Our Board
Rex Sinquefield: President & Chairman of the Board
Raised in Saint Vincent Home for Children in Saint Louis, Rex graduated from Saint Louis University with a business degree before pursuing an MBA from the University of Chicago. Along with associate David Booth, Rex formed Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) in 1981, which today oversees more than $158 billion in assets worldwide. Rex's wife, Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield, who has an MBA and a Ph.D. in Demography from the University of Chicago, was instrumental in the achievements of DFA as well.
Through the Sinquefield Family Foundation, Rex and Jeanne support organizations that are focused on music, children and education. Rex recently provided the seed capital for the creation of The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, which is a destination for both new and seasoned chess players in Saint Louis.
Rex Sinquefield is a life trustee of DePaul University and serves on the boards of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri History Museum, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis Symphony and Saint Louis University. He is also a member of the Investment Committee of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis and the recipient of numerous awards for scholarship and service.
Susan Barrett: Secretary
Susan Barrett is Director of Art and Culture for Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield. She is the president of RKL Consulting, which oversees the partnership of a Saint Louis art gallery that is planned to open in the city of Saint Louis. In addition, Susan is the art consultant to a private collection that focuses on American Regionalism.
Prior to this, Susan worked at Metro’s Arts in Transit managing the Cross County art projects and installations. With a budget of more than $1.1 million, this was the largest commitment Arts in Transit had made to permanent, site-specific artworks.
Susan has almost 20 years of experience in the art world in Saint Louis and New York, including art publishing, gallery work, and education and continues to work on and display her own art. She is a board member on Metro’s Art in Transit, Belas Artes Multicultural and Art Gallery and was recently elected to Landmarks Association.
She holds a Masters of Architecture from Washington University in Saint Louis, a BA in Comparative Arts and French and a BFA from the Washington University as well.
Bill Wright: Board of Directors
Bill Wright served in the U.S. Marine Corps and graduated from Macalester College with a B.S. in Business Administration. He holds the Chartered Life Underwriter designation from the American College of Life Underwriters and devoted his career to employee benefits, where he held various management positions. Bill learned to play chess in 1942 and first entered tournament play in the 1980's. His USCF rating places him in about the middle of the pack of all tournament players.
He has taught chess in several elementary and middle schools and currently teaches at Solomon Schechter Day School, where his teams have won a number of trophies in the Gateway Chess League. He is a Director and Treasurer of the Missouri Chess Association and has a small chess business: CHESS/WRIGHT, which operates mainly at scholastic tournaments. He is a collector of chess sets and a member of Chess Collectors International. Residents of Kirkwood, he and his wife Ann have four adult children and six grandchildren.
Jim Voelker: Board of Directors
Jim was born in Akron, Ohio, and had some successes in Ohio chess, winning the Cincinnati Championship and tying for first in the Ohio Championship. Jim moved to Missouri in 1992 and was Missouri Champion in 1994, 1998, and 2004. He tied for first in the Senior Master section of the 1998 U.S. Class Championships (thanks to some luck and a low turnout), losing a tie-breaker game to IM Michael Brooks.
Jim has dabbled a bit in correspondence chess and has a USCF correspondence chess rating of 2378. He is a former member of the Missouri Chess Association Board of Directors and is a former editor of the Missouri Chess Bulletin and has maintained a website for Missouri chess news since 1998. Jim has BA, MLS, and JD degrees and works as a law librarian. He and his wife Joan live in Kirkwood with their son Andy.
Kevin Short: Board of Directors
Kevin Short is the co-founder and Managing Director of Clayton Capital Partners, a St. Louis-based investment banking firm specializing in merger and acquisition advisement. In 2007, Thomson Financial, FactSet Mergerstat and Investment Dealers’ Digest all ranked Clayton Capital Partners as a top U.S. M&A firm.
As an expert in mergers and acquisitions, Kevin writes and speaks frequently on the topic to groups of business owners, advisors to business owners and academics. Groups include: Business Enterprise Institute, Inc., the St. Louis Association of Evaluation Professionals, Edward D. Jones and Washington University. In addition to contributing to various national trade and business publications, Short is the co-author of Cash Out Move On: Get Top Dollar—And More—Selling Your Business (Business Enterprise Institute, Inc., 2008).
Kevin devotes his free time first to his family, and second, to the education of children from low-income families. He is an active Board Member for the Today & Tomorrow Educational Foundation, the Laclede Gas Dollar Help program and the Board of Education for the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
Mike Lueken: Board of Directors
Mike Lueken graduated from Saint Louis University in 1973 with a BS in Finance. Currently, he is president of General Marine Services, Inc. GMSI and affiliates operate barge terminals and provide transportation services on the inland waterway.
Mike is extremely active in the community through a number of different enterprises. He was appointed by Gov. John Ashcroft to a six-year term on the 22nd Judicial Commission and to the St. Louis Election Board as Secretary from 2003-2005 by Gov Holden. He also represents the City of Saint Louis to the board of directors for the Saint Louis Zoo.
Mike is a member of Saint Raphael Catholic Church and is a past council member and president of the school board. Currently, he is the chair of the Legacy of Faith endowment campaign.
Jim Davies: Board of Directors
Jim Davies is a veteran of the chess world and has been a member of the U.S. Chess Federation since 1964. From 1971 to 1986 he was a chess coach at Ladue senior and junior high schools, where he was also a math teacher. Since then, he has been a private chess tutor.
Jim has played in hundreds of USCF-rated events and was inducted into the Missouri Chess Hall of Fame in 2000.
Today, Davies is a computer programmer for the Carpenters District Council. He lives in University City with his wife.
Ed Baur: Board of Directors
Ed Baur taught chemistry and mathematics at Rosary High school from 1969 to 1991 and coached the chess team there from 1975 to 1991. After that, he taught the same courses and coached the chess team at Vianney High School from 1991 until his retirement in 2007. He continues to coach the Vianney chess team in his retirement.
Ed has been a member of the Missouri Chess Association Board of Directors for 14 years, and president for six years.
The author of the instructional chess book, "Griffin Chess," Ed lives in Saint Louis and teaches chess at Saint Louis Community College.