Alecia L. Lawyer is the founder, artistic director, and principal oboist of the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Lawyer regularly presents her entrepreneurial model and dynamic ideas to conservatories, universities,…

Hermes Mallea is a partner in M(Group), an interiors and architecture firm based in New York. His work has been featured in such publications as The New York Times, Architectural…

Donald Friary was executive director of Historic Deerfield in Deerfield, Massachusetts for 27 years.  After his retirement in 2003, he became Historic Deerfield's Senior Research Fellow.  A native of Boston…

Ussama Makdisi is professor of history at the University of Houston, and was the first holder of the Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair of Arab Studies at Rice University. In 2020,…

John Fairey (1930-2020) was professor of design at Texas A&M University, and a gardener of international renown.  He founded Peckerwood Garden (now the John Fairey Garden) near Hempstead in 1971,…

Anne Olson is president of Buffalo Bayou Partnership. Over more than twenty years, Olson has developed and implemented a comprehensive bayou-enhancement program which includes land acquisition, trail and park development,…

Caroline Levander is the vice president for Global and Digital Strategy at Rice University, the Carlson Professor in the Humanities and Professor of English at Rice University. Her latest book…

Guy Hagstette, FAIA, is senior vice president of parks and civic projects at the Kinder Foundation. Hagstette was previously project director of Buffalo Bayou Park, overseeing the ambitious plan for…

Scott McCready, ASLA, is a principal designer for SWA Group. He served as the lead designer for Buffalo Bayou Park. He has engaged in other Houston waterway projects, including Evelyn's…

Rex Koontz is a professor in the school of art at University of Houston, as well as its director. He is the author of Lightning Gods and Feathered Serpents: The Public Sculpture…