Brenda A. Cline, the chief financial officer, secretary and treasurer of the Kimbell Art Foundation, was recognized as 2019 C-Suite Honoree of the Year by The Fort Worth Business Press at a luncheon June 26 at Ridglea Country Club.
Cline has been at the Kimbell for more than 26 years and came to the Kimbell Art Foundation after working as an audit senior manager with Ernst & Young LLP.
Business Press owner and published Richard Connor, in announcing her selection, noted that when Fort Worth business legend Kay Kimbell died in 1964, he left behind a mandate to build a museum of the first class.
The Kimbell Board said in its nomination of Cline that “Cline has broadly exemplified that commitment to excellence.”
“Her professional credentials are impeccable, a certified public accountant for over 35 years. She has an encyclopedic knowledge of the financial world, has a grasp of the highly technical issues and is very detail oriented. She has tirelessly used those skills to further the short and long-term goals of the foundation and museum,” the board said.
“She leads her foundation staff by example, never asking anyone to work harder than herself and manages others by delegating tasks and granting them the freedom to accomplish them successfully. For all of her achievements, Brenda has remained a kind and caring person who supports and uplifts those around her,” the nomination said.
“I have tremendous admiration for Brenda as a wise professional, colleague, and friend who has worked tirelessly for decades with great expertise to advance the mission of the Kimbell Art Foundation. No one could be more deserving of this award,” said Eric M. Lee, director of the Kimbell Art Museum.
Cline graduated from Texas Christian University with a BBA in accounting summa cum laude in May 1982. She also is a graduate of Leadership Fort Worth’s class of 1992.
She attended TCU on a music scholarship to study cello, and she still plays an instrument that is almost as big as she is.
But, she says, she realized in college that music as a profession was not what she wished to pursue and began looking for another field of study and switched to the Neeley School of Business to study accounting.
“Music and art fill my soul,” she says. “Hence, my role at the Kimbell is perfect for me: the intersection of business and fine art – both of my interests and passions.”
The event, which recognizes excellence at the C-Suite level, honored 19 people.
Presenting sponsors were the University of Texas at Arlington College of Business and Masterminds Leadership.
Platinum Sponsors were D&M Leasing and American National Bank & Trust. Silver Sponsors were the Kimbell Art Museum and Xerox Business Solutions Southwest. Bronze Sponsors were Caregiver Inc., Sundt, HUB and Southeast Fort Worth Inc. Rod Patrick Bootmakers and United Way of Tarrant County are supporting sponsors.
She is an independent trustee of the American Beacon Funds and the Cushing Funds and serves as a director of Tyler Technologies Inc. and Range Resources Corp.
Cline joined the Kimbell Art Foundation in 1993 after serving as an audit senior manager with Ernst & Young LLP.
Cline serves on the boards of several non-profits, including the boards of trustees of Texas Christian University and the Pension Fund of the Christian Church.
Cline and her husband, Chad, live in Fort Worth. They have two sons, Jared and Jason, who live in Fort Worth and Houston, respectively.
She is an Elder at University Christian Church.
Cline received the TCU Alumni Association’s 2007 Royal Purple Award for service to TCU and the Fort Worth community and the TCU Neeley School of Business Bob Bolen Civic Leadership Award and the TCU Distinguished Accounting Alumnus Award, both in 2016.
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2019 C-Suite Honorees
Katy Kothmann Abraham
Construction Cost Management, Inc.
Chief Executive Officer
Tamiko Bailey
Bailey’s Premier Services
President & CEO
Michael Bennett
Bennett Benner Partners
Principal & CEO
Nelson E. Claytor, Ph.D. **
Fresnel Technologies, Inc.
President
Brenda Cline
Kimbell Art Foundation
Secretary/Treasurer & CFO
Stephanie Culver
Buzzworthy
President & CEO
Dr. Delanor Doyle
Texas Health Aetna
Chief Medical Officer
Trevor Gruenewald
ECi Software Solutions
President & COO
Eric Hedlund
Sundt Construction
Senior VP & Texas District Manager
Deborah Jung
Kids Who Care
Founder/Executive Director
Mark Lashley
Caregiver, Inc.
CEO
Scott Parsinen
Cadmus Dental
Chief Executive Officer
Horatio Porter
North Texas Toll Authority
Chief Financial Officer/Assistant Executive Director
Troy Robertson *
Firestone & Robertson
Distiller & Proprietor
Jason Scoggins
Alpha Industries, LLC
Chief Operating Officer
Julie Swearingin ***
Fort Worth Police Department
Assistant Chief
Billy Smith
American Paint Horse Association
Executive Director
Ryan Vinson
Mineral Ware
CEO and Founder
Anthony Wonderly *
Olympus Property
Principal
* Unable to attend
** Unable to attend. Award accepted by Tuomas Hiltunen, General Director, Fort Worth Opera
*** Unable to attend. Award accepted by Fort Worth Police Officer Demetra Bradley.
2019 C-Suite Awards Presentations
The awards were presented by Phillip Shero of Masterminds Leadership (left in the individual pictures) and Harry Dombroski, dean of the University of Texas at Arlington College of Business, representing the event’s presenting sponsors.