Clemson Institute for Parks

Dr. Lawrence R. Allen was Dean of the College of Health, Education, and Human Development at Clemson University, from August 2001, to July, 2014, and has been a faculty member in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Development since 1989. He recently returned from serving as a visiting professor at Maasai Mara University, Kenya for five months. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in recreation and park administration with a specialty area in counseling. He is a Fellow with Academy of Leisure Sciences, and in 1995, served as the President of the Academy. In 1996, he was elected to the American Academy of Park and Recreation Administration. Dr. Allen’s primary interest focuses on the impact of recreation and park experiences on individual and community well-being. Further, he has been instrumental in the development of a Master’s degree in Youth Development Leadership at Clemson University. His interest in the relationship between park, recreation, and tourism services and community well-being has provided valuable information to practitioners and academics regarding effective methods of leisure service delivery.

Celeste "Clete" Boykin is the current Chairperson of the Board of Advisors for the Institute for Parks. She is the senior manager for DuPont Government Marketing and Government Affairs, where she is responsible for legislative policy for a number of issues, including cybersecurity, trade secrets and transportation. Boykin graduated from Clemson in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science in plant sciences and received her Master of Arts in international relations from American University in Washington, D.C., in 1989. Boykin is currently involved with CentroNia, a nationally recognized multicultural learning community with a pioneering approach to bilingual education, the Baltimore Washington, D.C., Clemson Club and the Clemson Board of Visitors. Boykin is a native of Lancaster.

Bernard "Chick" Fagan graduated from Clemson University in 1969 with a degree in Recreation and Park Administration and continued study as a parks and recreation graduate student at The Pennsylvania State University. In 1972 he began his 40-year career with the U.S. Department of the Interior as a grants-in-aid officer for the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation.  Subsequent responsibilities included evaluating potential National Wild and Scenic Rivers, and providing coordination, writing, and editing support leading to the establishment of the NJ Pinelands National Reserve.  After the Reserve was established he served as staff assistant to the Secretary of the Interior’s representative on the NJ Pinelands Commission. In 1982, Mr. Fagan was appointed Assistant Superintendent of Assateague Island National Seashore.  He left park management in 1989 when selected as the National Park Service’s first Bevinetto Fellow in legislative and congressional affairs. Mr. Fagan joined the NPS Office of Policy in 1992 and served as Chief of that office from October 2008 until his retirement in 2012.  His primary responsibilities included writing, reviewing, and editing the primary guidance documents for managing national park areas; training and counseling employees on the proper application of laws, policies, and regulations; providing leadership in the establishment of advisory committees and commissions; and representing the NPS on the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. Upon his retirement, Mr. Fagan received the Department of the Interior’s Superior Service award.  

Phil Francis retired in 2013 after a 40-year career in the National Park Service, culminating with seven years as the Superintendent of the Blue Ridge Parkway and 11 years as Deputy Superintendent of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mr. Francis led the Parkway as it developed the parkway’s first general management plan and during the parkway’s 75th anniversary celebration. A native of Grover, North Carolina, he began his career with the NPS at Kings Mountain National Military Park as a seasonal park ranger while a student at Clemson and later as Administrative Assistant. Mr. Francis went on to serve as Administrative Officer at a sequence of parks of increasing size and complexity including Shenandoah and Yosemite national parks. Following Yosemite, he was the Associate Regional Director, Administration for the National Park Service’s Southwest Region. Mr. Francis is a graduate of Clemson University with a Bachelor's degree in Administrative Management. He completed the Department of Interior Senior Executive Service Training Program and received numerous awards over his career. In addition, he received the Department of Interior’s Superior Service Award and the Walter T. Cox Award from Clemson University for sustained achievement in public service providing leadership in administration of public lands and for policy formation affecting our natural and cultural resources. Mr. Francis serves as vice chair of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks and is a member of the National Park Conservation Association’s Southeast Regional Council. He also serves on the boards for the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont and Discover Life in America. He is married to Smokies’ entomologist Dr. Becky Nichols and resides in Sevierville.

Phil Gaines is the former State Park Director for the South Carolina State Park Service. Currently, Mr. Gaines is a professor of practice in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management. Mr. Gaines is a native of Greenville SC and a 1981 graduate of Clemson University. He formerly served on the Board of Directors for the National Association of State Park Directors, and the National Association of State Outdoor Recreation Liaison Officers. He has served as President of the Association of Southeastern State Park Directors and Past Chairman of the Board of Regents for the State Park Leadership School in Wheeling West Virginia where he still is an instructor. Mr. Gaines was recently awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of State Park Directors and the Walter Cox Award for Public Service and Leadership in Natural Resources, from Clemson University.

Bob Barcelona, Ph.D., CPRP currently serves as Department Chair/Head and Professor in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at Clemson University. Dr. Barcelona’s research and professional interests focus broadly on increasing access to sport and recreation programs and facilities, and on improving the quality of recreation experiences through partnerships, planning, creative financing, staff training, and professional development. He is specifically interested in research that relates to access and constraints to public recreation opportunities and investigating the benefits of active recreation participation. Dr. Barcelona has partnered with the NH Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DNCR) on numerous Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plans (SCORP), and has worked with federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Department of Education on various research and program evaluation efforts. Dr. Barcelona also provides leadership for the Community Planning and Research Collaborative (CPARC), conducting community engaged research, strategic, and master planning with parks and recreation agencies throughout the country. Prior to working at Clemson University, Dr. Barcelona held faculty appointments at the University of New Hampshire and Indiana University and worked in collegiate athletics and recreational sports at the University of Mississippi and the University of California-Berkeley. He currently serves as the Chair of the Council on Accreditation for Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Related Professions (COAPRT) and is a Fellow in the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration (AAPRA).

Jeff has an expertise in parks and in large project administration, having both a M.S. in Technical/Project Management and having led or co-led numerous applied projects. His work has specifically focused on empirical studies of visitor use management; park visitors/tourists; potential park visitors/tourists and stakeholders; natural, historical, and culturally-based recreation; carrying capacity studies; sustainable transportation planning; scenic driving/ORV recreation; and modeling of recreational use patterns. Methods, tools, and concepts used in this research include indicator/threshold-based planning and management frameworks (including the federal Interagency Visitor Use Management Council’s Visitor Use Management Framework), normative approaches, GPS, GIS, automated field cameras, visual simulations, surveys, and qualitative research techniques (e.g., focus groups, interviewing, Photovice, and rigorous qualitative analysis). 

Jeff’s completed and ongoing projects have occurred at places such as the Cumberland Island National Seashore, Pinnacles National Park, Cape Cod National Seashore, Acadia National Park, Congaree National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Petra Archeological Park (Jordan), Kenai Fjords National Park, Denali National Park, the USDA Forest Service’s Buck Hall Recreation Area and Sumter National Forest, three Tennessee State Parks, and the Maasai Mara National Reserve (Kenya). Jeff completed a project at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area to conduct visitor and carrying capacity studies to inform one of the first formal Visitor Use Management Plans in the U.S. National Park Service. Also, he led a multi-year, multi-university study at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to help support the implementation of a management strategy to protect an endangered public recreation experience related to a marine mammal of global concern – the polar bear. Many of these projects support formal planning efforts and documents. The overall intent of Jeff’s work is to ensure that we continue to sustainably and appropriately use parks, tourism sites, and protected areas for public enjoyment. Jeff lives in Central, SC with his wife Lisa and their three young children Cooper, Ashlyn, and Bridger. Jeff greatly enjoys experiencing parks and the natural world with his family.

Leslie Hossfeld  began work as dean of the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences in July 2018. Prior to her appointment as dean, she was professor and head of the Department of Sociology at Mississippi State University (MSU), where she also served as director of the Mississippi Food Insecurity Program and associate director of the Myrlie Evers-Williams Institute for the Elimination of Health Disparities. Before she arrived at MSU, she worked as chair of the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Hossfeld’s career includes serving as co-lead on the USDA SERA-47 Southern Extension Research Activity Learning Community project, where she works to strengthen local and regional food needs and priorities in 13 Southern region states. She earned her Ph.D. in sociology at North Carolina State University, and she holds a Master of Social Science degree from the University of Mississippi and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

Brad Ives has served as Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus Enterprises and Chief Sustainability Officer for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill since May 2015. He is responsible for Auxiliary Services, which includes Carolina Dining Services and UNC Student Stores, Energy Services, Parking & Transportation, Trademarks & Licensing, and Sustainability. Mr. Ives also manages the North Carolina Policy Collaboratory, which facilitates the dissemination of policy and research expertise of the University on natural resources management issues within North Carolina.

From 2013 to 2015, Mr. Ives was Assistant Secretary for Natural Resources for North Carolina and managed Aquariums, Marine Fisheries, State Parks, the Museum of Natural Sciences and the Zoo. He previously work in the solar and biomass energy sectors, and developed an award-winning landfill gas project with ExxonMobil.  Mr. Ives started his career as a structured finance lawyer in New York and Charlotte, and later worked in institutional money management in London.  In addition to his professional responsibilities, Mr. Ives currently serves on the Boards of Advisors for the Clemson University Institute for Parks, the North Carolina School of Science & Mathematics Foundation and the Morehead-Cain Scholarship Foundation.  Mr. Ives received his B.A. and J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was a Morehead-Cain Scholar. 

Fran Mainella is a Visiting Scholar at Clemson University Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management. She is also President of Fran Mainella Consulting,LLC.  Previously, Director Mainella served nearly six years as the 16th Director and the first woman to lead the National Park Service.  Fran served twelve years as Director of Florida’s State Parks, which received the Gold Medal Award, recognizing Florida as the best state park system in the country.  She has also served as executive director of the Florida Recreation and Park Association and as president of both the National Recreation and Park Association and the National Association of State Park Directors. Clemson University has named an award in her honor, encouraging women to pursue conservation careers.  The American Recreation Coalition also presented her with the Sheldon Coleman Great Outdoors Award.  She has received the William Penn Mott, Jr. Award for Excellence by the NSPR and she is one of the few that have been a two-time winner of the Pugsley Award, the highest award given by the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration. She has also been selected as the Metcalf Lecturer for SUNY- Cortland, the first ever Ralph Steele Lecturer for East Carolina University, and the Calhoun Lecturer for Clemson University.  For four consecutive years, the Clemson University Board of Trustees presented her with an award for faculty excellence. In addition, Mainella received the Outstanding Alumni of the Year from the University Of Connecticut School Of Education.  Additionally, she has written many articles and book publications including the introduction to National Geographic’s 10 Best of Everything National Parks and an acknowledgement to Richard Louv’s new book: The Nature Principle. Fran is currently the Vice-Chair of South Florida National Park Trust; Member of the Board of Trustees for Guest Services Inc; Past-Chair of the Children and Nature Network; Co-Chair of the US Play Coalition; Member of the Clemson Institute for Parks; Fellow of the American Academy of Park and Recreation Administrators; Member of the Foundation for Sustainable Parks and Recreation; and a national speaker on Women in Leadership, Nature Deficit Disorder, Play, and Parks and Recreation. Director Mainella holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut, a master’s degree, and an honorary doctorate from Central Connecticut State College.

Barry McNees is the developer and visionary behind the Lexington Distillery District. After being romanced by a series of old distillery buildings in downtown Lexington, Ky – Barry made it a mission to reclaim the blighted area and revitalize a long overlooked segment of KY history. This area was home to the historic James E. Pepper Distillery, which began making bourbon in 1879. However, in 1958 the site was abandoned completely, untouched for nearly 50 years. Fortunately, in 2008, Barry McNees and a few courageous entrepreneurs teamed up to bring this area back to its former glory and now this revitalized piece of Lexington history has become a lively downtown tourist destination. Today, you’ll find two distilleries using the same limestone filtered water source from the Town Branch to make their bourbon, just like the distillery that came before them. Plus, the easily walkable area combined with its diverse entertainment, food and drink offerings makes the Lexington Distillery District one of Kentucky’s most exciting hotspots. 

Prior to his achievements with the Lexington Distillery District, Barry was active in real estate as a principle broker with Limestone Realty. A native of Winchester, Kentucky, Barry is a graduate of the University of Kentucky with a BA in English and Political Science. Barry and his wife, Lynne reside in Georgetown, KY where they are surrounded by retired thoroughbred horses. 

Lynne Walker McNees serves as the President of the International SPA Association (ISPA).  For nearly 25 years, Lynne has led the global operations representing spas and resource partner members headquartered in Lexington, Ky., Prior to her role with ISPA, she worked for several years in Washington, D.C. Her significant accomplishments in the nation’s capital included positions with WorldCupUSA, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, The President’s Commission on The White House Fellowships and the Office Presidential Personnel in The White House.  Lynne also served on the Bush/Quayle campaign and Presidential Inaugural teams.

Lynne travels throughout the world promoting and representing the spa industry and also serves as ISPA’s official spokesperson by frequently being interviewed as a spa expert by major media outlets including The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, USA Today, Women’s Wear Daily, the Associated Press and numerous consumer and trade publications. A native of Dallas, Texas, Lynne is a graduate of the University of Maryland with a BS in Kinesiological Science.  Lynne and her husband Barry McNees live in Georgetown, KY and have two long-haired miniature dachshunds named Teton Spirit and Moose Wyoming.

Justice Robert Orr is the former chairman of the Board of Advisors for the Institute for Parks. Justice Orr was born in Norfolk, Virginia and spent his childhood in Hendersonville, North Carolina. After earning his bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Justice Orr served in the United States Army from 1968 to 1971. He returned to UNC-Chapel Hill to earn his law degree and then entered private law practice in Asheville, North Carolina. In 1986, Justice Orr was appointed to the North Carolina Court of Appeals, and in 1994 was elected to the state's Supreme Court. From 1992 to 1996, he also served on the United States National Park System Advisory Board. Justice Orr also teaches a class on the NC Constitution at UNC School of Law and is currently on the Board of Directors for the Conservation Trust of North Carolina. In July 2004, Justice Orr retired from the state Supreme Court during the summer to head the newly-formed North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law. Justice Orr continues to practice law focusing on appellate work, NC Constitution litigation and representing college athletes in NCAA matters. He has four children, one of which is pursuing a MS from Clemson University’s Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management.

Dr. Todd Petty joined the Clemson University faculty in 2020 and currently serve as chair of the department of forestry and environmental conservation. Prior to coming to Clemson, Petty taught and conducted research in the department of wildlife and fisheries resources at West Virginia University for 21 years. Petty's lab specializes in watershed scale dynamics of fish populations and riverine ecosystems. Most of his research involves understanding how landscape change and climate change interact to affect watershed scale dynamics. He also conducts research on river restoration and effectiveness in recovering fish populations. Petty teaches courses in freshwater ecology, fisheries management, and vertebrate population dynamics. 

Originally from Richmond, VA, Petty graduated with a BA in Biology from the University of Virginia in 1990. He then worked for both the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries as a fisheries technician in the Chesapeake Bay. He returned to graduate school and earned an MS (1994) and a PhD (1998) in Forest Resources from the University of Georgia.

Robert G. Stanton, former Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior and former Director of the National Park Service, was appointed by President Barack Obama on October 30, 2014 to a four-year term on the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP). An independent federal agency, the ACHP promotes the educational, economic, and cultural value of historic preservation and advises the president and Congress on national historic preservation policy. It also influences federal activities, programs, and policies that affect historic and cultural properties. As Senior Advisor to the Interior Secretary from 2010-2014, Mr. Stanton served as a key senior analyst and provided executive level advice and support to the Secretary on a wide range of environmental, educational, organizational and management challenges, and opportunities and worked closely with the bureaus and offices in advancing the Secretary and the President's goals for Interior. He also represented the Secretary and the Department on Presidential Policy Review Committees, Boards and Commissions From 2009-2010 before assuming the Senior Advisor position in the immediate Office of the Secretary, Mr. Stanton served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Program Management. Mr. Stanton, prior to returning to Federal service in 2009, served as an Executive Professor at Texas A&M University in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences; Visiting Professor at Howard University in the Department of History (Public History Program); Professor of the Practice at Yale University in the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies; board member and consultant to a number of national conservation organizations. From 2001-2003, he also served as the International Union for Conservation and Nature (IUCN) Ambassador for the Fifth World Parks Congress held in 2003 in Durban, South Africa. Mr. Stanton earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Huston-Tillotson University, Austin, Texas, and did his graduate work at Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts. He has been awarded five honorary doctorate degrees: Doctor of Letters, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas; Doctor of Science, Huston-Tillotson University, Austin, Texas; Doctor of Environmental Stewardship, Unity College, Unity, Maine; Doctor of Public Policy, Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Doctor of Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Mac Stone combines his photographic and naturalist background to further conservation outcomes around the world. He lives in Greenville, SC with his wife, son and daughter, and is the executive director of Naturaland Trust, a Greenville-based non-profit that protects properties in South Carolina to expand parks and public access to the outdoors, improve water quality and viewsheds, and protect threatened and endangered species and historical sites. Stone is an accomplished author, speaker, a National Geographic Explorer and photographer and senior fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers and Sea Legacy. His images have been widely published and internationally awarded, he is the author of Everglades: America's Wetland and his TED talk has been viewed over one million times. He continues to work on Everglades restoration initiatives and he serves on the board of directors of the Everglades Foundation. His conservation work can be found at www.naturalandtrust.org and his photographic work at www.macstonephoto.com 

Dr. Brett Wright is the former dean of the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences at Clemson University. Prior to his appointment as dean, he was interim dean of Clemson’s College of Health, Education and Human Development and chair of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management. He also serves as co-chair of the U.S. Play Coalition, which is housed at the university. He came to Clemson in 2002 from George Mason University, where he chaired the Department of Health, Fitness and Recreation Resources, directed the Center for Recreation Resources Policy, and served as an affiliate faculty member of the Department of Biology’s Environmental Science and Public Policy Program. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Morehead State University and his doctorate from Texas A&M University. He is past president of the National Society of Park Resources and a fellow and board member of the American Academy of Park and Recreation Administration.

Emeritus Board Members

Gary E. Everhardt (deceased) was the ninth Director of the US National Park Service. After receiving a degree in Civil Engineering at North Carolina State University in 1957, he served as an Army officer and then went on to be an NPS engineer. He rose to the superintendency of Grand Teton National Park in 1972 and became the Director of the US National Park Service in 1975. As Director he pushed wilderness designation and oversaw programming for the observance of the United States Bicentennial. He ended his 43 year career with the NPS as the Superintendent of the Blue Ridge Parkway and he still lives in the Asheville area with his family today.

Dave Parker (deceased) has explored 55 of the 60 National Parks in the US over the last 50 years. Mr. Parker earned his BA and Master’s degrees from Wayne State University in Detroit. After serving in the Air Force, he joined the Oakland County MI Planing Commision where he conducted water resource studies and represented the community at sessions of the Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Parks Authority. Prior to becoming President and Chief Executive Officer of AGA in September, 1997, Mr. Parker was President of the Aluminum Association. Previously, Mr. Parker spent nine years in public policy positions at the Edison Electric Institute, addressing a variety of advocacy issues on behalf of the electric utility industry. His prior 17 years of government experience includes, service in a variety of senior positions at the White House, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of the Interior. He served as an airman in the U.S. Air Force from 1962-1968 and he was the 1997-98 Chairman of the Board of the American Society of Association Executives.

Dr. Lee Talbot (deceased) was an ecologist and geographer with over 60 years experience in 134 countries. Dr. Talbot was a Professor of Environmental Science, International Affairs & Public Policy at George Mason University (GMU) and a senior environmental advisor to World Bank, U.N. organizations and foreign governments. He held positions as the Director-General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); Assistant to Chairman, Chief Scientist and Foreign Affairs Director of the White House President’s Council on Environmental Quality for Presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter; Head of Environmental Sciences at the Smithsonian Institution; and an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. With his biologist wife, he spent over six years starting in the 1950s conducting pioneering ecosystem research on the Serengeti-Mara Plains of East Africa. They subsequently conducted the Southeast Asia Project of the IUCN as environmental advisors to 11 nations. Dr. Talbot was a member of over 20 committees and panels of the National Academy of Sciences, and Senior Scientific Advisor to the International Council of Scientific Unions. A pioneer in developing and applying ecosystem science and development of environmental policies, he was an author of the Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, World Heritage Convention, and many other national and international laws and policies. He served as president, vice president or board member of a number of national and international scientific and environmental organizations. He conducted over 160 exploration and research expeditions to remote or unknown areas on five continents.

Anne Walker is a graduate of the University of Arizona. She has served as a member of the National Park System Advisory Board, The Women’s Board of the American Heart Association and Chairman of HOPE Balls. Mrs. Walker has also served as Deputy Director for Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of Commerce and was Special Assistant to the Chairman and Deputy Director of Congressional Relations for the Consumer Product Safety Commision. In 1984, Mrs. Walker receives the “Chairman’s Award” for “dedication and diligence while serving as an effective liaison between the Commission and the Congress of the United States.” Mrs. Walker has held positions with Abel Company, Ron Walker and Associates, Inc., and the Dallas Market Center. Mrs. Walker is a published author and a teacher and she has 3 children and 2 grandsons.

Ronald H. Walker was the inaugural Chairman of the Board of Advisors for the Institute for Parks at Clemson University. Mr. Walker has an extensive record of accomplishments and service in business, government, and international consulting. Most recently, Mr. Walker was a Senior Partner for more than twenty years with Korn/Ferry International, the World's largest Executive Search Firm. Mr. Walker's extensive and distinguished record of government service includes Special Assistant to the President of the United States from 1969 to 1972 where he was the founder and first director of the White House Advance Office. He was responsible for planning and coordinating all Presidential travel both domestic and international. Those visits included all 50 states and 25 countries. He personally directed the preparations for the President's historic trips to the People's Republic of China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. President Nixon appointed him the eighth Director of the National Park Service in December, 1972 where he served until 1975. Mr. Walker has also served as a consultant to the White House Personnel Office, a senior advisor to four Presidents and on Special Diplomatic assignments abroad. In addition, he has served as a senior advisor to nine Republican Conventions, highlighted by his Chairmanship and position of CEO of the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas. At the request of President Ronald Reagan, he also chaired the 50th Presidential Inauguration. Mr. Walker has served on numerous boards, both public and private, including the Richard M. Nixon Foundation (Chairman), the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Kennedy Center, Vice Chair of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, past chairman of the Freedom's Foundation at Valley Forge, the National Park Foundation, Grand Teton National Park Foundation, Ford's Theatre, and Vice Chairman of the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution. Mr. Walker attended the University of Arizona where he studied government and American History. Upon graduation, he received a commission in the United States Army and served at Fort Knox, Fort Bragg and the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa) from 1961-64, rising to the rank of Captain.

David Vela, retired from the National Park Service in September 2020 after 30 years with the agency, most recently serving as Deputy Director, Exercising the Authority of the Director. He also served as Chair for the Committee for the Preservation of the White House. David was the first Latino to be nominated by the President of the United States to serve as Director of the National Park Service. David held numerous leadership and executive level assignments in the National Park Service to include serving as a Superintendent, Regional Director, and Associate Director. While serving in state government, he served as Director of the Texas Child Support program under the Attorney General of Texas. In retirement, David serves on a number of national nonprofit boards, and is the founder and president of Vela Heritage Consulting, LLC.He is a graduate of Texas A&M University, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Recreation and Parks. Over the course of his 38 years of public service, he has received numerous national awards for leadership and performance excellence from government, academia, and advocacy organizations. He is the author of Hola Ranger, My Journey Through The National Parks. David and his wife Melissa have two children and eight grandchildren.