The Dee Howard Foundation has announced that Bruce R. McCaw, Gen. Edward A. Rice, Jr. (USAF Ret.), and Bianca Rhodes have joined The Dee Howard Foundation Board of Directors and that Gen. Rice, Bianca Rhodes, and Richard M. Francey, Jr. (Vice President, San Antonio Operations, GDC Technics) have been appointed to the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors.
Bruce R. McCaw is currently Chairman of Seattle Hotel Group, co-chair of Apex Foundation and Chairman Emeritus of Pistol Creek Company. He was a co-founder and director of McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc. and Claircom Communications; co-founder, VP and Director of Horizon Air; Chairman and founder of Forbes Westar, Inc.; and former director of Alaska Air Group and Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). He was also a Partner and Director of Universal Space Lines, Universal Space Network, and Rocket Development Company with Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr., pioneering reusable spacecraft.
McCaw serves in various other capacities for several charitable foundations, including the aforementioned Apex Foundation, Founding Director and current board member of Behind the Badge Foundation, the Seattle Opera, the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, and Trustee Emeritus of the National Air and Space Museum. Formerly he was Co-Chair of Talaris Research Institute as well as former trustee of Washington State University foundation, St. Thomas and Lakeside schools where he was honored with the Distinguished Service Award in 2008. Bruce McCaw has been a volunteer at the Museum of Flight since 1979, a Trustee since 1985, a member of the Executive Committee for more than 30 years and was Chairman in 2003 and 2004. He is a member of Quiet Birdmen, the Wings Club, NAA and NBAA. He has also been a pilot for more than 50 years, holding commercial and instrument ratings and is type rated in the Lear Jet 35, Falcon 50/900, and Fokker F27. In 1988 Bruce, along with Museum of Flight Trustees, Clay Lacy and Joe Clark, organized Friendship One; would set the around the world record in a Boeing 747 SP with a record at 36 hours, 54 minutes, and 15 seconds, raising over $500,000 for children’s charities. This record still stands for aircraft over 300,000kg.
McCaw attended the University of Washington and Colorado College, where he received the Doctor of Humane Letters Degree in 2015. In 2004, Bruce and his family received Seattle’s First Citizens Award. In 2005 he was inducted into the Living Legends of Aviation, and in 2007, he was awarded the Washington Policy Center Stanley O. McNaughton Champion of Freedom Award. In that same year, the Apex Foundation was recognized with Outstanding Philanthropic Foundation of the year award from the Northwest Chapter of the National Association of Fundraising Professionals. Bruce was also awarded the Woodrow Wilson Award and the Behind the Badge Law Enforcement Citizen of the Year Award in 2009. In 2013, Bruce received the Pathfinder Award, and in 2017, the Red Barn Heritage Award which recognizes a significant and exceptional commitment to The Museum of Flight and the Seattle Community. In 2019 he was inducted into the Northwest Motorsport’s hall of fame at the World of Speed in Oregon.
Ed Rice retired at the rank of general from the U.S. Air Force on December 1, 2013. Prior to retirement Rice served as the Commander of Air Education and Training Command where he was responsible for recruiting, training, and educating Air Force personnel. From February 2008 to October 2010, Rice served as the senior U.S. military commander in Japan, where he worked closely with other military commanders and our embassy team to think through the strategic challenges and opportunities associated with our most important ally in the Asia-Pacific region.
Rice holds a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering sciences from the U.S. Air Force Academy; a Master of Science degree in aeronautical science and technology from Embry-Riddle University; a Master of Science degree in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College; and he completed a National Security Fellowship at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and a White House Fellowship at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Rice is currently a private consultant and serves as the Chairman of the U.S. Air Force Academy Board of Visitors and as an advisor/trustee of numerous other local and national boards. A partial list of Gen. Rice’s public service includes:
- Serving on the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees for the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County.
- Serving on the Military Advisory Board of the General Electric Veterans Network. Provided guidance and advice to G.E. senior leadership on how to meaningfully address the needs of veterans and advance the role of veterans within the company.
- National Medal of Honor Heritage Foundation Advisory Board Member (purpose of the Foundation is to build a Medal of Honor Heritage Center to house the Medal of Honor Museum, the Medal of Honor Society officers, and the Medal of Honor Heritage Foundation).
- Appointed by the Mayor of San Antonio to the Airport Systems Development Committee whose purpose is to evaluate the capacity of San Antonio International Airport and other local airports to accommodate the region’s growth and long-term air service needs (next 50 years).
- Board member for the UP Partnership whose purpose is to ensure all young people in San Antonio are ready for the future through data coordination, organizational alignment and policy change.
- Voting Trustee of the San Antonio Medical Foundation whose mission is to provide leadership and active stewardship of land and other assets to improve health care, advance biomedical science and enhance community well-being. Military Advisor to the government of Taiwan.
- Appointed by President Obama and reappointed by President Trump to the USAFA Board of Visitors. The Board inquires into the morale, discipline, curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, academic methods and other matters relating to the Academy. The Board is comprised of six Presidential appointees and nine members of congress. General Rice is chairman of the board.
- Governing Trustee of the Falcon Foundation whose purpose is to further the opportunity for highly motivated, exceptional, young men and women to attend the USAFA.
- Selected as a 2020 United States Air Force Academy distinguished graduate.
Bianca Rhodes graduated from UT-Austin with a BBA in Finance in 1981. Rhodes’ career started in banking which led to positions with two public companies as their Chief Financial Officer: Intelogic Trace, (NYSE:IT) and Kinetic Concepts Inc. (NASDQ: KNCI). As KCI’s CFO, she engineered a turnaround which enabled its private offering just three years later, at a valuation of approximately $1 billion. Rhodes then founded CrossRhodes Consulting, specializing in raising capital and structuring buyouts for dozens of companies.
Since 2014, Rhodes has served as the President and CEO of Knight Aerospace which specializes in roll-on, roll-off medical and VIP modules, palletized systems, and ground support equipment sold to over 25 countries throughout the world.
Her career includes numerous voluntary positions including the founding of Any Woman Can, and Board positions with AirLife San Antonio, Junior Achievement of South Texas, Big Brothers and Sisters of San Antonio, Baptist Healthcare Systems, San Antonio Lighthouse for the Blind, and the San Antonio Greater Chamber of Commerce.
Rhodes also serves on the Board of Directors of Dura Software, Inc, the Hyper-Niche Software Company based in San Antonio.
The 2020 Class will be inducted into the San Antonio Aviation and Aerospace Hall of Fame at the Awards Ceremony and Dinner to be hosted by DHF Board Member GDC Technics at its state of the art Hangar at Port San Antonio on 26 March 2020. The 2020 Hall of Fame will feature a reception with entertainment provided by the Southwest High School Mariachi Band, dinner with the presentation of the Colors by the 433rd Airlift Wing Color Guard and the singing of the National Anthem by Lt.Col. Kat Strus,D.M.(USAF Ret.), induction of 2020 Honorees, a special award ceremony honoring the members of the 4th Allied P.O.W. Wing, the presentation of the third annual DHF STEM Education Excellence Award (SEEA), and a display of current and vintage US Military and civilian aircraft. There will also be exhibits by many of DHF’s education partners and a special exhibit by the USAF Recruiting Service.
