Incoming Board members represent diverse backgrounds and professional interests
The Cowboy’s Board of Directors proudly announces the election of 12 new members. Dr. Billy Bergin, Jim J. Brewer, Don Brinkman, Ken Fergeson and Anita La Cava Swift were appointed to the Museum’s Board of Directors, while Randy Davis, Carl Edwards, Jennifer Kaiser, Alex Lee, Rod Moore, Jennifer Rogers-Etcheverry and Lynne Schonacher joined the Associate Board.
The Museum’s Board of Directors is comprised of 83 members from across the US. Their objective is to oversee and direct management in fulfilling the institution’s mission and purposes. The Museum’s business and affairs are managed by its Board of Directors, who also set policy and strategy while providing oversight and decision-making guidance.
“We are pleased to welcome our new Board members who bring a wealth of experience and diverse expertise,” said Museum President & CEO Natalie Shirley. “These distinguished leaders will be tremendous assets to The Cowboy family as we further our mission of preserving and interpreting the evolving history and culture of the American West.”
Dr. Billy Bergin served on the Museum’s Associate Board since 2010 after having been a Rodeo Historical Society board member for six years. He established his veterinary practice on the Island of Hawai’i with the opening of Hualalai Ranch Veterinary Hospital and West Hawai’i Animal Clinic in Kealakekua in 1968. Dr. Bergin also established two ranch practice veterinary facilities before retiring in 2018. Appointed Veterinary Medical Officer with the Livestock and Disease Control Division, State of Hawai’i Department of Agriculture in 1971, he continues his duties monitoring import/export activities, Brucellosis, Anaplasmosis and Tuberculosis programs. Dr. Bergin is retired and living in Kamuela, Hawai’i, with his wife, Pat.
Jim J. Brewer co-founded EnergyNet.com, currently the largest oil and gas online auction service in the world, in February 1999. In 1987, he co-founded J-Brex Company and has served as President and Exploration Manager since its formation. Brewer is currently President, Downtown Amarillo Inc.; President, Shikar Safari Club International; and President Elect, West Texas A&M University Foundation.
Lloyd Donald “Don” Brinkman grew up in Kerrville, Texas, where he considered himself a cowboy until he met his future grandfather-in-law, Joe Beeler. Watching his father build his collection and develop his relationships with artist’ ignited his love of cowboy and Western art. He is currently a director of the LD “Brink” Brinkman Foundation and is a board member of the Museum of Western Art in Kerrville, Texas. Brinkman’s father also served on the Museum’s Board of Directors from 1995 – 2015 until his passing. Brinkman is married to Terri and they have two sons, LD Brinkman III “Trace” and Truett W.J. Brinkman, who work together in the family business, Cabo Bob’s, based in Austin, Texas.
Ken Fergeson served on the Museum’s Associate Board since 2007. He is Chairman, NBC Oklahoma in Altus, Oklahoma, and serves in many leadership positions for national, regional and state organizations. He is the past Chairman for Americans for the Arts, Executive Board Treasurer for Business Committee for the Arts, immediate past Chairman for Mid-America Arts Alliance, board member of the First Americans Museum, Bank of Commerce – Duncan, Heritage Trust Company – Oklahoma City, director of Oklahoma Hall of Fame, director of Oklahoma Medial Research Foundation and member of Military Affairs Committee of the Altus Chamber. He and his wife, Mary Ann, reside in Altus, Oklahoma.
Anita La Cava Swift served on the Museum’s Associate Board since 2016. The oldest of John Wayne’s 27 grandchildren, she grew up in Southern California and enjoyed time with her grandfather on and off his movie sets. Since 2012 Swift has been Auxiliary President of the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica and committed to raising funds for life saving research. She is also one of the partners of John Wayne Enterprises, the company the family formed to license the image and likeness of John Wayne to benefit cancer research. Swift and her husband of 40 years, Tim, reside in Newport Beach, California.
Randolph S. “Randy” Davis is a fourth generation rancher on the CS Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico. Davis graduated from New Mexico Military Institute in 1976 where he was a member of the rodeo team and mounted color guard. After completing his degree from New Mexico State University he returned to the family ranch where he started a successful hunting and outfitting enterprise. He is involved with many local and state organizations including: Cimarron Maverick Club, New Mexico Cattle Grower’s Association, New Mexico Military Institute Alumni, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Safari Club International, Foundation for North American Wild Sheep and Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association. Davis has two sons, Ryan and Christiaan of Midland, Texas, and two grandchildren, Rhett and Ada Cate. Davis will join his mother, Linda Mitchell Davis, who has served on the Board of Directors since 1988.
Carl Edwards is a founding partner of Price Edwards and Company, the largest Oklahoma-based commercial real estate service company and PEC Investment Properties, LLC. For the past nine years, Edwards has been primarily involved in non-profit work and family businesses. Edwards entered the United States Naval Reserves as a student at the University of Oklahoma and graduated from Navy Officers Candidate School with a commission in the United States Naval Reserves in 1970 along with a bachelor's degree in economics from OU. He received his masters of business administration degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Edwards is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Presbyterian Health Foundation, a member of the Advisory Board of Directors and past President of Leadership Oklahoma City. In 2017 he was awarded Man of the Year by the Commercial Real Estate Council. Edwards and his wife, Susan, have been married 45 years and have two daughters and four grandchildren.
Jennifer Kaiser attended Texas A&M University, College Station, and graduated cum laude in the spring of 2005 and then attended the University of Oklahoma College of Law in Norman, graduating with distinction in 2008. An interest in the energy industry stemming from her upbringing on a farm and ranch in the Texas Panhandle steered her to a career in oil and gas. Kaiser manages Continental Resources, Inc.’s litigation docket for its northern exploration and development throughout Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota, and she supports the human resources department on matters of employment law. She serves as a member of St. Luke’s Methodist Church, Impact Oklahoma, the Junior League of Oklahoma City, the Annie Oakley Society, the Institute for Energy Law and the Oklahoma Bar Association. Kaiser and her husband, Alex, have a two-year-old daughter, Drew Kate, and are expecting the arrival of a baby boy in June.
Alex Lee grew up loving horses and wanting to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps of playing polo. After a family move to Tucson, Arizona, he quickly decided being a cowboy was much more fun and began taking cutting and roping lessons. While attending Salpointe Catholic High School, he participated in football and rodeo earning a college scholarship for football to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. Lee worked for one of the best cutting trainers, Gavin Jordan, in Sacramento, California, and became a horseman during this time. Returning home to work for his family and the Ashton family at Ashton Goodman Properties gave him the opportunity to learn from his mother, Lucy, and grandfather, Jack Goodman, about dedication to small business. Goodman also served on the Museum’s Board of Directors from 1989 – 2018 until his passing. Lee and his wife, Stephanie, have two children and live in Tucson, Arizona.
Rod Moore is a native Oklahoman and graduated from Oklahoma State University with a degree in business administration. He is president of Moore Tax and Financial Services in Norman, Oklahoma. Moore’s love of the West and the need to preserve it came from his great grandfather, JR McChesney, known by many as “The Granddaddy of the Texas Spur” and inventor of the Gal Leg Spur. Moore has three adult children and 10 grandchildren.
Jennifer Rogers-Etcheverry is the great granddaughter of Will Rogers and serves as the family spokesperson traveling throughout the year to promote Will Rogers’ legacy. Rogers-Etcheverry is founding director of the Will Rogers Ranch Foundation in Pacific Palisades, California, which supports Will Rogers State Historic Park. She serves on the Friends of Will Rogers Memorial Foundation in Claremore, Oklahoma, and is a board trustee of the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation. In 2003, she entered into the world of entrepreneurship and created her own company marketing her husband’s almonds, appropriately named “My Husband’s Nuts”. Aside from her almond company, Rogers-Etcheverry and her husband, Mark, operate a cattle ranch outside Elko, Nevada, where they have a cow-calf operation that has been in Mark’s family for over 70 years.
Lynne Schonacher graduated with a bachelor of arts in communications from the University of Kansas in 1984. She is active within the Oklahoma City community and various philanthropic organizations including serving as a board member of Payne Education Center, Valir PACE and as an Advisory Board Member and Facility Advisor for Kappa Alpha Theta at the University of Oklahoma. She is dedicated to at-risk youth through many different educational programs. She resides with her husband, Bill, in Oklahoma City.