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. Previously, she served on the boards of the San Francisco Opera Association and the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, among others. She 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-chairman 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 from1990-2000, 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. 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 + Company. 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 currently serves on the board of directors of Motorola Inc., AOL Inc., and Decision Economics, Inc., and on the board of trustees of the American University of Beirut. He serves on the advisory investment committee to the board of regents of the University of California and the advisory council to the J. David Gladstone Institute. 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 the Well Network, and is involved with Conservation International. 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. He currently serves as a board member of Association of Partners for Public Lands, Friends of the John Smith Chesapeake Trail, 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 senior government relations advisor to the Student Conservation Association. Mr. Reynolds served in the New Jersey National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve from 1966-1972. He holds a bachelor of sciences from Iowa State University and a master of landscape architecture from the 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 president and chief executive officer of Bank of the West. 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.  In addition to serving as a director of Bank of the West and BancWest Corporation, Mr. Shepherd is a director of Pacific Mutual Holding Company, Pacific Life, and Promontory Interfinancial Network. He also serves as a director of Episcopal Charities of California. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Financial Services Roundtable. 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 leads the effort to preserve the Presidio as an enduring resource for the American people. Middleton oversees the Presidio’s transformation into a great national park by creating a new community in the former military post’s buildings, restoring the forest and natural areas, establishing partnerships to financially support the park, and creating new recreational pursuits for visitors. The Trust was awarded the Urban Land Institute’s Global Award for Excellence in 2006. Middleton was the Presidio Trust’s first employee and has served as executive director since 2002. Previously, he worked closely with the Presidio Council, a blue-ribbon panel established by the Parks Conservancy to plan for the Presidio's transition, and was a senior aide to Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco). Middleton holds a master's degree in public administration from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and a bachelor's degree in social science from the University of California at Santa Barbara.