The Presidio Trust is governed by a seven-member board of directors. Six members are appointed by the President of the United States. The seventh is the U.S. Secretary of the Interior or his designee. An executive director reports to the board and oversees a staff with expertise in resource preservation, operations and maintenance, planning, real estate development, public affairs and programs, law, and finance.

Nancy Hellman Bechtle, chair of the Presidio Trust board, serves on the board of directors for the Charles Schwab Corporation and is the chairman of the board for the Sugar Bowl Corporation. Previously, she was chief financial officer and director for J.R. Bechtle & Company from 1979 to 1998. From 1987 to 2001, she was president and chief executive officer of the San Francisco Symphony and has served as a member of the San Francisco Symphony board of governors since 1984. She served on the board of the National Park Foundation from 2001 to 2007 and held the board’s citizen chair from 2005 to 2007. Ms. Bechtle has received several honors, including the Lifetime Achievement in the Arts from the California Arts Council and the Investment in Leadership award from the Coro Foundation. She holds a bachelor of arts from Stanford University. Ms. Bechtle was appointed to the Presidio Trust board of directors by President George W. Bush in 2008.

William Wilson, vice-chair of the Presidio Trust board of directors, has founded and led Bay Area-based real estate investment firms for over 40 years, including William Wilson and Associates, Wilson/Cornerstone Properties, and Wilson/Equity Office. He currently serves as managing partner of Wilson Meany Sullivan, Inc. Previously, he founded the Borel Companies (1963), Webcor Builders Inc. (1971), and Rusty Scupper Restaurants (1980). Mr. Wilson serves on several boards, including the California Academy of Sciences, the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and Consortium, Douglas Emmett, Inc., the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey (Emeritus), and the Stanford University Department of Athletics’ Investment Trust (Emeritus). Mr. Wilson earned a bachelor of sciences in engineering from Stanford University in 1958. He was appointed to the Trust board by President George W. Bush in 2003.

David H. Grubb chaired the Presidio Trust board of directors from December of 2003 until July of 2009, and was reappointed to the Trust board by President Barack Obama in 2010. He also served on the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy board of trustees from 1990-2000, where he oversaw the effort to restore Crissy Field as chair of the projects committee. Mr. Grubb joined Swinerton, Inc., a San Francisco based general construction firm in 1964 as a project engineer. He became the company’s president in 1988 and its chairman in 1996. He currently serves on the board of directors for Immaculate Conception Academy and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. He has also served on several cultural and business community committees and has offered his support to a number of charitable organizations, serving on the boards of Saint Patrick’s Seminary, the Meadow Club, San Domenico School, and San Francisco Zoological Society. He holds a bachelor of science from Princeton University and a master of science from Stanford University.

William R. Hambrecht is the founder of the San Francisco-based financial services firm WR Hambrecht + Co. Mr. Hambrecht is widely credited with creating the OpenIPO which made the initial public offering process more equitable. Prior to WR Hambrecht + Co, he co-founded Hambrecht & Quist, which specialized in investing in Silicon Valley companies. Mr. Hambrecht has served as a director for numerous private and public companies. In October 2006, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Mr. Hambrecht graduated from Princeton University in 1957. He was appointed to the Trust board by President Barack Obama in 2010.

Charlene Harvey worked for 16 years with the Management Center of San Francisco as a staff consultant to non-profit organizations. A longtime parks champion, she has served on the board of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy since 1996. Mrs. Harvey was a driving force behind the creation of Inspiration Point Overlook at the Presidio, helping fund the project in memory of her late husband, Jim Harvey, CEO of TransAmerica, and chair of the Presidio Council. Mrs. Harvey also serves on the boards of the San Francisco Foundation and Schwab Charitable, and is involved with Conservation International, Women for Women International, and WELL Network. She is a past chair of KQED and of the advisory committee to Grants for the Arts, and past president of the Junior League of San Francisco. She also served on the boards of the Rosenberg Foundation, the Mental Health Association of San Francisco, and the California Pacific Medical Center. She was awarded the SPUR Award in 1997 and the Outstanding Volunteer Fund Raiser Award in 1996 by the National Society of Fund Raising Executives. Mrs. Harvey was appointed to the Trust board by President Barack Obama in 2010.

John Reynolds served for 39 years in the National Park Service including as deputy director, regional director, director of the Denver Service Center, superintendent of North Cascades National Park, and assistant superintendent of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and subsequently as executive vice president of the National Park Foundation from 2005 to 2007. He currently serves as a board member of the Student Conservation Association, Chesapeake Conservancy, Global Parks, and Shenandoah National Park Trust; as a member of North Cascades Institute Advisory Council; as chair of the Flight 93 National Memorial Federal Advisory Commission, and the Captain John Smith National Historic Trail Advisory Council; and as the Commonwealth of Virginia Citizen Representative on the Chesapeake Bay Commission. Mr. Reynolds served in the New Jersey National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve from 1966 to 1972. He holds a bachelor of sciences from Iowa State University and a master of landscape architecture from the State University of New York at Syracuse. He was appointed as the Secretary of the Interior’s designee to the Trust board in July 2009.

J. Michael Shepherd is chairman and chief executive officer of Bank of the West and of BancWest Corporation. He is also a member of the executive committee of BNP Paribas Retail Banking. Previously, he served as general counsel of The Bank of New York Company, Inc. and of Shawmut National Corporation. He was a partner in the San Francisco law firm of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP and special counsel to Sullivan & Cromwell. Mr. Shepherd also served as senior deputy Comptroller of the Currency, associate counsel to the President of the United States, and deputy assistant Attorney General. Mr. Shepherd is a director of First Hawaiian Bank, Pacific Mutual Holding Company, Pacific Life Insurance Company, and Promontory Interfinancial Network, and is a member of the advisory board of FTV Capital. He is a member of the FDIC Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion, director of Operation HOPE, member of the Bay Area Council’s executive committee, and chapter member of the Washington National Cathedral, among other affiliations. Mr. Shepherd is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of Michigan Law School. He was appointed to the Presidio Trust board of directors by President George W. Bush in 2008.

Executive Director

Craig Middleton has served as executive director of the Presidio Trust since 2001. Over the last decade, the organization has transformed major areas of the Presidio into public parkland; redeveloped and preserved hundreds of historic buildings; recruited over 200 organizations to become part of the park and its programs; and raised over a billion dollars in non-federal funds for the park. The Presidio is on track to becoming financially self-sufficient in 2013.  Mr. Middleton manages a staff of 340 and an annual budget of $100 million. Previously, Mr. Middleton worked closely with Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi on bipartisan legislation to establish the organization and served as the Trust’s first employee. After holding several leadership positions in the organization, Mr. Middleton was named executive director. He earned a master’s degree in public administration from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and a bachelor’s degree in history, economics and political science from the University of California at Santa Barbara.