James KeYes

Jim is a global business leader, philanthropist, educator, artist, musician, commercial pilot, and modern renaissance man. He is the former CEO of two internally recognized Fortune 500 companies, 7-Eleven, Inc, and Blockbuster, Inc. His other business interests cover a broad range of industries including retail, consumer products, technology, new space, energy, and advanced nuclear. He sits on several public company boards and serves as a board adviser to a venture capital firm and a number of start-up companies. Keyes’ philanthropic initiatives, have an equally broad focus, including serving on the Board of Governors for the American Red Cross, the former Chairman of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and serving on the board of directors for institutions such as UT Southwestern Medical School, The Cooper Institute, Dallas Performing Arts Center, SMU Cox School of Business, Columbia Business School, and his alma mater, College of the Holy Cross. He has had a lifelong commitment to education, serving as a founding director of the Dallas Education Foundation and is the founder of the Education is Freedom Foundation. A personification of the American Dream, Keyes came from his humble beginnings and was inducted in 2005 as a member of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.