Governance Group
The Governance Group is made up of representatives of the conservancy, The University of Texas at Austin, and the City of Austin. The Governance Group shall be the coordinating and adjudicating authority for the Design Competition and shall have final decision authority regarding issues arising during the process.
Tom Meredith
Chairman, Waller Creek Conservancy
Tom Meredith is known for his pivotal role in helping to guide Dell, Inc.’s business development and financial strategies from 1992 to 2001. Today, his name is just as synonymous with philanthropic efforts. Mr. Meredith and his wife have received numerous accolades and awards for their generous support throughout the years including the 2010 Austin Community Foundation Philanthropy Award.
Mr. Meredith is presently the general partner and co-founder of Meritage Capital, L.P., an investment management firm, and CEO of MFI Capital, the Meredith family’s private investment arm. He also presently serves on the board of directors of Motorola Mobility,Bazaarvoice and Brightstar Corp. Prior professional roles include serving as CFO for Motorola, Inc., and vice president and treasurer for Sun Microsystems, Inc.
He is an adjunct professor at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin and serves on the advisory board of the LBJ School at The University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Meredith received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from St. Francis University, a Juris Doctor degree from Duquesne University and a Master of Laws degree in taxation from Georgetown University. He has received an Honorary Ph.D. from both St. Francis College and Duquesne University.
Melba Whatley
President, Waller Creek Conservancy
Melba Whatley, an Austin businesswoman, has served on Harvard and University of Texas visiting committees and the boards of St. Mark’s School of Texas, The Hockaday School for Girls and The Dallas Museum of Art, The Detroit Museum of Art, and Arthouse at the Jones Center where she is currently president. She also serves on the Austin Advisory Board of the Texas Nature Conservancy.
A local advocate of education, the arts and quality design, Ms. Whatley currently chairs the facilities committee at St. Edward’s University where she is a trustee. She has been instrumental in the transformation of the campus for which she received the rarely-bestowed Edwin Waller Award in Public Architecture by AIA Austin for “achievements in public architecture.” Ms. Whatley is also chairwoman of the Marcus Foundation, a private foundation benefitting the visual arts. In partnership with the New Media Consortium, the foundation has created the first international website for visual arts museums devoted to emerging media and educational issues. It has also funded the recently published Horizon Report: Museum Edition which has quickly become a crucial and unique resource to the museum field.
Ms. Whatley holds Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from Tulane University and a Juris Doctor degree from Lewis and Clark School of Law.
Melanie Barnes
Secretary, Waller Creek Conservancy
Ms. Barnes is an ardent nature advocate, education supporter and lawyer. Her initial career ambition was to be an environmental attorney, but the field was not well developed locally, so she focused on business transactions and commercial reorganizations. She returned to law school in 2010 for an advanced law degree in international energy and environment. She also sits on the board of Schopoff Properties Trust, a California real estate investment trust.
Ms. Barnes’ affiliations include: serving two years as board president of the Wildflower Center, a board member of Ballet Austin, trustee for the United Methodist Church in Austin, board member for St. Francis School, founder of the Center for Women in Law at the University of Texas School of Law, and active volunteer at Austin High School during the tenures of her daughters and four exchange students.
Ms. Barnes has a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas Tech University as well as Juris Doctor and Master of Laws degree from The University of Texas School of Law.
Frederick Steiner
The University of Texas at Austin
Frederick Steiner is the dean of the School of Architecture and Henry M. Rockwell Chair in Architecture, The University of Texas at Austin. He has worked with local, state, and federal agencies on diverse environmental plans and designs. Dean Steiner is the current president of the Hill Country Conservancy (a land trust) and past chair and current secretary of Envision Central Texas (a non-governmental regional planning organization).
As a Fulbright-Hays scholar in 1980, he conducted research on ecological planning at the Wageningen University, The Netherlands. In 1998, he was a Rome Prize Fellow at the American Academy in Rome. A Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, Dean Steiner was a visiting professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China (2005-2007). He received his Ph.D. and Master of Arts degree in City and Regional Planning and Master of Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania. He earned a Master of Community Planning and a Bachelor of Science in Design from the University of Cincinnati. Dean Steiner received an honorary Master of Philosophy in Human Ecology from the College of the Atlantic.
Dean Steiner has published numerous articles and books including Design for a Vulnerable Planet (2011), The Essential Ian McHarg: Writings on Design and Nature (2006), and Human Ecology: Following Nature’s Lead (2002).
Rudolph “Rudy” Green
Board Member, Waller Creek Conservancy
Rudy Green has been an active member of the Austin business, law, and non-profit communities since 1982. He has served as General Counsel of Prime Cable, a major cable television multi-system operator, and as a member of the law firm of Graves, Dougherty, Hearon and Moody. Mr. Green has also served on the boards of numerous local organizations including the Austin Lyric Opera, The Ronald McDonald House, the Austin Museum of Art and St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, and has been involved with many initiatives associated with the advancement of education and the arts and the promotion of inter-cultural understanding.
Mr. Green currently serves as Chief Compliance Officer for The University of Texas at Austin where he has been recognized for markedly improving the effectiveness of an existing compliance program by reorganizing administrative structure and redefining responsibilities, implementing new communications and branding strategies, improving coordination of related activities throughout the campus and refining program focus to emphasize the importance of engaged leadership and ethical behavior.
Mr. Green received his Bachelor of Science degree from Yale University and holds Master of Business Administration and Juris Doctor degrees from The University of Texas at Austin.
Sara L. Hensley CPRP
Director, Parks and Recreation Department, City of Austin
Sara Hensley is the Director of the Austin, Texas, Parks and Recreation Department. Along with solid leadership skills accumulated over almost two decades working in the parks and recreation field, she has a proven track record of getting results and a demonstrated commitment to community involvement, youth, and neighborhood services.
Before Austin, Ms. Hensley was the Director for the City of Phoenix, Arizona, Parks and Recreation Department. Prior to coming to Phoenix, she was the Director of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services (PRNS), one of the largest and most diverse departments in the City of San José. In her role as Director, Ms. Hensley has oversight of an array of parks, facilities and programs including: more than 100 neighborhood parks, 19 community centers, 11 senior centers, 10 youth centers, the City’s very successful Anti-Graffiti Program and its new Animal Services Program.
Ms. Hensley is an active member of the National Recreation and Park Association. She holds degrees of Master of Education in Recreation Administration and Bachelor of Education from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.