Leadership

Founder Emeritus

John D. Oswalt, M.D.

President of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons, Austin

Why I Joined the HeartGift Board:

I am the founder of HeartGift, along with Ray Wilkerson and Jim Hoover. I encouraged them to join me in making this happen. We planned this for a year before actually hiring an executive director. The program has just taken off and totally surprised all of us in its success. We have built a great board with members who are extremely involved.

Bio:

Dr. John D. Oswalt is a member of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons in Austin, Texas. He earned a biology degree from Texas Christian University in Forth Worth, Texas in 1968 and a medical degree in 1971 from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

He completed his internship at Brackenridge Hospital in Austin, and following his service in the United States Air Force as a Flight Surgeon, he carried out his residency at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, in the areas of General and Cardiothoracic Surgery. He completed his residency at The Texas Heart Institute at Houston with an Exchange Residency during the spring in 1979 with emphasis on Congenital Heart Surgery.

Dr. Oswalt joined the group Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons in 1980 and at that time there were six members. He became president in 1996 with the group now numbering twenty-two surgeons. This group remains one of the largest practicing groups of its kind in the US. In addition, he has held several academic and administrative appointments with various hospitals in Texas.

Dr. Oswalt was organizer and chair of the Heart Transplant Program in 1985 and performed the first heart transplant in Central Texas in 1986. In conjunction with the program he founded the Seton Heart Transplant Fund, which helped transplant patients with funds for medicines after transplantation. He has served on numerous boards in executive leadership roles.

One of Dr. Oswalt’s greatest achievements has been the founding of the HeartGift Foundation. It is an organization that brings children from developing countries with congenital heart defects to the US for life-saving surgery. The care is provided in children’s hospitals by surgeons, nurses, and health care providers pro bono. The child and parent are housed and nurtured by volunteers giving an average of 800 hours per child. The child returns to their country with a chance to live a normal life and have a renewed perception of the United States. In 1982, Dr. Oswalt was the first surgeon in Texas to perform the Ross Procedure and in 1990 was the first in the world to advocate its use in the treatment of aortic endocarditis.

Dr. Oswalt received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Texas Christian University in 1995, Cardiac Provider of the Year from the American Heart Association in 1999 and Austin Business Journal, Health Care Hero Award in 2010, among many other awards and achievements throughout his prominent career. Most recently, he was a 2012 recipient of the Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumnus Award from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

Dr. Oswalt is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He has been the principal investigator for numerous clinical research studies and travels internationally to teach cardiac surgical skills.

Dr. John D. Oswalt is a native of West Texas, Fort Stockton, though born in Houston. Dr. Oswalt is married to Karen Ross Oswalt, and they reside in Austin where they raised their two daughters, Sara and Claire, who are now married. Dr. Oswalt and Karen have one grandson, Ozzie.

Founder Emeritus

Ray Wilkerson

CEO, The Ray Wilkerson Companies

Why I Joined the HeartGift Board:

“HeartGift was the answer for me in a quest for involvement in helping children. The volunteer time and funds collected made the greatest impact of any nonprofit that I have ever been involved in. The impact of healing these children and the response of their parents is nothing short of a religious experience.”

Bio:

Ray A. Wilkerson co-founded HeartGift with Dr. John “Chip” Oswalt and Jim Hoover in 2000. He is President and CEO of the Ray Wilkerson Companies Inc., a commercial real estate investment firm and is the current Chairman of the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority appointed by Governor Rick Perry. He is also a board member of Colorado River Foundation Tributary League Endowment. Ray serves as vice chancellor of Knights of the Symphony and is a life member of the Austin Travis County Livestock Show. Mr. Wilkerson is former Chairman of the Lower Colorado River Authority. He was honored by LCRA through the dedication of the Wilkerson Center for Colorado River Education in January 2009. He served as vice-chair of the Texas Rehabilitation Commission appointed by Governor William P. Clements, and reappointed by Governor George W. Bush.

Chairman of the Board

Reese Ryan

Chief Financial Officer for Ryan Sanders Baseball

Why I Joined the HeartGift Board:
I never felt that there is a better use for my time and money to help save a child’s life. It is an unbelievable opportunity to be involved with something that makes such a profound impact on people’s lives.

Bio:
Reese Ryan has served as Chief Financial Officer for Ryan Sanders Baseball, ownership group for the Round Rock Express and Corpus Christi Hooks baseball clubs for over 12 years.

Active in his Alumni Association, Reese is a 1999 graduate of Texas Christian University with a Bachelor of Science in Radio-Television-Film Production as well as a graduate of the TCU Ranch Management program.

In addition to his duties with Ryan Sanders Baseball, Reese is also involved in real estate as a partner in Shope and Ryan Management, a real estate investment company based in Ft. Worth. He also serves as Chairman of the Board for R Bank, a community bank in Round Rock, and is a partner behind the Texas expansion of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.

Reese is a recognizable member of the non-profit community serving on the Board of Trustees for Round Rock Hospital and the Advisory Board for the Former Texas Rangers Foundation. He currently serves on the Board of YMCA of Greater Williamson County and is a member of the HeartGift Foundation Board, a foundation whose mission is to provide lifesaving heart surgery to disadvantaged children living in developing countries where specialized medical intervention is scarce or nonexistent.

Reese also serves on the Boards of Directors for Nolan Ryan’s Tender Aged Beef and The Nolan Ryan Foundation located in Alvin, Texas.

Reese and wife, Alison, are the parents of two daughters, Caroline (11) and Julia (9). The family resides in Austin, Texas and spends their free time skiing, hunting, fishing and traveling.

Vice-Chair

Frost Murphy

Elite MMA Baytown

Why I Joined the HeartGift Board:
I chose to get involved with HeartGift because of my beautiful wife Lauren. Lauren and her family shared many of the HeartGift stories with me and I wanted to do something to honor her family right before we got married. So my team at Elite MMA supported me in a massive fundraiser to sponsor a 12 year old boy from China to have life saving heart surgery. Hundreds of people came together to raise money for a kid that none of us knew. It was simply people treating another the way they would want to be treated.

After the fundraiser the Houston Board invited me to be a part of it and I have been having fun ever since.

Treasurer

Maryann Bell

Secretary

Sharon Dobbs

Senior Counsel, IBM Systems and Technology Group

Bio:
Sharon McDonnell Dobbs is Senior Counsel in IBM Systems and Technology Group in Austin, Texas. In her current role, Sharon leads the worldwide general legal support of STG mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and venture investments. Sharon also provides legal support for and coordinates staffing of STG Alliance deals.

Sharon joined IBM in 1999. Prior to assuming her current responsibilities, Sharon managed the team of STG lawyers who provide support to the IBM Power Systems and Systems Software development and brand organizations.

Sharon received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia and a Juris Doctor, summa cum laude, from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota where she served as an editor of the law review. She began her legal career as a trial lawyer with Dorsey & Whitney in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and McGinnis, Lochridge & Kilgore in Austin, Texas, where she focused on securities fraud, indenture trust, and banking lawsuits.

Board Member

Tim Brierty

Board Member

Bryan Burkhart

Board Member

Stephen Garrison

Louisiana Board Chair

Maureen Huguley

Board Member

Shruti Jha

Shruti Jha is a Global Marketing Manager at Indeed.com, the world’s #1 job site.  In her current role she leads global corporate branding efforts for Indeed across Asia-Pacific and Europe. She received her BBA from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and her MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.  She moved to Austin in 2012 where she currently lives with her husband, Rohit Jha, and their two kids.  At just 15 months old her son, Ishaan, underwent open-heart surgery to repair an ASD. This experience sparked Shruti’s interest in HeartGift’s mission.

Louisiana Board Representative

Claire Koch

Why I Joined the HeartGift Board:
When I look at the miracle of what the surgeons did for my own child’s heart, how could I not want to share the gift of life with children from around the world.

Board Member

Tim LaFrey

Why I Joined the HeartGift Board:
HeartGift fills such an important niche and does so in a way that not only saves the lives of our patients, but also improves the lives of everyone involved.

Houston Board Chair

Jan Larsen

Boston Scientific

Austin Board Chair

Karen Looby

Board Member

David Mebane

Board Member

Jamie Roberts

Jamie is originally from Alaska and holds an engineering degree from Colorado School of Mines. She has worked in the oil and gas industry for more than fifteen years. Currently Jamie lives in Tomball and is a stay at home mom to son Aaron. Jamie and her husband Gene have volunteered as hosts for two different HeartGift patients.

Board Member

John Schweitzer

President of Westgate Corp. and Managing Partner of Campbell Capital Ltd.

Bio:
Mr. John C. Schweitzer has been the President of Westgate Corp. and Managing Partner of Campbell Capital Ltd. since 1976, which holds investments in real estate and venture capital operations. Mr. Schweitzer has been a Director of Regency Centers Corp. (a national owner, operator and developer of grocery-anchored neighborhood retail centers) since 1999 and serves as Lead Director and is Chairman of Compensation Committee and Member of Corporate Governance and Nominating Committees. He has been a Trustee of Archstone-Smith Trust since 1998 and serves as Lead Independent Trustee and is a Member of Executive Committee. He serves as a Director of J. P. Morgan Chase Bank of Texas-Austin and KLRU Austin Public Television. He served as a Director of Homestead Village Inc. since 1997. He served as a Member of Pacific Retail Trust’s board of trustees from June 1997 until its merger into Regency in February 1999. He served as a Director or officer of a number of public companies and financial institutions, including Franklin Federal Bancorp., Elgin Clock Company, El Paso Electric Company, MBank El Paso, the Circle K Corp. and Enerserv Products. He serves as a Trustee of Texas Christian University. Regency Centers Corp., is a General Partner of Regency Centers LP.

Board Member

Dean Wilkerson

San Antonio Board Chair

Lauren Willers

Board Member

Jeff Woodham

Board Member

Karen L. Wright, M.D.

Pediatric Cardiologist

Why I Joined the HeartGift Board:

“I have firsthand knowledge of the important life-saving work this organization performs.I feel very strongly the necessity to share the gifts we each possess. I am blessed to have the talent and ability to care for children with heart problems. In the United States, we are blessed as a society to have the resources to take care of children with congenital heart disease, which affects about one percent of children. HeartGift enables us to extend these blessings to others in the world who are far less fortunate than ourselves.”

Bio:

Dr. Karen Wright is a board-certified, interventional cardiologist who has been a partner for thirteen years at Children’s Cardiology Associates, in Austin, Texas, an affiliate of Pediatrix Medical Group. She recently completed her tenure as Chief of Staff at Dell Children’s Medical Center, and is Secretary on the Executive Committee for the HeartGift Foundation Board of Directors. Dr. Wright has provided cardiology care and interventions to well over half the children served by HeartGift since its inception. Her outstanding work has been recognized by her peers who have elected her as a Super Doctor for five years.

Board Member

Frank Zidar, M.D.

Dr. Frank Zidar is the Medical Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories at the Heart Hospital of Austin, and is the Director of Interventional Services at Austin Heart. Dr. Zidar and his wife Melissa have also proudly served as a HeartGift Host Family.