Board Elects New Members and Appoints Honorary Trustees

HOUSTON (May 1, 2008)—The Texas Heart Institute welcomes Kelli Kickerillo, Thomas A. Roupe and Wallace Wilson to its Board of Trustees. The role of the Board of Trustees is to help establish an environment that will allow scientists, physicians and support personnel to work at their highest capacity, and to build informed and steady support for these activities.   
 
Ms. Kelli Kickerillo is Executive Vice President/Chief Marketing Officer for Kickerillo Companies. She works closely with her father, Vincent Kickerillo, on acquisitions and enjoys developing creative strategies to support her company’s existing and future development projects. Ms. Kickerillo serves on the Alumni Board at the University of St. Thomas, the Advisory Board for Texas A&M’s Institute of Biosciences and Technology in Houston, as well as the Board of Trustees of Duschene Academy.

Mr. Thomas A. Roupe is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Aqueduct Capital Group. Prior to founding the firm in 2006, he was Managing Director at Goldman Sachs & Co. and Regional Manager of the Private Wealth Management group since 2000, where he led southwestern business. Mr. Roupe serves on the Board of Directors for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and the Alley Theatre. He is also a member the Council of Overseers at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University.

Mr. Wallace Wilson is the retired Chairman of the Board of Wilson Industries, Inc., which merged with Smith International in 1998. He has been involved in the oil and gas business as well as ranching in South Texas for many years. Presently, Mr. Wilson serves as a Director of the Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital Foundation and the Board of the Texas Medical Center.

The category of Honorary Trustee was introduced last year with the appointment of Mr. Dan Duncan. Honorary Trustees are invited to attend and participate in meetings of the Board of Trustees, and to weigh in on a variety of important issues. Joining Mr. Duncan as Honorary Trustees will be The Honorable James A. Baker III, David Grimes, Bob McNair, John Nau III, Hakeem Olajuwon and Anthony Petrello.

The Honorable James A. Baker III has served in senior government positions under three United States Presidents. Mr. Baker served as White House Chief of Staff from 1981 to 1985 and was then appointed the 67th Secretary of the Treasury under President Ronald Reagan until 1988. He served as the nation’s 61st Secretary of State from January 1989 through August 1992 under President George Bush. Mr. Baker is the senior partner in the law firm of Baker Botts. He is Honorary Chairman of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. Mr. Baker received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1991 and has been the recipient of many other awards for distinguished public service. Mr. Baker also received The Denton A. Cooley Leadership Award in 2001 and serves on THI’s National Advisory Council.

Mr. David Grimes is the Principal of Grimes Energy Company, President of Grimes Land & Exploration Company, President of Grimes Holdings, Inc. and Managing Partner of Trifecta Oil and Gas L.P. He is the Chairman of the Development Board of The University of Texas Health Science Center–Houston. He serves on the Board of Visitors for M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and on the Advisory Board of the Draper Fisher Jurvetson Mercury Fund.

Mr. Robert McNair founded Cogen Technologies, the largest privately-owned cogeneration company in the world. He is currently Chairman and CEO of The McNair Group and Chairman of the Robert and Janice McNair Foundation and the Houston Texans Foundation. He is also Chairman and CEO of the Houston Texans, an NFL franchise. Mr. McNair, who is also a recipient of The Denton A. Cooley Leadership Award, served or has served, on the governing boards of Rice University, Baylor College of Medicine, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston Grand Opera, the Greater Houston Partnership and the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau. He and his wife Janice established the McNair Scholars Program at THI with a very generous gift.

Mr. John Nau III is President and Chief Executive Officer of Silver Eagle Distributors, L.P. Under his direction, Silver Eagle has become one of the nation’s largest distributors of Anheuser-Busch products and Houston’s top beer distributor. In 2001, President George Bush appointed Mr. Nau to a four-year term as Chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. Among Mr. Nau’s considerable community commitments are Board of Director of the Greater Houston Partnership, Board of Trustee of Baylor College of Medicine, President’s Transportation Infrastructure Streamlining Task Force, Greater Houston Preservation Alliance Advisory Board and Board of Directors of the Good Samaritan Foundation.

Mr. Hakeem Olajuwon is a legendary sports icon who dedicated 20 years to bringing basketball thrills to the city of Houston. He has been honored as one of 50 Greatest Players in NBA history and was recently elected into the NBA Hall of Fame. During his career, Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon was one of eight players in the NBA to score over 20,000 points and 12,000 rebounds. He’s the NBA’s all time leader with 3,830 career blocked shots and was named the NBA MVP in 1994. He was a member of the Houston Rockets 1994 and 1995 NBA Championship teams earning Finals MVP honors both seasons.

Mr. Anthony Petrello has served as the President and Chief Operating Officer of Nabors Industries since 1992. Nabors Industries actively markets over 1,500 land drilling and workover rigs and more than 50 offshore rigs in the U.S. and multiple international markets. Mr. Petrello received his undergraduate and Master’s degrees from Yale University in Mathematics, and received a law degree from Harvard Law School. Mr. Petrello also is a Board Member of Texas Children’s Hospital.