Reeve Hamilton, The Texas Tribune December 12, 2014
Fort Worth businessman Ardon Moore will chair the committee running inauguration festivities for Gov.-elect Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov.-elect Dan Patrick in January, it was announced on Friday.
Moore, president of Lee M. Bass Inc. in Fort Worth, is a vice chairman of the University of Texas Investment Management Company, president of the Fort Worth Zoological Association, and a member of the advisory council for the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.
“I am proud to serve as Chairman of a committee with such a great history and tradition in Texas,” Moore said in a statement.
Alejandra de la Vega Foster, one of the inaugural committee’s co-chairs, is president of Almacenes Distribuidores de la Frontera, which owns and operates hundreds of convenience stores in Mexico. She is a current co-owner of the El Paso Chihuahuas and a former owner and manager of the Juarez Cobras, a major league soccer team. Her husband, Paul Foster, is the chairman of the University of Texas System Board of Regents.
Dallas philanthropist Toni Brinker Pickens is the other co-chair. She is the founder of Economic Partners Investing in Communities, a collaboration between nonprofits and multiple city offices in Dallas. She is a founding member of the AT&T Performing Arts Center and serves on a number of major foundation boards. She married T. Boone Pickens, chairman and CEO of BP Capital LLC, earlier this year.
The co-chairs of the finance committee for the inaugural effort are John L. Nau III, president and chief executive officer of Silver Eagle Distributors, one of the largest distributors of Anheuser-Busch products, and Trevor Rees-Jones, president and CEO of Chief Oil & Gas LLC.
“Whether in business or in their communities, each of these Texans has served our state in an enormous capacity, personifying the Texas work ethic and proving all that can be accomplished through dedication and hard work,” Abbott said in a statement.
“Texas inaugurations are steeped in time-honored tradition and reflect the story of our great state. These men and women are the best possible team to honor this tradition and I look forward to working with them as we plan the 2015 Texas Inauguration,” he said.
Disclosure: The McCombs School of Business is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. Lee Bass sits on the board of directors for the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, a major donor to the Tribune. Paul Foster is a major donor. T. Boone Pickens and John Nau have been major donors. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.