Archives: Staff

Bruce Lindsey serves as the Counselor to the Chair of the Board for the Clinton Foundation. Bruce joined the Foundation in 2001 as general counsel and served as CEO from 2003 to 2013. Bruce served as assistant to the President and deputy counsel to the President throughout President Clinton’s two terms in office. In 1993, Bruce was also director of the Office of Presidential Personnel where he supervised the selection and approval of political appointees in the Cabinet departments and to Presidential boards and commissions. During the 1992 Presidential campaign, he served as the National Campaign Director. He had previously been a partner at Wright, Lindsey & Jennings, a law firm in Little Rock, where he is currently of counsel. Bruce received a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. from Rhodes College.

Since 2016, Ken Hersh has served as president and chief executive officer of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, a nonpartisan institution advancing the timeless values of freedom, opportunity, accountability, and compassion.

He is the Co-Founder and former CEO of NGP Energy Capital Management, one of the nation’s largest natural resources private equity investment firms, managing over $20 billion of cumulative committed capital since inception in 1988. From 1988 until 2016, under his leadership, NGP invested over $12 billion and earned a 27-year annualized rate of return of 30%, making it one of the nation’s leading investors during that period.

Mr. Hersh is a frequent writer and speaker on topics ranging from economics and geopolitics to the energy industry and financial markets. In 2023, he released his book, The Fastest Tortoise: Winning in Industries I Knew Nothing About, which chronicles his life’s lessons evolving from his many business and personal experiences.

He also oversees his family investment office, investing in sectors across the economy. He sits on the boards of the Texas Rangers Baseball Club and several private companies in which he invests. In addition, he serves on the Hoover Institution’s Board of Overseers and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the National Council of the American Enterprise Institute.

His business record has been recognized nationally. In 2023, he received the Ernest C. Arbuckle Award, the highest honor presented annually by Stanford’s Graduate School of Business to recognize excellence in the field of management leadership. In 2020, Mr. Hersh received the L. Frank Pitts Energy Leadership Award presented by the SMU Cox School of Business for demonstrating outstanding leadership and innovation in the field of energy. Mr. Hersh was also named the inaugural Distinguished Executive in Residence at the Cox School of Business, a four-year appointment beginning with the 2023-2024 academic year. In 2017, he received the Oil & Gas Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2014, he was recognized as Master Entrepreneur of the Year for the Southwest Region by Ernst & Young. In 2023, he became the inaugural Distinguished Executive in Residence at SMU’s Cox School of Business.

Mr. Hersh is also very involved in the nonprofit arena both nationally and locally through the efforts of the Hersh Foundation. He sits on the boards of the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation, the Dallas Citizens Council, the Southwestern Medical Foundation, and the Baylor Scott & White Dallas Foundation, and serves on the Advisory Council of The Asian American Foundation.

In November 2023, Mr. Hersh will be recognized with the H. Neil Mallon Award presented by the World Affairs Council to honor his contribution to enhancing the region’s global presence. In 2019, he received the Henry Cohn Humanitarian Award, presented by the Texoma region of the Anti-Defamation League for his work in advancing the cause of human rights, dignity, and equal opportunity. In 2015, he received the St. Mark’s School of Texas Distinguished Alumnus Award.

After graduating from St. Mark’s, Mr. Hersh attended Princeton University where he graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Politics in 1985. In 1989, he earned his M.B.A. from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business where he graduated as an Arjay Miller Scholar.

Larry Temple is actively engaged in the private practice of law primarily representing banks and other financial intermediaries. He has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America every year since 1994 and Texas Super Lawyers every year since 2003.

After graduating with honors from the University of Texas Law School in 1959, he served as a Law Clerk on the United States Supreme Court for Mr. Justice Tom Clark. Thereafter, he practiced law with the Austin law firm of Powell, Rauhut, McGinnis, and Reavley.

In January, 1963, he was appointed as Administrative Assistant for Legal Affairs to newly elected Texas Governor John Connally. From September, 1964 until September, 1967, he served as Executive Assistant (Chief of Staff) to Governor Connally. From September, 1967 until January, 1969, he served as Special Counsel to President Lyndon B. Johnson in the White House. Temple has been in private practice in Austin, Texas since that time.

Temple has been active in higher education in Texas and has served as Chairman of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Chairman of the Texas Select Committee on Higher Education, and Chairman of the Texas Committee on Statewide Governance of Higher Education. He also served as Chairman of the University of Texas at Austin Development Board and as President of the University of Texas Ex-Students’ Association. Temple has also served on the boards of directors of three public companies.

Among the awards Temple has received are the University of Texas at Austin Distinguished Alumnus Award, the University of Texas Presidential Citation Award, and the University of Texas System’s Santa Rita Award (its highest honor). Temple has also received many outstanding lawyer awards.

Temple and his wife Louann have been married for over 50 years. They have a daughter, Allison Bacon, who lives in Chicago and a son, Lawrence Temple, who lives in Austin and five grandchildren.

Margaret Spellings is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Texas 2036 and is former president of the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

Previously Spellings was president and CEO of Margaret Spellings and Company, a Washington, D.C. consulting firm that provided strategic guidance to philanthropic and private sector organizations. She also served as a senior advisor to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and was president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

Prior to that, Spellings served in a variety of positions in the Bush Administration. She is the longest-serving staff member to President George W. Bush.

She served as U.S. Secretary of Education from 2005 to 2009. In that role, she oversaw an agency with a nearly $70 billion budget and more than 10,000 employees and contractors. As a member of the President’s Cabinet, she led the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), a historic national initiative to provide enhanced accountability for the education of 50 million U.S. public school students.

In 2005, Spellings launched a higher education national policy debate and action plan to improve accessibility, affordability and accountability in our Nation’s colleges and universities. Spellings initiated international outreach and collaboration by leading delegations on behalf of the President of the United States as well as overseeing the development and implementation of international education agreements with such countries as China, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.

As White House Domestic Policy Advisor, from 2001 to 2005, she managed the development of the President’s domestic policy agenda. Her achievements include oversight of the development of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the development of a comprehensive immigration plan to ensure long-term economic stability and to secure U.S. borders, and numerous other initiatives on health and human services, transportation, labor, justice and housing.

Prior to her service in the White House, Spellings was senior advisor to then-Governor George W. Bush of Texas, led governmental and external relations for the Texas Association of School Boards, and has served in key positions at Austin Community College and with the Texas Legislature.

She graduated from the University of Houston with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

The Honorable Lyndon L. Olson, Jr., former United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden.

President of the National Group Corporation and as CEO of its National Group Insurance Companies. In addition, Ambassador Olson served as Chairman and a Member of the Texas State Board of Insurance (1979-1987) and served as President of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners from 1982-1983.  Ambassador Olson is a former Commissioner and Vice Chairman of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy having been appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate.

A native of Waco, Texas, and former member of the Texas House of Representatives (1973-1979), Mr. Olson has demonstrated a long commitment to a host of civic, political, cultural and philanthropic organizations throughout the state of Texas and the nation.

An active member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Council of American Ambassadors, Ambassador Olson is a former Chairman and present member of The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Board of Trustees for The American-Scandinavian Foundation, The Jerusalem Foundation and The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce, all in New York. Additionally, he is a former member of the International Board of Advisors for the Institute for Social and Economic Policy in the Middle East at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a former member of the Yale Music School Board of Advisors.

Currently, Ambassador Olson serves as Vice Chairman of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation in Austin, Texas, and he is also a member of the Advisory Board for the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas in Austin. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Foundation and he is a member of the Board of Advisors to Raise Your Hand Texas. An active member and Secretary of the Philosophical Society of Texas, Mr. Olson is a past President of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association, and a past President of the Texas Lyceum. He is a former member of the Executive Committees of the Texas Association of Businesses and Chambers of Commerce, the Houston Grand Opera, the Lyric Opera and the Symphony of Austin, and the Symphony and the Art Center of Waco. Both the Texas Municipal League and the Texas Medical Association have conferred on Mr. Olson their Distinguished Public Official Awards.

Additionally, Ambassador Olson serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas, Texas, as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Baylor Scott & White Healthcare System, Chairman of the Board of the Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, and as an Emeritus Trustee of the Baylor College of Medicine. Ambassador Olson is also a former member of the Advisory Committee for MD Anderson Cancer Center and former Chairman of the Texas Mental Health Association.

A graduate of Baylor University, Ambassador Olson is a past President of the Baylor Alumni Association, former member of the Board of Visitors for the Hankamer School of Business and the School of Music. Additionally, Mr. Olson is former Chairman of the Masonic Grand Lodge Library and Museum in Waco, and he is a 33rd degree Grand Cross Scottish Rite Mason. A cattle rancher and banker, he resides in Waco, Texas with his wife, Kay Woodward Olson.

Constance Berry Newman is a Nonresident Senior Fellow of the Africa Center, Atlantic Council and Special Counsel, African Affairs, the Carmen Group.

She has had extensive experience in developing programs for the U.S. Government, the District of Columbia Government and international organizations. She held seven presidential appointments, five confirmed by the Senate. In 2019, Government Executive Magazine selected Newman as one of 20 members inducted in the Inaugural Government Hall of Fame.

Newman’s primary interests and hence contributions have been addressing: poverty; civil and human rights; and advancing democracy around the world.

Newman served as Director of the Office of Personnel Management under President George H. W. Bush. Under President George W. Bush, she was assistant administrator for Africa, U.S. Agency for International Development and assistant secretary of State for African Affairs. Newman was the President of the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund beginning in 2005.

Newman began her federal career as a clerk-typist in the Interior Department in 1962. Later, she was director of VISTA, a Consumer Product Safety Commissioner, and assistant secretary of Housing and Urban Development. For eight years, beginning in 1992, Newman was undersecretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

Newman serves on the boards of the International Republican Institute, National Council of Negro Women, and the Graduate School, USA. Since 2010, she has been adjunct faculty member, Georgetown University Department of Government. She is faculty member, Masters Series for Distinguished Leaders. Her 1956 undergraduate degree was from Bates College, Lewiston, Maine. In 1959, she earned a law degree (B.S.L.) from the University of Minnesota Law School.

 

Today, Fred McClure serves as Associate Vice President for Leadership and Engagement at Texas A&M University. He was previously the Chief Executive Officer of The George Bush Presidential Library Foundation. He earned an undergraduate degree in agricultural economics from Texas A&M University and his law degree from Baylor University. He has extensive legislative experience in Congress and broad advocacy experience with the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government. His career highlights include service as Associate Deputy U.S. Attorney General, Special Assistant for Legislative Affairs to President Ronald Reagan, and Assistant for Legislative Affairs to President George Bush.

He also served as a member of the National Civil Aviation Review Commission. In 1995, Mr. McClure was appointed to a six-year term on the Board of Regents of the Texas A&M University System, where he served two years as Vice Chairman. He has served as Chairman of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association and the U.S. Naval Academy Board of Visitors. A native of San Augustine, Texas, Mr. McClure and his wife, Harriet, have two children.

Thomas F. “Mack” McLarty, III is Chairman of McLarty Associates, which he co-founded in 1998 following a distinguished record of business leadership and public service, including various roles advising three US Presidents: Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter. Mr. McLarty is also Chairman of the McLarty Companies, a fourth-generation family transportation business.

As President Clinton’s White House Chief of Staff, Mr. McLarty helped enact the historic 1993 deficit reduction package, the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Family and Medical Leave law, and the landmark welfare reform legislation that enabled more than 6.8 million people to move from welfare to work. He also organized the successful 1994 Summit of the Americas in Miami, which ultimately led to his appointment as Special Envoy for the Americas in 1997.

As Counselor to the President Clinton, Mr. McLarty advised on a broad range of international and domestic issues. He traveled to the Persian Gulf on the president’s behalf to build financial support for the Bosnian peace process, led the US delegation to the inauguration of South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, and signed the peace accords that brought peace to Guatemala for the first time in three decades. Mr. McLarty planned US participation in the 1998 Summit of the Americas in Santiago, and participated in several G-7 and APEC Summits.

Prior to his government service, Mr. McLarty was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Arkla, a Fortune 500 natural gas company. During his tenure Arkla grew into the nation’s largest natural gas distributor, with customers in eleven states and significant exploration and pipeline operations. Mr. McLarty was appointed by President Bush to the National Petroleum Council and the Council on Environmental Quality, and he was a member of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Board from 1989 through 1992.

Mr. McLarty is a frequent public speaker, and has published numerous articles on US trade and foreign policy. He has served on the boards of many corporate and non-profit institutions including as a Director of Union Pacific and the Acxiom Corporation, and on the boards of the Bush Clinton Katrina Fund, the Council of the Americas, the InterAmerican Dialogue, Ford’s Theatre, and the Center for the Study of the Presidency. In addition, he serves as a Senior International Fellow at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Mr. McLarty is the recipient of the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Medal; the highest civilian honors of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Venezuela; and the Center for the Study of the Presidency Distinguished Service Award. Mr. McLarty is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Arkansas.

Tom Johnson served as chief executive officer of two of America’s most respected news organizations, Los Angeles Times and Cable News Network (CNN).

He was a reporter on The Macon (Ga.) Telegraph, a White House assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson, executive vice president of Texas Broadcasting Company, and chief executive officer of The Dallas Times Herald, Los Angeles Times, and CNN.

Financial aid scholarships from Macon Telegraph publisher Peyton Anderson enabled Johnson to attend the University of Georgia, where he received a journalism degree in 1963, and Harvard Business School, where he graduated with a MBA in 1965.

In 1965, Johnson was chosen as a White House Fellow and assigned to Presidential Press Secretary Bill Moyers. The White House Fellowship led to a series of positions on the staff of President Johnson, including Deputy to Press Secretary George Christian, Special Assistant to the President, and Executive Assistant to former President Johnson in Austin, Texas.

He later became Executive Vice President of the LBJ family’s Texas businesses, including a CBS television affiliate in Austin, AM and FM radio stations, cable television franchises, ranching, banking, Muzak, and photo processing.

After President Johnson’s death in 1973, Johnson was named editor and in 1975 publisher and chief executive officer of The Dallas Times Herald. Under Johnson’s leadership, The Times Herald was named by TIME Magazine as one of the five best newspapers in the South.

In 1977, Los Angeles Times publisher Otis Chandler selected Johnson as president and chief operating officer of The Times. Three years later, Chandler promoted him to Publisher and Chief Executive Officer – the first non-Chandler family member to be named to that position. Under Johnson’s leadership, Los Angeles Times reached record levels of circulation, profitability, and revenues. It also received six Pulitzer prizes.

In 1990, Ted Turner recruited Johnson as President of CNN. He began work on August 1, 1990, the day before Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. CNN’s live, exclusive coverage of the 199l war with Iraq propelled the all-news channel into millions of homes worldwide and earned CNN virtually every award in broadcast and cable journalism.

In 2001, at age 60, Johnson retired from CNN.

He serves now as Chairman Emeritus of the Board of the Lyndon B. Johnson Foundation and a member of the board of visitors of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Johnson has served on the Rockefeller Foundation board, Mayo Clinic Foundation board, Knight Foundation board, Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, Turner Broadcasting board, Peyton Anderson Foundation board, and Times Mirror board.

He has received the Horatio Alger award, Ten Outstanding Young Americans, Five Outstanding Young Texans, Five Outstanding Young Georgians, Walter Cronkite award for excellence in journalism, and the highest honor of the Radio and Television News Directors Association, the Paul White Award. In 2006, he received the John Gardner Legacy of Leadership Award by the White House Fellows for lifetime achievement in public service.

Adweek Magazine selected Johnson as Publisher of the Year in 1984 and as Cable News Executive of the Year in 1991. He was elected to three terms on the Associated Press Board of Directors.

Johnson and his wife Edwina have a son, Wyatt, of Santa Cruz, California, and a daughter, Mrs. William (Christa) Shaffer of San Diego, California, and two granddaughters, Brynn Edwina Shaffer, and Julene Lauren Shaffer.

Carlos Gutierrez, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of EmPath, is a globally recognized corporate leader with decades of experience at the highest levels of business and government. Previously, Secretary Gutierrez served as Chair of the Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategic advisory firm. Secretary Gutierrez served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce from 2005 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. Prior to government, Secretary Gutierrez spent nearly thirty years with Kellogg Company, a global manufacturer and marketer of well-known food brands. After assignments in Latin America, Canada, Asia, and the United States, he became President and Chief Executive Officer of Kellogg in 1999 − the youngest CEO in the company’s hundred-year history. In April 2000, he was named Chairman of the Board of Kellogg Company. Secretary Gutierrez joined ASG from Citi, where he was Vice Chairman of the Institutional Clients Group and a member of the Senior Strategic Advisory Group. He currently serves on the boards of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-India Business Council, the Boao Forum for Asia, Occidental Petroleum Corporation, MetLife, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as an external Board member.