Kent Anderson is a graduate of Rice University and the Colgate Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia. He is president of Anderson Family Partnership, a private investment company. In his 30-year banking career, Mr. Anderson served as special consultant to the chairman of Compass Bank, chairman and chief executive officer of Post Oak Bank, chairman and chief executive officer of First Interstate Bank and president of Allied Bancshares. He is in his third decade as a trustee of Rice University and has been a recipient of the university’s Gold Medal Award. Mr. Anderson previously served on the boards of Pulte Homes, Sam Houston Race Park, Central Houston, Texas Bankers Association, Texas Chamber of Commerce, Texas Research League, Texas Presbyterian Foundation, Greater Houston Partnership, the Houston Ballet, the Houston Symphony, the Children’s Museum of Houston and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the Men of Distinction Award, which recognizes Houstonians who have distinguished themselves through excellence in community service. Other honors include serving as president of The Coronado Club, participating in the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference and receiving the National Humanitarian Award from The National Jewish Hospital. Mr. Anderson served in the U.S. Air National Guard and received the American Spirit of Honor Medal.

Linnet Deily graduated from The University of Texas at Austin and received a master of arts in international management from The University of Texas at Dallas. She currently serves on the boards of directors of Chevron Corporation, Alcatel-Lucent and Honeywell International Inc. She has served as deputy U.S. Trade representative and U.S. ambassador to the World Trade Organization, vice chairman of the Charles Schwab Corporation and chairman and chief executive officer of First Interstate Bank of Texas. Ms. Deily currently serves on the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board and the boards of the Houston Zoo, the Greater Houston Partnership, St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Ms. Deily previously served on the board of regents of The University of Texas System.

Larry Faulkner has been president of Houston Endowment since 2006. He is a graduate of Southern Methodist University (B. S., 1966) and The University of Texas at Austin (Ph.D. in chemistry, 1969). In an academic career spanning four decades, he served on the chemistry faculties of Harvard University, the University of Illinois and The University of Texas. At Illinois he was also head of the Department of Chemistry, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and provost. In 1998, he returned to The University of Texas at Austin as the 27th president and served into 2006. He is co-author (with Allen J. Bard) of the prominent text Electrochemical Methods: Fundamentals and Applications and is co-inventor of the cybernetic potentiostat, which had a lasting impact on the design of commercial analytical instruments. He has been recognized with awards from the American Chemical Society, the Electrochemical Society, the Society for Electroanalytical Chemistry and the U.S. Department of Energy. In 2003, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He serves currently on the boards of ExxonMobil Corporation, Temple-Inland and Guaranty Financial Group.

Anthony Hall is the chief administrative officer for the City of Houston. He is a graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C., and the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University. Mr. Hall has served as a representative in the Texas Legislature, a council member-at-large on the Houston City Council, chairman of the board of directors of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County and City Attorney for the City of Houston. He is a former partner in the law firm of Jackson Walker, L.L.P. Mr. Hall serves on the board of directors of El Paso Corporation and is a past member of the board of directors of Coastal Corporation. He is chairman of the Boule Foundation and is past national president of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity. He serves on the boards of directors of the Houston Symphony, Boy Scouts of America–Sam Houston Area Council, Junior Achievement of Southeast Texas, Inc., the Ensemble Theatre and Texas Cultural Trust. Mr. Hall is a Vietnam veteran who attained the rank of captain and received the Purple Heart and three Bronze Stars.

Jesse H. Jones II is the grandnephew of Jesse H. and Mary Gibbs Jones. He graduated from The University of Texas at Austin and currently has interests in several wireless communication ventures in the Southwest and in a snack food company in Georgia. Mr. Jones is chairman of the Houston Ballet Foundation and the Foundation for DePelchin Children’s Center. He is a director of the Society for the Performing Arts and the Texas Freedom Network, and is a board member and treasurer of the Houston Public Library Foundation. He has served as president of DePelchin Children’s Center and was on the boards of the Alley Theatre, Houston Achievement Place, ChildBuilders, the Mental Health Association and Planned Parenthood.

David Mendez is the chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase Bank, Texas. He began his career at the bank after graduating from The University of Texas at Austin in 1975. Mr. Mendez serves on the boards of Texas Children’s Hospital, the Center for Houston’s Future, the Houston Downtown Parks Corporation and the Dean’s Executive Board of the University of Houston’s C. T. Bauer College of Business. His recent accomplishments and civic contributions include chairman of the Center for Houston’s Future for 2004-2005, member of the board of trustees and executive committee of the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast, where he served as a co-chairman of the 2003-2004 citywide fundraising campaign, and member of the executive committee of the Greater Houston Partnership. He has served on the Galveston-Houston Diocese Bishop’s Finance Council, 2004 Super Bowl Host Committee and the board of directors of Catholic Charities. He was honored by the Houston Area Women’s Center with its 2005 Making a Difference Award and in 2007 was honored by the Jewish Community Center at its annual Children’s Scholarship Ball.

Paul B. Murphy, Jr., is the chief executive officer of Amegy Bank of Texas. He received his bachelor’s degree in finance from Mississippi State University and earned his master’s from The University of Texas at Austin. He began his banking career at Allied Bank of Texas in 1981 and helped found Southwest Bank of Texas—predecessor to Amegy Bank—in 1990 as an executive vice president. He became president in 1996 and chief executive officer in 2000. Mr. Murphy serves on the boards of Hines Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc., St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System, Kinkaid School, Mississippi State University Foundation and the Greater Houston Partnership.

L. E. Simmons graduated from the University of Utah, studied at the London School of Economics and received his master’s from Harvard Business School. He is president and founder of SCF Partners and serves on the board of directors of Zions Bancorporation. He is on the board, and former chairman, of Texas Children’s Hospital; a trustee of Rice University and chairman of the Council of Overseers for its Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management; and a trustee of The Gordon and Mary Cain Pediatric Neurology Research Foundation. He also serves on the Harvard Business School Visiting Committee, the London School of Economics North American Advisory Council and the boards of directors of The Kinkaid School; the Boy Scouts of America, Sam Houston Area Council; and the Methodist Hospital Research Center.