Institute for Excellence in Corporate Governance

Dennis McCuistion, Executive Director

Dennis McCuistion is a long-time member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and holds the Certified Director designation. Dennis has owned his financial consulting firm, McCuistion & Associates, Inc., since 1977. He is a former bank CEO who joined his first for-profit board in the early 1970s. Since that time he has served on over a dozen private, public and not-for-profit boards including serving as Chairman of the Board and Lead Independent Director. He has served on the board and audit committees of two New York Stock Exchange companies and one American Stock Exchange company since 2003. One of those companies was sold in a private equity buyout for $1.6 billion and was consummated in 2006. Dennis was the Lead Independent Director in that insurance company. Additionally, Dennis served as the chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee and on the Audit Committee of a Fortune 500 business process outsourcing company with 62,000 employees worldwide. During his tenure he served on special committees which were charged with the responsibility of investigation of stock option backdating and the eventual firing of the CEO and CFO. Additionally, he was involved in two aborted private equity buyouts during the credit crisis of 2006 to 2008. Dennis has been involved with taking companies public, raising capital, and the evaluation of boards and their individual members.

During his career he has been a life-long educator, having served on the faculties of several graduate schools of management for financial related firms. His topics have included strategic planning, leadership, financial analysis and corporate governance. He has authored three books on the financial services industry and is a frequent speaker for corporations, associations and universities. He regularly facilitates all types of panel discussions and board and corporate planning retreats. Today he is the Executive Director of the Institute for Excellence in Corporate Governance at the University of Texas at Dallas, where he also serves as a Clinical Professor. Finally, he is the host of a television program on PBS, a position he has held since 1990. In that role, he has interviewed and facilitated thousands of important dialogues about political, economic, business and social issues of the day. He is also in demand as an expert on other radio and television programs including Fox News, and various network affiliates.

Dr. Suresh Radhakrishnan, Director

Suresh Radhakrishnan is a Professor of Accounting and Information Management at the University of Texas at Dallas, Director of Research at the Institute for Excellence in Corporate Governance, and a Visiting Research Fellow at various Asian universities. His research papers have been published in leading academic journals in accounting, finance and operations management. His work on organization capital and charitable giving has been covered by major newspapers and media, and presented at forums such as the Microsoft CEO Summit and the SAP Global Congress. His research interests include valuation of intangible assets, performance evaluation, contracting and impact of corporate governance. He teaches financial and managerial accounting. He has won teaching awards at New York University, Rutgers University and University of Texas at Dallas.

Gregg Ballew, Director

Mr. Ballew joined Westwood in 2010, and he specializes in serving wealthy families and their related entities. He has over thirty years of experience in providing banking, investment management, and wealth advisory services in Texas and surrounding states. rior to joining Westwood Trust, Mr. Ballew was Regional Managing Director of the Wealth Advisory Group for Northern Trust in Texas. He led the creation of this group and oversaw its successful integration into Northern Trust's Personal Financial Services business. Prior to forming the Wealth Advisory Group, he served as President of the North Texas market for Northern Trust and on the company's Texas Management Committee.

Mr. Ballew is active in the community and serves in leadership roles on numerous non-profit boards, including the Dallas Symphony Association, the Dallas Symphony Foundation, The Senior Source, Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas, the Institute for Excellence in Corporate Governance at UT Dallas, and the Alliance for Higher Education. He is also a member of the Preston Center Rotary Club. Mr. Ballew earned his MBA from The University of Texas at Austin and his BBA from Baylor University. He is a member of the CFA Institute and the Investment Management Consultants Association.

Nikki J. Beneke, Director

Nikki J. Beneke is President of Beneke Consulting. She serves as a Director for the IECG and will be developing the new initiative for training boards of non profit hospitals and to further the initiatives of the Positioning Women for Corporate Governance program. She has received national awards for her work with non profits and recently received the President's Volunteer of the Year Award from National VOAD. Nikki has served on several Boards and has consulted with organizations in the areas of nonprofit governance, board development, strategic planning, organizational development and fund development. She is a statewide and national speaker and currently serves as President of the Texas VOAD and as the Chairperson of the North Texas Long Term Recovery Council.

Michael Grant, Director

Michael is director of marketing and strategic planning of Phillips MediaSource of Dallas, Texas. He is a multi-recipient of the coveted Emmy® award for outstanding achievement in television. Previously, Michael worked for the Belo Corporation of Dallas, Texas, During his 15 years at Belo, he served as president of Belo Productions, developing and producing media content for the Belo TV group andcable networks; vice president of cable news operations, developing 24-hour cable news channels in Belo markets across the United States; vice president and general manager of KGW-TV, the Belo-owned, NBC affiliate of Portland Oregon; and station manager of Belo's flagship TV station, ABC affiliate WFAA-TV of Dallas, Texas.

In 2000, Michael served as president of Convergence Communications of Dallas; an Internet start-up .He also currently serves as regional vice president of the Lone Star Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS). In addition, he is a visiting instructor at the University of North Texas at Denton and Amberton University of Dallas, Texas. Michael, is director of marketing and strategic planning of Phillips MediaSource of Dallas, Texas, an online and offline marketing, media content development and HD video production company that helps businesses define and improve their marketplace recognition, perception and performance. He serves as a branding strategist, marketing technologist and content curator engaged in media content distribution on TV, satellite and cable networks. Michael is a newly elected member of the IECG Board.

David J. Kohl, CPCU, Director

David is a Principal with Roach Howard Smith & Barton in Dallas, a specialty insurance broker focused on serving the needs of public and private middle‐market companies. His responsibilities include leading the Directors and Officers Liability Practice and International operations. David started his insurance career as an underwriter and then moved into various executive positions working for national insurance companies. 20 years later, he joined Roach Howard and in 2009 & 2010 was recognized by Risk & Insurance Magazine as a finalist in the annual Power Brokers listing for exceptional client service in the Global Broker category. David holds the designation of Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriter and is an active member of the Dallas Committee on Foreign Relations. He sits on several private company boards and serves as a Director and Advisor to the Institute for Excellence in Corporate Governance at the University of Texas, Dallas.

Anthony J. LeVecchio, Director

Anthony J. LeVecchio is President and Owner of The James Group, Inc., a general business consulting firm that has advised CEOs across a wide range of industries in both public and private companies. Mr. LeVecchio qualifies as an SEC financial expert and currently serves as the Vice-Chairman of the board of directors of ViewPoint Financial Group (VPFG) as well as the Audit Chairman. He also serves as a board member and the financial oversight executive of UniPixel, Inc. (UNXL.). His prior public company boards include Microtune, Inc., DG FastChannel, Inc., and Maxum Health, Inc. As a public company director, he has experience with IPOs; secondary offerings; Sarbanes Oxley preparedness and qualification for 404 accelerated filers; NASDAQ de-listing and relisting; SEC stock option backdating investigations and class action lawsuit resolution. He has served on the board of over 15 private companies ranging from pre-revenue startups to companies with over $50 million in annual revenues. In this capacity, he has guided companies through all phases of corporate growth including startup operations; achieving profitability; asset, debt and equity financing; and merger and acquisitions.

Prior to forming The James Group in 1988, Mr. LeVecchio was the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for VHA Southwest, Inc., a regional healthcare system. Previous to that, Mr. LeVecchio held financial management positions with Phillips Information Systems, Exxon Office Systems and Xerox Corporation. Mr. LeVecchio received a Bachelor of Economics from Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida and an MBA in Finance from the same institution where he remains an active alumnus and member of their Board of Trustees.

Carl Mudd, Director

Carl Mudd holds board positions with two China based U.S. public listed corporations. Mudd's work experience ranges from Senior Accountant at PWC through CFO/COO/President positions with such companies such as Mitsubishi Aircraft International, Inc., Curtis Mathes Corporation, Color Tile, Inc., Eljer Industries and others. He currently is Chairman and CEO of ACM Holdings, Ltd., an Asian-US based consulting firm and Senior Managing Director of ADi Group, a U.S. and foreign group of companies under common management control doing business from China through India providing outsourced strategic procurement and supply chain services, M&A/JV support, market channel development, structured trade finance and local support services to major Chinese and foreign companies.

Mark Sinclair, Chairman

Mark Sinclair is a Partner with the regional accounting firm of Whitley Penn LLP and is the Chairman of the Board of the Institute for Excellence in Corporate Governance at the UT Dallas. Mark is also Vice Chairman of the Board of the North Texas Regional Center for Innovation and Commercialization. Mark is a retired Partner with Ernst & Young where he spent 38 years and was the Strategic Growth Markets Leader and Venture Capital Advisory Group Leader for the southwest area.

Mark's experience comes from auditing and advising public and private corporations, generally with global operations, ranging from very large conglomerates, to high growth venture capital and private equity backed companies. His primary focus has been working with the management and Boards of companies in the technology, life sciences, manufacturing, mining and service industries as they strive to minimize the execution risks of their high growth strategies. Mark has been active in the community having been on 30 non-profit Boards in the Dallas area and serving as Chairman of 10 of them. The Boards ranged from civic Boards with an economic development focus, to Boards of charitable and professional organizations. Mark has chaired two capital campaigns for non-profits. Mark has also been involved in numerous political campaigns, generally issue oriented, serving as Treasurer for nine and Chairman of one.

Daniel Burrus, Strategic Advisor

Daniel Burrus is considered one of the world's leading technology forecasters and business strategists. He is the founder and CEO of Burrus Research, a research and consulting firm that monitors global advancements in technology driven trends to help clients better understand how technological, social and business forces are converging to create enormous, untapped opportunities. Over the past quarter century, he has established a worldwide reputation for his exceptional record of accurately predicting the future of technological change and its direct impact on the business world.

He is a strategic advisor to executives from many Fortune 500 companies, helping them to develop successful competitive strategies based on the creative application of leading-edge technologies. His client list includes companies such as Microsoft, GE, American Express, Google, Toshiba, Procter & Gamble, Honda, ExxonMobil, and IBM. He is the author of six books, including The New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-seller Flash Foresight: How To See The Invisible and Do The Impossible, as well as the highly acclaimed Technotrends. He is also a featured blogger on the topics of innovation, change and the future for CNBC, Huffington Post, and Wired Magazine to name a few.

He has been the featured subject of several PBS television specials and has appeared on programs such as CNN, CNBC, and Bloomberg, and is quoted in a variety of publications, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Fortune, and Forbes. The New York Times has referred to him as one of the top three business gurus in the nation. He is a highly innovative entrepreneur who has founded and managed six businesses, three of which were national leaders in the United States in the first year.

Richard Leblanc, Research Fellow

Richard Leblanc is an Associate Professor, Law, Governance & Ethics, at York University in Toronto, Canada. He is the founder of the LinkedIn Group Boards and Advisors, with over 2,500 members, blogs for Canadian Business, has taught governance at leading business, law and professional faculties (including Harvard University during the summer of 2012), and is a former recipient of "Canada's Top 40 Under 40.™" His research and teaching are in the areas of boardroom dynamics, leadership and competencies, as well as executive compensation, risk and regulatory compliance. He is the lead author of "Inside the Boardroom: How Boards Really Work and the Coming Revolution in Corporate Governance." A lawyer in Ontario Canada and Certified Management Consultant, Richard holds a PhD from the Schulich School of Business, an MBA from the Rotman School of Management, and an LLM from the Osgoode Hall Law School. He regularly advises NYSE, TSX and Nonprofit boards.

Don Reavis

Don Reavis is a veteran Texas banker with over thirty years of bank management experience. He has served as either an outside director or management director of five commercial banks. He is currently the President/CEO of bank consulting firm Silverstone Consultants which provides consulting services of various kinds to community banks and their boards of directors in and around Texas. Don is the creator of the Silverstone Loan Approval Process and the author of the widely read banking blog, Post Mortem.

Dennis R. Jennings

Dennis Jennings is a former deputy director of inspections and Texas regional leader of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). His career, consisting of extensive experience in leadership, auditing, consulting, and project and risk management, began at KPMG International. Following his time there, Jennings spent more than 25 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers where he was a senior partner with progressively more demanding executive international responsibilities. He has also authored or co-authored numerous books and articles on petroleum accounting practices, sustainability, environmental issues, accounting and risk management.

Dr. George (Robbie) Robinson

Robbie Robinson is a former White House Fellow and a seasoned business leader with expertise in real estate development, project management, engineering and corporate governance. Robinson also is president of GSR Consulting, Inc., where he advises and assists corporations in improving corporate governance and the effectiveness of boards of directors. He spent nearly 20 years with Electronic Data Systems, first as director of development, then as director of worldwide real estate. Prior to EDS, he was a career officer in the U.S. Navy.

John Roeder

A director of NYSE and NASDAQ listed companies, as well as private companies, John Roeder was the IECG's first director in residence. He is a certified public accountant and spent more than 30 years with the firm of Arthur Andersen, where he was an office managing partner. His wide range of experience includes managing rapid change related to deregulation, technology, bankruptcy, litigation and acquisitions. He was asked to serve a second year as an IECG director in residence because of his outstanding contributions to the UT Dallas School of Management and the IECG.

Ray Hemmig

Chairman at Retail & Restaurant Growth Capital, LP
Board of Directors at Taco Mac
Board of Directors at Snappy Salads Enterprises
Chairman - Retail & Restaurant Growth Capital, LP
Director - Snappy Salads Enterprises
Director - Taco Mac

"C" Level Executive - COB/CEO/COO/EVP;
Active Director in Private/Public Companies;
Mezzanine Investor;
Private Equity Investor;

Non Profit Director: University of Texas at Dallas - Development Board Momber;
UTD Jindal School of Management - Advisory Board Member;
Institute for Excellence in Corporate Governance - University of Texas at Dallas - JSOM

North Texas Food Bank; The Catholic Foundation;
Bishop Lynch High School; St Mark Catholic School

Specialties: Board Governance; Audit Committee; Compensation Committee;
Retail and Restaurant Growth Strategies;

Past President Dallas Restaurant Assc;
Director -TRA; NRA;
Past President - NACCA/FISCA