Texas Aviation Advisory Committee

Shelly Lesikar deZevallos, Ed.D., is president of West Houston Airport, one of the busiest privately owned - public use general aviation airports in the country. She is a fifth generation Texan, grew up sweeping hangars and is a licensed and active pilot with over 4,500 hours of flight time.

DeZevallos is on the Board of Directors at the National Business Aviation Association and appointed to the Department of Transportation Safety Oversight and Certification Advisory Committee. She serves on the Board with the Girl Scouts San Jacinto Council. She has previously worked for Cessna Aircraft Company, AOPA and Oklahoma State University as an Adjunct Professor.

DeZevallos earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas, her EMBA from Texas A&M and her Doctor of Education in Aviation and Space Science.

DeZevallos and her husband are both pilots and live in Houston, Texas, with their twin daughters. She was appointed to the Aviation Advisory Committee on Sept. 28, 2017.

Dr. DeZevallos is recommended for an additional term on the Texas Aviation Advisory Committee.

Fred Underwood served as a commissioner of the Texas Transportation Commission, which oversees statewide activities of TxDOT. Underwood was appointed commissioner by Governor Rick Perry on Jan. 8, 2007, and served until March 17, 2015.

Underwood is president of the Trinity Company, a cotton bale storage facility. He serves as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the Cotton Warehouse Association, where he previously served as president. He is both past vice president and past director of the National Cotton Council.

An avid aviation enthusiast, Underwood began flying in 1990. He is a commercial-rated helicopter pilot and holds a fixed-wing instrument rating. He previously served as chairman of Lubbock International Airport Board and as a board member of the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce. Underwood received a bachelor's degree in management from Texas Tech University.

In February 2017, the Texas Transportation Commission appointed Fred to serve on the Texas Aviation Advisory Committee. His term will expire on Aug. 31, 2018. He resides in Lubbock, Texas.

Bob McCreery is the general manager of McCreery Aviation. McCreery Aviation is a 72-year old full-service family owned fixed based, operation at the McAllen Miller International Airport, McAllen, Texas. McCreery has been the general manager of McCreery Aviation for the past 39 years. The company offers services in aircraft refueling, maintenance, parts, avionics, air charter, air ambulance, aircraft sales, and flight training. McCreery is a licensed pilot and lives in McAllen, Texas.

Justine Ruff is a 1990 graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aviation Business Administration. She has been the director of airport for the City of Midland since 2015 and is directly responsible for the operation of Midland International Air & Space Port and Midland Airpark. Prior to assuming the position of director, she was employed for over 20 years with 12 years as deputy director. Ruff is a graduate of Leadership Midland, and has served as the Midland Chamber of Tourism Commission for many years. She is a member of the American Association of Airport Executives, Executive Women of Midland and is actively involved in city of Midland Aquatics serving on the board; and, also as president of the Swim Booster Club for several years.

Robert Dixon Tips, also known as Dick, serves as chairman, chief executive officer, and president of Mission Park Funeral Chapels and Cemeteries. For the past four decades, Tips has devoted himself to building one of the leading family owned funeral companies in the State of Texas. He served as president and chief executive officer of the two insurance companies, MTM Life Insurance Company and Transwestern Life Insurance Company, which were merged into North America Life Insurance Company in 2008, where served as vice president from 2008 to 2011. He served as a Director of Camber Energy, Inc. Tips is an active Board Member of BBVA Compass Bank. Tips served as Independent Director of Lucas Energy, Inc. since August 2016. He oversees a family-owned organization and engages in various volunteer activities. He has been instrumental in starting a faith-based school for children of all ages, raising money for Bexar County’s volunteer fire departments and providing support to the families of San Antonio police officers who died in the line of duty. Tips was president of Texas Cemeteries Association. He is a member of numerous civic clubs. He is a member of the Albert Pike Masonic Lodge, as well as the Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital. He is a member of Texas Cemeteries Association and is one of San Antonio’s most recognized business leaders. Tips attended the University of Texas in Austin.

Sharlette Wright is the airport manager of the Cleburne Regional Airport in Cleburne, Texas, where she has been for the past 10 years.  She started her aviation career working for the family business – a Part 135 FAA Charter operation. She then went on to Tavaero Jet Charter and American Jet International/Million Air. She moved up the ranks and, after relocating, became the airport manager at LaGrange Airport.

After serving five years at Fayette Regional, Wright saw the opportunity to grow and learn more about FBO operations and became the airport manager at Brownwood Regional Airport. In Brownwood she learned about fueling operations and the importance of daily testing and quality control.

She currently serves as president of the Texas Airports Council, a certified member of the American Association of Airport Executives, a member of the South Central Chapter of the AAAE, represents Cleburne on the North Central Texas Council of Government Aviation Transportation Advisory Committee and actively mentors other airport managers. She lives in Cleburne, Texas.

Stewart Dawson is a career pilot. He started flying at the age of 16 and, at 17, earned his pilot’s license. He began his flying career as a freight pilot flying the Beech 18, DC-3 and DC-4. In 1982, he was hired by Southwest Airlines and flew for them until he retired in 2002. He then became an Experimental Aircraft Examiner and a National Designated Pilot Examiner for the FAA, retiring from those at the end of 2019. Being an EAE and a NDPER qualified him to give checkrides in a large variety of single and multi-engine warbirds. Along with giving checkrides in the warbirds he also participated in airshows, in the Reno Air Races and would do test flights in newly restored warbirds. Dawson holds an ATP Certificate with a multi-engine land rating, a commercial license with single engine land, single and multi-engine sea and rotorcraft ratings along with sixteen type ratings and 33 experimental aircraft ratings. He has accumulated around 23,000 hours flying. He lives in Celina, Texas.

Colonel Scott Miller, DDS is the Director of Aviation and Chief Pilot for Valero Energy Corporation.   COL Miller is a Dental Corps Officer in the United States Army Reserve assigned to the US Army Medical Command.   He started his career as a dentist and while building his private practice, Miller became a private pilot and soon thereafter, became a Flight Instructor and Airline Transport Pilot.  COL Miller eventually moved into aviation full-time, beginning as a domestic contract corporate pilot and then securing a position with Valero Energy in 2005.   As Corporate Captain, COL Miller also became the Training Officer, Manager of Safety, Senior Manager of Safety and Corporate Travel Services.  COL Miller served as Director of Facility Maintenance Services between 2019 and 2021 where he oversaw the daily operations of the entire Valero main campus, remote data center, and aviation facility.

COL Miller was appointed to Director of Aviation and Chief Pilot in 2021, where he leads aviation operations for Valero Energy Corporation overseeing three Gulfstream G550 aircraft and twenty personnel operating throughout the world. COL Miller is an Airline Transport Pilot and NBAA Certified Aviation Manager (CAM).  He was elected to the NBAA CAM Governing Board in 2019 and serves as Chairman of the Accreditation Committee.  He lives in Boerne, Texas.

COL Miller is recommended by Staff for a term on the Texas Aviation Advisory Committee.

Joe Casey is the Founder and Chief Pilot of Casey Aviation, Inc., a company involved with nearly every realm that has to do with PA46 airframe and surrounding markets.  Casey’s first flight was in 1990 near Nacogdoches, TX in a Cessna 172, which started his passion.  Along with being an FAA Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE), he is also an ATP/CFI-AHMG and Commercial Rotorcraft/Glider Pilot, seaplane pilot, and a recently retired UH-60/AH-64 Pilot-in-Command/Instructor/Examiner Pilot in the US Army Reserves. 

Casey has flown more than 17,000 in just about every imaginable environment.  As owner of Casey Aviation, Inc. Casey provides superior flight training, aircraft management and ferry pilot services all over the world. He lives in Lufkin, Texas.

Mr. Casey is recommended by Staff for a term on the Texas Aviation Advisory Committee.