Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Board of Directors Elects Officers and Swears In New Board Member
DFW AIRPORT, Texas, Feb. 4, 2016 -- The Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Board of Directors elected Board officers and swore in a new member for the coming year at its February Board meeting. Sam Coats of Dallas was elected as Chair of the DFW Airport Board for the next year, after serving as Vice Chair for the past two years. William (Bill) Meadows of Fort Worth will serve as Vice Chair and Bernice J. Washington of Dallas will serve as Board Secretary. New Board member Amir Rupani was also sworn in at the meeting.
Board Chair Sam Coats has extensive aviation experience, serving as President of Muse Air Corporation as well as having held senior management positions with Continental Airlines, Inc., Southern Cross Airlines Holdings in Australia, Southwest Airlines Company, Braniff Airways, Inc. and Texas International Airlines, Inc. Mr. Coats has also practiced law with the firm of Jenkens & Gilchrist in Dallas and has served as a member of the Texas legislature. Mr. Coats has served on the DFW Airport Board since 2012.
Vice Chair Bill Meadows, the chairman emeritus of Hub International Texas, Inc., has served on the DFW Airport Board since 2014. Mr. Meadows currently serves as Chairman of the DFW High Speed Rail Commission. He previously served as a State Transportation Commissioner and member of the State Water Board. He also served 4 terms as a member of the Fort Worth City Council and as its Mayor Pro-Tem, and as Vice Chair of the North Texas Tollway Authority.
Board Secretary Bernice J. Washington is President and CEO of BJW Consulting Group, LLC. She is a nationally recognized businesswoman with more than three decades of experience in sales, marketing and management. Ms. Washington, a retired executive from Bayer Healthcare, is a highly regarded keynote presenter and a faculty member at The Governance Institute, and she has served on Texas Health Resources Boards for nearly 20 years.
The Dallas City Council appointed Amir Rupani to the Airport Board in January. He is president and CEO of Texas Prince Properties, Inc. He serves as a board member of the Trinity River Authority of Texas, the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth and the Dallas Foundation, and is past chairman and current executive committee member of the Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce.
The DFW International Airport Board is comprised of 12 members, with the Mayors of Dallas and Fort Worth each holding a permanent seat on the Board. The Dallas City Council appoints six members of the Board, and the Fort Worth City Council appoints three members. A single non-voting member is appointed by one of the four host cities of DFW Airport, rotating annually between the cities of Euless, Grapevine, Irving and Coppell. The current non-voting member is Euless Mayor Linda Martin.
- DFW Airport Board Members for 2016:
- Chair – Sam Coats
- Vice Chair – William Meadows
- Secretary – Bernice J. Washington
- Mayor Mike Rawlings, Dallas
- Mayor Betsy Price, Fort Worth
- Lillie Biggins
- Henry Borbolla, III
- Bridget M. Lopez
- Regina Montoya
- Curtis E. Ransom
- Amir Rupani
- Mayor Linda Martin, Euless (non voting member)