive teaching style designed to demonstrate effective school board reform governance. Participants acquire valuable insights, and renewed confidence in their leadership abilities to continuously improve the educational circumstances for children.
Trevino has experience in the public and private sector. He has taught in the public schools. In addition, he has been a middle school principal, high school principal and associate superintendent. Julian teaches educational administration and leadership courses at the university level. Trevino’s experience as a business entrepreneur (El Mirador Restaurant and The King William Garden House) and his involvement in many civic organizations are valuable assets.
During his tenure as President of the Board of Trustees of the San Antonio Independent School District, the board was recognized as an “Honor Board” by the Texas Association of School Boards. The Council of Urban Boards of Education also selected the Board as a finalist for “Board of the Year”. The San Antonio Independent School District was recently invited to compete for the Broad Prize in urban education.
Dr. Trevino has an exemplary academic background. He has a doctorate in educational administration and adult education, as well as post-doctorate participation in the executive education program at the Graduate School of Business, Harvard University. .
Larry Walker, Jr.
W. Lawrence Walker, Jr. was named Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of the San Antonio Express-News in 1990. January 1, 2006, Walker assumed the role of Chairman of the San Antonio Express-News for the calendar year 2006. He is President-Elect of the Texas Daily Newspaper Association. In 2000, he was honored as the Texas Newspaper Leader of the year with the Pat Taggart Award, the highest honor given by Texas newspapers.
During his 16 years in San Antonio, Walker has served on over 25 civic boards and has chaired with his wife, Caroline, an equal number of civic and charitable events. He is a founder of the Book & Author luncheon, which over the past years has raised over $1 million for Phase I of the Cancer Therapy and Research Center. He also helped found “For the Love of Kids & Harleys,” an event that has raised in excess of $ 2 million dollars for six local charities serving juveniles in the San Antonio area.
Walker is a native of Macon, Georgia. He received his BBA degree in accounting from the University of Georgia. He and his wife Caroline, also a Georgia graduate and a native of Atlanta, have two children; Lawrence, a graduate of the University of California and the MBA program at the University of Texas at Austin; and Elizabeth, a graduate of the University of Arizona.
