Ronald H. Walker
Mr. Walker’s extensive record of government services includes Special Assistant to President Nixon from 1969 to 1972 where he was the first director of the White House Office of Presidential Advance. In this position, he was responsible for planning and coordinating all Presidential travel, domestic and international. Those visits included all 50 states and 25 countries. He personally directed the preparations for the President’s historic trips to the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union.
President Nixon appointed Mr. Walker the 8th Director of the National Park Service in December 1972 where he served until 1975. In this position, he was charged with the preservation and care of the country’s 300 National Park System areas encompassing 300 million acres of land. He administered a budget of $350 million and managed 15,000 employees who serve the 230 million people that visit America’s parklands annually.
Mr. Walker previously served as a consultant to the White House Personnel Office. He has also served as a senior advisor to four Presidents and on Special Diplomatic assignments abroad. In addition, he has served as a senior advisor to nine Republican Conventions, highlighted by his Chairmanship and position of CEO of the 1984 Republican National Convention held in Dallas, Texas. At the request of President Ronald Reagan, he also chaired the 50th Presidential Inauguration.
Mr. Walker has served on numerous Boards, both public and private, including as a public sector member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the Richard Nixon Foundation, the Kennedy Center, Vice Chair of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, past chairman of the Freedom’s Foundation at Valley Forge, the National Park Foundation, Grand Teton National Park Foundation, Ford’s Theatre, and Vice Chairman of the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution.
Mr. Walker is a distinguished graduate from the University of Arizona with a BA in Government and American History. He also served in the U.S. Army, attaining the rank of captain.
