Board of Trustees 

Officers and Executive Committee for 2009-2010

Cassandra C. Carr, Chair
Austin, Texas
Trustee since 2004, Chair since 2008
Cassandra Carr is a senior advisor at Public Strategies, Inc. She spent the majority of her career at SBC Communications Inc., rising to Senior Executive Vice President for External Affairs. Her responsiblities with SBC included all regulatory and legislative policy and strategy. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, and the daughter of a Baptist preacher, she is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and the University of Texas at Austin. She serves on the boards of the Yellow/Roadway Corporation, Temple-Inland, the Foundation for Women’s Resources, Carver Academy, and the United Way, Capital Area and is a member of University Presbyterian Church.

The Reverend Thomas L. Are, Jr., Vice Chair
Prairie Village, Kansas
Trustee since 2006
Tom Are currently serves as the senior pastor of Village Presbyterian Church, Prairie Village, KS. Are has served as a commissioner to the 214th General Assembly and provided leadership to several GA committees. He has served as a trustee of Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C. and is currently a trustee of Montreat Conference Center.

Ms. Karen C. Anderson, Chair, Audit Committee
Bend, Oregon
Trustee since 2006
Karen Anderson is the CFO of Western Communications, Inc. She was formerly a trustee for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Foundation and currently serves as a director of New Covenant Trust Company, a subsidiary of the foundation. She is a member of Community Presbyterian Church, Redmond, Oregon. Her husband is an Austin Seminary graduate.


Ms. Catherine O. Lowry, Secretary
Little Rock, Arkansas
Trustee since 2003   
Catherine Lowry is a faculty member at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She is the Program Coordinator of the Information Technology Program, an innovative program for liberal arts students to acquire skills in technology. She has served as an elder, a deacon, and as a member of both the pastor nominating and the capital campaign steering committees at Second Presbyterian Church in Little Rock. She has a son who is an Austin Seminary graduate.


Mr. J Carter King III, Treasurer; Chair, Finance & Administration Committee
Austin, Texas
Trustee since 2002  
Carter King is the owner of Carter King & Company. He received his MDiv from Austin Seminary in 1970, after which he became a professor of ministry and the director of supervised practice of ministry at Austin Seminary from 1975-1981. He is an elder at University Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas.


Mr. Michael D. Allen, Chair, Academic Affairs Committee
Tyler, Texas
Trustee since 2001
Mike Allen is an estate planning attorney at Allen-Lottmann, in Tyler, Texas. Formerly he served on the board of trustees for Austin College and as a director for the Texas Presbyterian Foundation, East Texas Communities Foundation, and Mercy Ships Foundation. Allen has served as an elder at First Presbyterian Church, Tyler.

Mr. John L. Van Osdall, Chair, institutional Development
Houston, Texas
Trustee since 2006
John Van Osdall is executive vice president of USI Southwest. An elder at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, Houston, Texas, Van Osdall is a board member of Faith In Practice, which serves the poor in Guatemala through short-term surgical, medical, and dental mission trips and health-related educational programs. He also serves on the board of Mo-Ranch.  

Mr. Richard D. Gillham, Chair, Long Range Planning Committee
Dallas, Texas
Trustee since 2006
Richard Gillham is the owner and president of Gillham, Golbeck & Associates, Inc., a search firm specializing in the placement of commercial real estate professionals. He is a member of the Real Estate Council, the Institute of Real Estate Management, and the Building Owners and Managers Association. He is board chair of the Canterbury Episcopal School in Desoto, TX, where he co-chaired the capital campaign for the middle school building. Gillham is a member of First Presbyterian Church, Dallas, where he recently completed service as chair of a successful pastor nominating committee. He has also served on the session and as an ex-officio member of the long range planning committee. 

The Reverend Donald R. Frampton, Chair, Student Life Committee
New Orleans, Louisiana
Trustee since 2002
Don Frampton is the senior pastor of St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church, New Orleans. He has served also as the moderator of the South Louisiana Presbytery Committee on Ministry, and on the presbytery's Mission and Direction Task Force.

The Reverend Sallie S. Watson, Chair, Trustee Committee
Little Rock, Arkansas
Trustee since 2006
Sallie Watson, a graduate of Austin Seminary, is currently interim General Presbyter of the Presbytery of Arkansas. She has served as a commissioner to the General Assembly, moderator of the Committee on Ministry for Grace Presbytery, supervisor in the Supervised Practice of Ministry program at Austin Seminary, president of the Alumni Association board at Austin College, contributing editor to the Presbyterian Outlook, and numerous other committee appointments in the Presbyterian Church.

Board Members

Ms. Susan Beaird
Shreveport, Louisiana
Trustee since 2006
Susan Beaird, a Louisiana philanthropist, is a member of First Presbyterian Church, Shreveport. The daughter of Carolyn Beaird, an Austin Seminary Trustee from 1997-2005, Beaird is a trustee of the Charles L. Beaird Foundation and founder and president of Lickskillet Plantation in Shreveport. She was founder and executive director of Women's Home Improvement in Denver, a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting low-income women become self sufficient.



Mr. F.M. Bellingrath III
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Trustee since 2005
Mac Bellingrath is the president and vice chairman of Automatic Vending of Arkansas, Inc. He has led the Pine Bluff Community Foundation, Fifty for the Future of Pine Bluff, The Arts and Science Center of Southeast Arkansas, the Arkansas Vending Council, and the Arkansas Chapter of the Young Presidents’ Organization. He is currently a trustee at Southeast Arkansas College. He has served as an elder and deacon and participated in the music ministry at First Presbyterian Church, Pine Bluff, Arkansas.



The Reverend Dianne Edwards Brown
Shreveport, Louisiana
Trustee since 2004
Dianne Brown, a graduate of Austin Seminary, is the interim pastor/head of Broadmoor Presbyterian Church, Shreveport, Louisiana. She has served as a representative for the Theological Education Fund and as the moderator of the Commissioned Lay Pastor Committee for Pines Presbytery, as well as serving on the Oversight Committee for Austin Seminary’s College of Pastoral Leaders.

Ms. Elizabeth Christian
Austin, Texas
Trustee since 2007
Elizabeth Christian is president of Elizabeth Christian and Associates Public Relations. She has served organizations in Austin such as the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, including two terms as chair of the Chamber’s Transportation Committee; is currently a member of the Southwestern University Board of Visitors; and serves on the board of the Austin Independent School District Foundation. In 2005 she was named Outstanding Austin Communicator by the Association for Women in Communications, among other awards. She is an elder at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas.

The Reverend Joseph J. Clifford
Dallas, Texas
Trustee since 2007
Joe Clifford, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Dallas, Texas, came to Texas from Alpharetta Presbyterian Church in Alpharetta, Georgia in 2006.  Mr. Clifford earned his BS degree from Auburn University; his M.Div. from Columbia, and his D.Min. in preaching from McCormick Theological Seminary.  He presently also serves on the Board of Directors of Grace Presbyterian Village in Dallas.

Mr. James G. Cooper
Missouri City, Texas
Trustee since 2005 
James Cooper, formerly an executive with UBS Financial Services, served for more than thirty years in the investment industry. He earned a BBA from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M, Kingsville). He is a trustee at St. Philip Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas, and serves as the Seminary’s representative to the Texas Presbyterian Foundation.

The Reverend Marvin L. "Mert" Cooper
Canadian, Texas
Trustee since 2006
Mert Cooper, who attends First Presbyterian Church, Canadian, Texas, is a pastor, oilman, pilot, and marathoner. Educated and ordained by the United Methodist Church, Cooper transferred his ordination to Palo Duro Presbytery after receiving the DMin degree from Graduate Theological Union in 1994. He has served churches in the Panhandle and operated his businesses, Andarko Basin Oil and Gas Exploration, CKC Investments, and Lexus Production Company, since moving to Canadian in 1976.

James B. Crawley
Norman, Oklahoma
Trustee since 2009
James Crawley is the founder and chairman of Crawley Petroleum Corporation, Crawley Ventures, LLC  and Crawley Family Foundation. Crawley was raised in the east Texas oilfields and obtained his degree in Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M before going on to get his MBA from Harvard Business School. He also serves on the Board of Directors of First Presbyterian Church, Norman, Oklahoma.

Dr. Elizabeth Blanton Flowers
Houston, TX
Trustee since 2003
Beth Flowers is in private practice in psychiatry and is also an associate professor at the Baylor College of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science. She is an elder and has served as a deacon, a church school teacher, and as a member of the Peacemaking and Pastor Nominating Committees at St. Philip Presbyterian Church in Houston.



Dr. Walter Harris, Jr.
River Ridge, Louisiana
Trustee since 2006
Walter Harris, a member of St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church, New Orleans, was provost and vice president for academic affairs of Loyola University until his retirement in August 2008. After a year-long sabbatical he plans to teach in Loyola’s College of Music and Fine Arts. His career in education administration spans more than thirty years, at the University of North Carolina System, Arizona State University, and Knoxville College in Tennessee in addition to Loyola. A noted musician and performer, his college and civic choirs have performed internationally. One of his daughters is an Austin Seminary graduate.



Mr. Bruce G. Herlin
Palacios, Texas
Trustee since 1981; 1991; 2002
Bruce Herlin is president of Farmers Canal Company and Trull Service Company. He is chairman of the City State Bank of Palacios, Texas, and has served as an elder at First Presbyterian Church, Palacios. His daughter is an Austin Seminary graduate.



The Reverend Michael L. Lindvall
New York, New York
Trustee since 2005
Michael Lindvall is senior pastor of Brick Presbyterian Church in New York. He has written two novels, The Good News from North Haven, and Leaving North Haven, both published by Crossroad/Carlisle Books in 2002, as well as a volume of accessible theology, The Christian Life: A Geography of God, Geneva Press in 2001.



The Reverend Blair R.  Monie
Dallas, TX
Trustee since 2003
Blair Monie is the pastor/head of staff of Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church, Dallas. He has served as a member-at-large of the General Assembly Council, and as chair of the Congregational Ministries Division of PC(U.S.A.), which is responsible for the denomination's overall resources to the church, including Christian education, curriculum, and theological institutions. Monie has co-chaired Grace Presbytery's "Angels of Grace" mission and evangelism campaign, and has served as a trustee of Schreiner College in Kerrville, TX, and on the Princeton Theological Seminary President's Ministry Forum, and on the Austin College President's Advisory Council in Sherman, Texas.

The Honorable Lyndon L. Olson, Jr.
Waco, Texas
Trustee since 2009
Lyndon Olson is an active member of the Council of Foreign Relations and the Council of American Ambassadors. He served as the US Ambassador to Sweden from 1998-2001 and before that as the President and CEO of Travelers Insurance Holdings. He is a former member of the Texas State House of Representatives serving from 1973-1978. A graduate of Baylor University and Baylor Law School, Olson lives in Waco, Texas and is an elder at Central Presbyterian Church of Waco.

 

Mr. B.W. "Sonny" Payne
Kerrville, Texas
Trustee since 2006
Sonny Payne is the owner of Risk Management Services, a company engaged in risk and insurance management services for institutional, governmental and commercial clients. He has served on the advisory board and as a service provider for the Direct Business Assistance Program of the Houston Economic Development Council and the University of Houston. Mr. Payne has also served on the budget committee and in the moderator's cabinet for the Presbytery of New Covenant, and as a director of Presbyterian outreach to patients at the Texas Medical Center and the Brazos Presbyterian Homes, Inc. both in Houston.  He has served as an elder at First Presbyterian Church in Houston, TX, and more recently as a deacon at First Presbyterian Church in Kerrville, Texas.



Mr. William C. Powers, Jr.
Austin, Texas
Trustee since 2004
Bill Powers is currently the President of the University of Texas-Austin. Formerly he served as the Dean of the UT Law School. He has held the Jeffers Research Chair in Law and the Hines H. Baker and Thelma Kelley Baker Chair in Law, and has served as a member of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers where he held the title of University Distinguished Teaching Professor. Other university appointments have been with the Southern Methodist University School of Law, the University of Michigan School of Law, and the University of Washington School of Law. He is an elder at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas.

Jeffrey Kyle Richard
Austin, Texas
Trustee since 2008
Jeffrey Richard is president and CEO of the Austin Area Urban League.   Educated at Texas Christian University and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, he also completed coursework in public policy studies during an invitation-only program at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. In 1998, Mr. Richard was the recipient of the Hammer Award for Re-engineering given by the National Performance Review for his participation on a team that created a Federal government gateway. Richard is an associate minister at Saint James Avenue Baptist Church in Austin, Texas.

The Reverend Dr. Teresa Chávez Sauceda
Vallejo, California
Trustee since 2008
Teresa Chávez Sauceda has been an advocate, author, and teacher on race issues for over thirty years. Most recently she served as associate in the Racial Justice and Advocacy division of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). She received her PhD from Graduate Theological Union, her MDiv from Austin Seminary, and her bachelor’s degree from Lewis and Clark College. She has taught in the areas of ethics, Latina/o theology and ethics, Hispanic feminist theology, women and religion and she is the recipient of numerous awards including two fellowships and a scholarship from the Fund for Theological Education.

Anne Vickery Stevenson
Sugarland, Texas
Trustee since 2008
Anne Stevenson has served as a community advocate in health and women’s issues since 1981. She received her bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Houston and briefly taught elementary school. Stevenson has held director positions at both Tradition Bank and Texas Coastal Bank since 1995. She served as a member of the board and also president of Fort Bend County Family Health Center and has served as a Bible study leader at The Women’s Home in Houston, Texas, since 1997. She was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Houston for thirty-four years and currently attends Memorial Drive United Methodist Church. Her father, Edward D. Vickery, served on the Seminary’s Board of Trustees for eighteen years, seven of those as board chair.

The Reverend Karl Brian Travis
Ft. Worth, Texas
Trustee since 2008
Karl Travis is pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth, Texas.  Prior to that he served Grosse Ile Presbyterian Church in Grosse Ile, Michigan, and congregations in Roswell, New Mexico, and Clermiston, Scotland. He is a frequent preacher and retreat speaker, has chaired the denomination’s Special Offerings Review Task Force and numerous presbytery and synod committees. He graduated magna cum laude from Trinity University in San Antonio and was awarded an Honours BD from The University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Ms. Elizabeth Currie Williams
Dallas, Texas
Trustee since 1997; 2007
Liz Williams retired at the end of 2008 having served as CFO then treasurer of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas for 19 years. She has earned degrees from Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes College) and the University of Virginia and has done graduate study at Yale University and the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard Business School. She has served as director on corporate boards including Chaparral Steel Company and Texas Industries Inc., and  Sterling Bancshares,  and is active in community and church service organizations including The Hockaday School, the Summerlee Foundation, and North Park Presbyterian Church where she is an elder.  Elected the first woman to chair Austin Seminary’s Board of Trustees in 2002, she is the daughter, granddaughter, sister, and sister-in-law of Austin Seminary graduates.