Bob Galecke is a compassionate and thoughtful leader and astute businessman who knows how to get things done. His highly energized support for Ursuline, the broader Dallas Catholic community, and important civic endeavors continues to inspire others in like-minded service.

Prior to his retirement in 2016, Bob served in a variety of roles over 20 years in administration at University of Dallas (UD) including Executive Vice President and twice as Interim President. Prior to joining UD, he had served as Chairman, COO, or CEO of four public companies in the Real Estate, Finance, and Health Care industries. At Ursuline Academy, Bob was a member of the Board of Trustees from 2006-2011 and served as Board Chair from 2011-2013. From 2000-2016 he served as Director for both the Irving/Las Colinas Convention and Visitors Bureau and Irving/Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce. He has held the position of President of Irving Flood Control District 1 since 2010 and was active in Rotary Club from 1992-2015. He is a current member of Holy Trinity Parish and a past member of St. Rita’s and its Parish Council.

A native of Wisconsin, Bob and his wife Jackie were married 51 years. They moved to Dallas in 1984, bringing their family of three children including daughters Elizabeth ’88 and Tricia ’90 who both attended Ursuline. Since retiring, Bob divides his time between his homes in Dallas and beautiful Sister Bay, Wisconsin.

In 2016, University of Dallas renamed its annual golf fundraiser in honor of the tournament’s founder, Bob Galecke. Proceeds from the Galecke Open support the university’s greatest needs for student scholarships, and faculty research and enrichment.

John Grimes Jr., Board Chair from 2013-2015, has provided energetic leadership for achieving major milestones at Ursuline Academy, including opening of the Sr. Margaret Ann Moser Athletic Field, a highly successful principal search process, and the launch of a landmark strategic roadmap.

During his Board tenure, John also guided Ursuline through the purchase of its Walnut Hill Lane property from the Ursuline Sisters, which in time will allow the Board of Trustees to become a completely independent governing authority for the school. His generosity of service to support excellence in education continues today through his role as Chair of the Ursuline Education Foundation (UEF) and as a board member of The Lamplighter School.

John is Executive Vice President for DuraTech Processes, an industrial services business.

Previously, he was owner/operator of Attics to Basements Estate Sales, a leading estate sale management company in North Texas. He also currently serves as Senior Advisor at Kroll, formerly Duff & Phelps, where he was a managing director in that firm’s corporate finance practice from 2011 to 2017.

John graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in accounting and earned his MBA in Finance and Economics from the University of Chicago.

John is married to Michelle Staubach Grimes, Ursuline Class of 1986. They are members of St. Rita Parish. John and Michelle are the parents of one boy, Jeffrey, Jesuit ’17, and two girls who attended Ursuline, Gracie ’19 and Emma ’21.

Win Bell is Chief Executive Officer of Ed Bell Investments, Inc., Ed Bell Construction Company and Construction Equipment Parts Inc. He is a current member of the Ursuline Academy Board of Trustees and serves on the Finance Committee of the Board. As Board Chair from 2015-2018, he led the most recent campus master planning process and was a visionary for successfully aligning the final plan with Ursuline’s feasibility study results.

As Owner’s Rep for Ursuline, Win has overseen all of the Academy’s major building projects, beginning with Campus Renewal and construction of The French Family Science, Math, and Technology Center (2008-2010), followed by the Sr. Margaret Ann Moser O.S.U. Athletic Field (2014), and most recently, the addition of the transformative East Campus and facilities renovations funded by The Campaign for Ursuline: Act, Move, Believe.

Win’s current volunteer leadership extends broadly to other schools and Catholic institutions in the community including: Bishop Lynch High School (Board of Directors, Finance, Facilities, Owner’s Rep); Collin County Regional Catholic School (Owner’s Rep); Cristo Rey (Board of Trustees, Owner’s Rep); Holy Trinity Seminary (Board of Directors, Facilities, Owner’s Rep); Jesuit College Prep (Board of Trustees Chair, Facilities, Real Estate, Owner’s Rep); Notre Dame School (Board of Trustees, Facilities, Owner’s Rep); OLPH (Board of Trustees, Facilities, Owner’s Rep); Shelton School (Board of Trustees, Capital Campaign Chair, Owner’s Rep); St. Michaels (Religious Formation Building Owner’s Rep); St. Rita (School Expansion Owner’s Rep); and University of Dallas (Board of Trustees, Finance, Governance, Executive, Owner’s Rep).

Win Bell graduated from Vanderbilt University with a BS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Math. He earned his MS in Computer Science at Purdue University.

Win and his wife, Lynn Feather Bell, Ursuline Class of 1982, will serve as co-chairs of the Catholic Charities Bishop’s Gala in 2025. They are members of St. Rita Parish and have three children: Maegan (33), Brian (32), Shannon (27); and two grandchildren: George Bell (2), Lyla Gossens (1).

Tom Merkel is a Managing Director and 30-year veteran of Merrill Lynch, where he leads a team responsible for over $2.0 billion of client assets and has been recognized in Merrill’s Circle of Excellence, a designation reserved for the firm’s top performers. Tom is a graduate of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in Economics. A Certified Financial Manager, he earned his Certified Investment Management Analyst accreditation through the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Tom joined the Ursuline Academy Board of Trustees in 2014 and served as Board Chair from 2018-2021, adeptly guiding the Academy through the challenges of the pandemic and a major transformation of the Ursuline campus. He has been a member of the Ursuline Finance Committee since 2009. He is a Board Member of the Ursuline Educational Foundation (UEF) and a Canonical Steward on the UEF Sponsors Counsel. He had also served as Co-Chair of Ursuline’s Athletic Field capital campaign.

Tom was a member of The Catholic Foundation Board of Trustees for 13 years, ultimately serving as Chairman. He has served on the Endowment Committee of University of Dallas, the School Board of Christ the King Catholic School, and as Co-Chair of Christ the King’s Community Center capital campaign steering committee. He currently serves on the Bishop’s Diocesan Finance Council where he chairs the Investment Committee and is a member of the Finance Committee for the Dallas Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Tom and his wife, Sue, are parishioners of Christ the King. Their two daughters, Maddie ’12 and Emily ’13, both attended Ursuline, and two sons, James ’15 and Joey ’16, are both Jesuit graduates; all four children now proudly serve as officers in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps.

Jon Piot is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Scout Energy Partners, a $3B energy private equity fund for institutional investors including university endowments, pension funds, and foundations.

Previously, he co-founded, Censeohealth (now Signify Health), a healthcare company providing prospective health evaluations for Medicare Advantage health insurance plans, Medestar (now Doximity), a locum tenens healthcare company serving hospitals nationwide, and Impact Innovations Group, a provider of technology outsourcing services to mid-market companies. In prior positions at Booz Allen & Hamilton and Anderson Consulting (now Accenture), Jon consulted with many Fortune 500 companies on IT strategy and systems development.

Jon’s extraordinary commitment to volunteer leadership and service to Ursuline and the Catholic community includes two six-year terms on the Ursuline Academy Board of Trustees, from 2004-2011 (Chair 2010-2011) and again from 2018-2024 (Chair 2021-2024). He also served as Finance Committee Chair (2006-2009) and as Chair of the Ursuline President Search Committee (2011-2012). He was a member of the Ursuline Foundation Board from 2013-2017. At Jesuit, Jon served on the Jesuit Foundation Board 2017-2023, its Investment Committee (Chair 2021-2023), and on the Finance Committee from 2013-2016. He was a member of the School Board at Christ the King School from 2007-2010.

Jon earned his BS in Computer Science at Southern Methodist University, and received his MBA from Harvard Business School. He has authored three books: Outperform, Inside the Investment Strategy of Billion Dollar Endowments, (John Wiley & Sons, 2010); The Executive’s Guide to Information Technology, (John Wiley & Sons, 2003 & 2007); and The Professional Services Firm Bible, (John Wiley & Sons, 2005).

Jon and his wife Susan Irwin Piot, Ursuline Academy Class of 1987, are members of Christ the King Parish. They have three children: Lauren ’15 and Allison ’17, both Ursuline graduates, and William, Jesuit Class of 2019.

Lydia Haggar Novakov ’68 has lived her life in a way that truly embodies the Ursuline mission.
She is an extraordinary leader, committed to a life of service, not only to Ursuline Academy but to the entire North Texas community and beyond.

Lydia Novakov’s Ursuline education began in kindergarten and continued in elementary school
when the Sisters were teaching at Christ the King. Following her high school years at Ursuline
Academy, she attended Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree. She returned to Dallas to teach Government at Ursuline for two years before enrolling at The University of Notre Dame for graduate school. After earning her Master’s Degree in American Government, she would again return to teaching at Ursuline.

Her enthusiastic engagement and loyal support for Ursuline has been constant over decades.
In the 1980s, as a member of the Ursuline Academy Board of Governors, Lydia was active in the Renaissance Campaign, the Academy’s first major fundraising effort. She was also instrumental in formation of the Alumnae Office. She served as Alumnae Board President from 1979-1983 and received the Academy’s first Distinguished Alumnae Award in 1984. Most recently she has served on the Board of Trustees and the Trustee Committee of the Board.

In Dallas, Lydia has held leadership and advisory roles in every major Catholic community program and initiative. She was recipient of The Catholic Foundation Award in 2022, along with her husband Dan Novakov. She has been tireless in her work to support education, healthcare, and essential social programs to meet the needs of children, families, and seniors.

Lydia’s current activities include work with the Catholic Diocese of Dallas Finance Council,
Hoblitzelle Foundation, UT Southwestern Medical Center, The Catholic Foundation Advisory
Council, Town of Highland Park Town Council, Crystal Charity Ball Committee, Junior League of
Dallas, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and The Senior Source.

Lydia and Dan Novakov are members of Christ the King Catholic Church. They have two children, Isabell and Daniel, and three granddaughters.

Sybil Tucker represents that model for living that St. Angela offers us. Her sense of humor and energy are surpassed only by her service to others. She lives her life in a way described by Angela – doing, moving, being confident, risking, persevering, and praying.

Sybil’s Ursuline story began in 1946 when her family moved from New Orleans to Dallas. She entered eighth grade at Old Ursuline before moving to Merici in North Dallas where the high school had been relocated in 1942. Her Class of 1951 was the first to graduate from the then new Walnut Hill campus.

After attending freshman year at St. Mary’s of Notre Dame, Sybil transferred to Texas Tech before completing her B.A. in English at The University of Texas. She returned to Dallas where she worked as a teacher, married Joe Tucker, and raised their two children, Jennifer and John. In 1979, Sybil was named among the first recipients of the Ross Perot Award for Excellence in Teaching. An active volunteer at Ursuline, she helped Sister Emmanuel organize the alumnae and served on the newly expanded Alumnae Board.

Then in 1982, Sybil answered the call to create an Alumnae Office at Ursuline and became the Academy’s first Alumnae Director. It was just the beginning of what would become a 35-year career at Ursuline. The ultimate “friend-raiser,” she created programs, publications, and events that inspired alumnae at all levels to get involved, including the Alumnae Awards program and LOGOS Magazine.

In 2009, Sybil transitioned again to another new role as Ursuline Archivist. Her knowledge and deep appreciation of Ursuline’s extraordinary history made her the ideal candidate. She brought new organization and preservation to the archives, guided creation of the Ursuline Historical Timeline in The French Family Center, and curated displays for Ursuline’s Heritage Gallery, bringing the past beautifully to life for the school community.

• An extraordinary education,
• Happy remembrances,
• Sisterhood of classmates and beyond,
• Intrepid Ursuline Sisters,
• Blessed morals and a Serviam spirit.

President's Circle Dinner 2021 was held at The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas. The evening’s program looked back on a unique year and the ways that the Ursuline community adapted to the challenges of a global pandemic. The program also shared the progress and successes of The Campaign for Ursuline. President Gretchen Kane and Ursuline Academy Board of Trustees Chair Tom Merkel opened the evening, followed by the presentation of the 2021 President's Award to this year's recipient, Mary Templeton (accepted on her behalf by Lydia Haggar Novakov '68). The program concluded with a Year in Review video featuring photos and video clips from Ursuline Traditions, Student Life, and The Campaign for Ursuline. View event program and photo album.

President's Circle 2020 was held virtually in the Fall of 2020. "Act, Move, Believe," was the theme of Ursuline’s annual dinner honoring President’s Circle donors. The evening’s program shared Ursuline's vision for the future of our school. President Gretchen Kane and Ursuline Academy Board of Trustees Chair Tom Merkel opened the evening, followed by the presentation of the 2020 President's Award to this year's recipient, Karen Drawz. The program concluded with a special announcement featuring faculty members and students. View event program.

President's Circle Dinner 2019 was held at Four Seasons Resort and Club at Las Colinas. “Inspired by Our Core Values” was the theme of Ursuline’s annual dinner honoring President’s Circle donors. The evening’s program featured a discussion by Ursuline administrators who shared how the Core Values are lived out at Ursuline today. Led by Gretchen Kane (President), the panel included Dr. Andrea Shurley (Principal), Elizabeth Smith (Dean of Academics), and Kayla Brown (Dean of Students). The 2019 President's Award was presented to Mary and Mike Terry. View event program and photo album. 

President's Circle Dinner 2018 was held at The Belo Mansion. The words of St. Angela Merici, "Do Something, Get Moving, Risk New Things" provided a compelling framework for the evening's message that looked to the future of Ursuline Academy, reimagining Ursuline education in ways that will enhance our mission. The David M. Crowley Foundation was named recipient of the 2018 President's Award. View the event program and photo album.

The annual President's Circle Dinner was held on April 28, 2017 at Union Station, celebrating the Ursuline mission, past, present, and future. Guests participated in a special "whistle stop tour" to learn more about how Ursuline is implementing its strategic roadmap. Mrs. Mary Fox was named recipient of the 2017 President's Award. View the event program and photo album.

Supporters came to campus at Ursuline on Friday, May 6, 2016, for the annual President's Circle Dinner. Celebrating Excellence in Teaching, the program featured a video presentation followed by 20-minute "mini classes" to give guests a first-hand experience of 21st century teaching at Ursuline. Pat Brown O'Brien '52 and Neil O'Brien were named recipients of the 2016 President's Award. View the event program and photo album.

Ursuline supporters gathered at the Dallas Museum of Art on Friday, May 8, 2015, for the annual President's Circle Dinner. Guests toured the museum, which featured student art, and participated in teacher-led interactive art experiences. Victoria Pitts Lattner '69 and Douglas Lattner were named the recipients of the 2015 President's Award. View the event program and photo album.

The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum was the venue on April 10, 2014, for the annual President’s Circle Dinner. Guests toured the museum and also had the opportunity to hear from two panels — alumnae speaking on global citizenship and students and teachers sharing their Serviam experiences. The Staubach Family was named recipient of the 2014 President’s Award. View the event program and photo album.

Held at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science on April 12, 2013, the annual President’s Circle Dinner was themed UAre Here. Guests visited student STEM exhibits and demonstrations stationed throughout the museum. President Gretchen Kane presented the 2013 President’s Award to Susan Hayes Raffo '74. View the event program and photo album.

The Belo Mansion was the site of Ursuline's annual donor recognition event on April 13, 2012. Sister Margaret Ann Moser gave the President’s Tribute, presented the 2012 President’s Award to Mary Lee and Fritz Duda, and introduced her successor Gretchen Kane. Performing arts education was the evening's theme, with keynote remarks by Shana DeSouza Druffner ’85 and performances of the combined Ursuline Student Choirs. View the event program and photo album.

Ursuline supporters gathered on May 6, 2011, at the Biblical Art Museum in Dallas for the annual President’s Circle Dinner. Dr. John McConnell, Chief Executive Officer of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and campaign co-chair, was keynote speaker. Members of the Facing the Future Capital Campaign Cabinet were honored as recipients of the 2011 President's Award.

The 2010 President's Circle Dinner on May 7, 2010, was part of a day-long celebration of Dedication for the new French Family Science, Math, and Technology Center. Donors heard remarks from Melinda French Gates '82, Co-Chair and Trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The 2010 President's Award was presented to The French Family: Ray and Elaine French, Susan French Burkhardsmeier '81, Melinda French Gates '82, Raymond J. French, and Steven French.