Bruce Rideaux joined PFM in November 2014 and is responsible for business development as well as day-to-day operational and quantitative functions for public finance engagements. He has been involved in more than $15 billion of financings for a variety of major issuers including general obligation, transportation, water and sewer, economic development agencies, multi-family housing, state infrastructure banks, and commercial paper programs, among others. He has worked extensively with issuers such as the Cities of Dallas, Atlanta, Memphis, as well as the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County for their general fund and various enterprise fund credits. 

Bruce specializes in the quantitative analysis of debt issues, with a focus on project financings and cash-flow restructurings. He has experience with derivative products including inverse floaters, swap-based structured yield curve notes, standard swaps and bond options. Bruce also focuses his efforts on various credit strategies to improve or maintain his clients’ rating standings. 

Prior to his work in public finance, Bruce served as a financial advisor for UBS, providing portfolio and risk management for institutional clients. 

Ruth Ruggero Hughs, former Texas Secretary of State, is a partner at Kelly Hart's Austin office and co-chair's the firm’s Public Law group.  Her practice is focused on Public Law, assisting businesses to manage the intersection of law, policy and government, including advising on international transactions and trade matters, government procurement, energy regulatory and policy matters, corporate governance and crisis counseling, federal and state regulatory matters, and public policy. Ms. Hughs brings decades of combined legal, government, and political experience to the comprehensive array of services she provides to corporate, public, and non-public clients at the federal, state, and local levels.

     Rodney Koenig has been practicing law for over five decades with Norton Rose Fulbright in Houston and is Board Certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law in Texas.  His broad and extensive experience includes estate planning and administration, creation of trusts, creation of foundations and charitable trusts, and international estate planning. He is an elected member of ACTEC and the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law.  Rod represents trust fiduciaries and beneficiaries in controversy, administration, and tax matters, including IRA distributions to charities.  He has created and advised many clients regarding family and corporate foundations. 

     Rod attended University of Texas Austin on a Navy scholarship, then served in the U.S. Navy as Chief Engineer and Bridge Officer on destroyers during the Vietnam War. He is a retired Captain, JAGC, USN. While on active Navy duty he taught at Auburn University as Assistant Professor of Naval Science. He has been honored as a Distinguished Alumnus of the UT NROTC Program.  He currently serves as President of Midshipman’s Foundation at UT, and serves on several granting charitable foundation boards, including the Williams Foundation, the Jackson Foundation, the Orton Foundation, and the Gray Foundation, several of which provide funding for scholarships in the STEM areas. 

      He is a Past President of German-Texan Heritage Society and a Founder of Texas German Society.  He writes a quarterly charitable giving column for the German-Texan Heritage Society Journal, having done so for over 30 years.  Rod is a recipient of the Federal Republic of Germany’s Order of Merit. He and his wife Mary sing with two choirs and are active with theater groups and musical groups in the Houston area.  He serves as President of the Monument Hill Chapter of the Sons of the Republic of Texas in Fayette County and has served on the Battleship Texas Commission.

     Rod received his BA in Government from University of Texas in Austin, where he was a member of Texas Cowboys.  He received his JD with Honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 1969, where he served on the Student Bar Board of Governors and on the Student Court.  

Matt Winkler is Founder and Chairman of Asuragen and a former UT faculty member.

Asuragen is a growing global molecular diagnostic product provider, with on-market tests serving unmet medical needs primarily in oncology and genetics.

Matt received a B.S. in Genetics and a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of California at Berkeley. He joined the Zoology Department of the University of Texas in 1983.  He is the author of more than 30 publications and has 19 issued patents.

In 1988, as an Associate Professor, he started Ambion, Inc., a molecular biology “tools” company.  Ambion became the preeminent “molecular biology tools company” focused on RNA with almost 400 employees located in Austin, Cambridge (England), and Tokyo.  In March of 2006, he sold the research products division of Ambion to Applied Biosystems, and with about 100 employees started Asuragen. The high quality of its scientific environment has allowed first Ambion and then Asuragen to be one of the largest recipients of National Institutes of Health Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) in the State of Texas as well as developing highly innovative commercial products.

In December of 2007, Asuragen created Mirna Therapeutics to develop cancer therapeutics based on miRNA. Mirna was the recipient of a Texas Emerging Technology Fund (ETF) investment in 2009 and two significant CPRIT grant awards (2010 and 2015). Mirna went public in September 2015 (MIRN).  In 2017 Mirna merged with Synlogic (SYBX).

Parisa Fatehi-Weeks is the Head of Community Impact Strategy at Google Fiber. The community impact team develops a range of social impact investments and community engagement strategies. Prior to this position, Parisa was the Head of Community Impact Programs and Investments, working with local nonprofits, public and affordable housing partners, schools, and others to bridge the digital divide in underserved communities.

Parisa also worked as a Management Fellow with the City of Austin, and Staff Attorney for Public Advocates in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Parisa has a J.D. in Public Interest Law from UT Law School; an M.P.Aff., Public Affairs from the LBJ School; and a B.A.. , Plan II from UT Austin, where she was the Student Body President.

Parisa is on the Board of Directors for the Workers Defense Project and an Advisory Council Member for University Unions.

Mary Walker worked with the initial team of teachers who envisioned and developed key components of the UTeach program in 1997. Her work as the Administrative Supervisor for Science and Health programs for the Austin Independent School District helped to establish the UTeach field experiences in the first years of the program. In the past, Mary has developed, taught courses in and/or directed the University of Texas UTeach undergraduate program, Master Teacher Summer Institutes, the UTeach Summer Master’s program as well as facilitated Advanced Placement Math and Science sessions.

Mary has co-developed the UTOP – the UTeach Observation Protocol – and continues to work with local school districts such as Manor and AISD on research and professional development projects utilizing this tool for measuring and improving teaching practices in secondary classrooms.

Mary earned a B.S. in Science Education and an M.S. in Biochemistry from North Carolina State University. Mary’s PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Texas at Austin was completed under the guidance of Boyd Hardesty. Her past work in biochemical research focused on protein chemistry, tumor cell growth and identification. She has been a high school chemistry teacher, science department chair and professional developer.

Mary worked with the UTeach Institute to provide technical assistance and advice to 44 UTeach partner programs in various stages of implementation across the nation and retired in spring of 2015. Mary Walker currently serves on the UTeach Advisory Council.

Meg Voelter was born and grew up in Brenham, Texas. She attended the University of Texas at Austin and graduated with a B.B.A. in Finance. She earned her J.D. from Baylor Law School in 1999. Mrs. Voelter practiced litigation and regulatory law in Austin for the firm of Cantey, Hanger, Roan and Autrey. Additionally, she taught Family Rights Practice and Procedure at Baylor Law School for eight years as an adjunct professor instructing students in content as well as advocacy.

While at Baylor Law School, she competed on teams that went to Nationals in Client Counseling and Trial Advocacy and now volunteers her time to teach and coach Mock Trial at Regents School of Austin in state and national competitions in Texas, California, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. In 2012, she was elected to serve on the Regents School of Austin Board of Directors and served for four years. Regents School of Austin is a K-12 institution with an enrollment of approximately 1,000 students.

Mrs. Voelter has been involved in many other volunteer activities in Austin and statewide, including the National Charity League, Dell Children's Women's Trust, Washington on the Brazos State Park Association, and Texas Lyceum among others. She has previously served as President of the Pi Beta Phi Austin Alumni Club and Co-Chaired the American Cancer Society's Holiday Shopping Card fundraiser.

Drew Scheberle is Senior Vice President for Policy & Advocacy Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce

Drew supports Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce volunteer executives who work hard to improve short- and long-term talent, regional mobility, and to advocate at the federal, state, and regional levels for policies that will improve employment, economic diversification, and a predictable regulatory climate. In short, we are working with a lot of partners to build the Austin we all want to live in.

Drew provides staff leadership for the Chamber:

• Federal advocacy with the Administration, seven Congressional and two U.S. Senate offices on innovation, transportation, education, and immigration;
• State engagement with agencies, commissions, and the Central Texas delegation on protecting economic development, increasing Austin's share of state transportation dollars and reducing the state property taxes on taxpayers;
• Regional efforts to deepen the hiring pool for talent;
• Initiatives to increase Metro Austin direct-to-college enrollment rates to 70% for the high school class of 2018.
• Smart local advocacy to reduce congestion through transit and innovation and improved capacity on MoPac, I-35, 360, 183, and other corridors; adopt a simple City of Austin planning code; ensure Austin Energy is in line with its affordability goals; and reshape local economic development policy.

Mary Ann Rankin, Professor of Biology, became Senior Vice President and Provost of the University of Maryland, College Park on October 1, 2012. Prior to assuming this position, Rankin was CEO of the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) in Dallas. NMSI is a public-private partnership dedicated to expanding the pipeline of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) graduates and STEM K-12 teachers.

Previously, she spent 36 years at The University of Texas (UT) at Austin, where she served for six years as chair of biological sciences and for nearly 17 years as Dean of the College of Natural Sciences.

As Dean of the College of Natural Sciences at UT, Rankin created, with her administrative team, numerous highly successful programs for undergraduates, including the UTeach program for math and science teacher preparation and the Freshman Research Initiative.

As Dean, Rankin also led the launch of new interdisciplinary research initiatives, the construction of new, world-class science buildings, and the growth of existing and the establishment of new research institutes at UT. She raised over $800 million in private funding for academic programs, research centers, and academic buildings, including the new $120M Gates Computer Science Complex. Under her leadership, the number of women science faculty grew from 15 to 30 percent, and gender parity in salaries was established. In her last three years, she managed strategically the state-imposed budget cuts.

Rankin's research focuses on studies of the physiologic relationships governing the evolution of insect life history strategies. She is a member of the American Entomological Society, the Royal Entomological Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She serves on several nonprofit boards, including the Southwest Research Institute (one of the nation's premier, nonprofit R&D firms in engineering and space sciences) and the Science Education Advisory Board of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, as well as the Advisory Committee for the Division of Education and Human Resources at the National Science Foundation.

Rankin received her bachelor's degree in biology and chemistry from Louisiana State University, was a National Science Foundation pre-doctoral fellow at the University of Iowa and Imperial College Field Station, Ascot, England, and earned a doctorate in physiology and behavior from the University of Iowa in 1972. She was a National Institutes of Health post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University until joining The University of Texas at Austin in 1975 as an assistant professor of zoology.