Welcome W. Wilson Sr., noted real estate developer, community leader and University of Houston alumnus, has been elected chairman of the University of Houston System Board of Regents for the fiscal year 2008, which begins Sept. 1, 2007.

He replaces Leroy Hermes, who served two terms as chairman.

The board also elected Calvin W. Stephens to serve as vice chairman and Jim P. Wise as secretary.

The nine-member board is the governing body of the University of Houston System, which includes the University of Houston, UH-Clear Lake, UH-Downtown, UH-Victoria and teaching centers in Sugar Land and Cinco Ranch.
The new officers were elected by the board at a meeting Thursday that also saw the approval of the FY08 budget, which totals $1.12 billion. (See separate release.)

Wilson was appointed to the board in 2006 by Gov. Rick Perry and will serve through 2011.

He is chairman and CEO of GSL Industrial Holdings, L.P., a group of companies that own and lease single-tenant industrial facilities in Texas. GSL Industrial also constructs build-to-suit and design/build projects. Wilson is also chairman of the board of River Oaks Financial Group, Inc., a mortgage banker.

Since 1955, he has been a real estate developer of subdivisions, apartment complexes, shopping centers, industrial facilities and office buildings. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was chairman of the board at three Texas banks. He served in the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations as a five-state Director of Civil and Defense Mobilization, which included responsibility for what is now known as FEMA.

He graduated from UH in 1949 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and is a former vice president of the Houston Alumni Organization. He received the UH Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1970 and the C.T. Bauer College of Business Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1996. He has long been actively involved with the M. D. Anderson Library.

He is a current or past board member of numerous professional and civic organizations, among them the Houston Convention and Tourist Bureau, the March of Dimes and the Texas Chapter of the American Judicature Society. He is married to Joanne Guest Wilson, an alumna of UH.

Stephens was appointed to the board in 2004 and will serve through 2009.

He is chairman and president of SSP Consulting, L.C., a firm that provides surety support for public sector entities. He is also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of National Corporate Network. Stephens serves on the advisory board of the University of North Texas College of Business Administration and the associate board of the Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business. Stephens is a board member of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association, the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas and a former chairman of the Southern Dallas Development Corporation. He is chairman of the African American Leadership Council and member of the Chief Executives Round Table.

He is a UH alumnus, having received his bachelor’s degree in marketing in 1972. He holds a master’s of business administration from Southern Methodist University. Stephens is chairman of the board of trustees of Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church of Dallas where he also serves as an ordained Deacon.

Wise was appointed to the board in 2006 and will serve through 2011.

He is a Managing Member of Haddington Energy Partners III, a private equity fund that provides capital to midstream natural gas companies with a focus on natural gas storage, gathering and processing, and other midstream natural gas activities. He has almost 40 years of operational and financial experience with several public companies, among them Integrated Electrical Systems, of which he was vice chairman of the board, CEO, and co-founder. He also held senior executive posts with Transco Energy Company and Houston Natural Gas Company.

A native Houstonian and fourth generation Texan, Wise graduated from the UH’s C.T. Bauer College of Business in 1966 with a BBA degree with a major in accounting. He is a member of the college’s Dean’s Executive Advisory Board, and was named Distinguished Alumnus in 2001.

He is a member of many civic and professional organizations, among them Life Member of the Houston Metropolitan Area Advisory Board and member of the National Advisory Board of the Salvation Army, and serves on the board of several corporations.