DACIS Board Biographies

 

DACIS President

John Jacobs is the Vice President of Economic Development for the Richardson (Texas) Chamber of Commerce. John learned chess at age 8 at a Dallas city park. At 13, he entered his first rated chess tournament, obtaining an "Expert" rating. John has won the Texas Junior Championship and the Texas State Championship. As one of the top ten rated junior players in the country, he participated in two U.S. Junior (Closed) Championships. He was the 1st board for the University of Texas at Austin chess team from 1969-1971, and John was one of 6 players selected for the U.S. Student chess team which was the silver medallist at the 1974 World Student Team Championship in Teeside, England. John holds the titles of FIDE Master and Life Master from the U.S. Chess Federation. John has written and edited numerous published articles and books on chess, and for 13 years he wrote a weekly chess column in the Dallas Times Herald. He has also given hundreds of chess lessons to players of all strengths and ages. In 1992, John began his term of volunteer service as the Project Coordinator for the Dallas Chess-in-the-Schools program. John, his wife, Ann, and their three children reside in Dallas.

DACIS Vice President

Luis Salinas is an Electrical Engineer at Plano Microwave Inc. After a six year stint in the Navy, he graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering from Texas A & M University in 1987. He has been President of the Laredo Martin High School Chess Club in Laredo and of the Texas A&M Chess Club. He has served on the board of the Laredo Chess Club and is currently on the board of the Dallas Chess Club. He has been Regional Vice President of the United States Chess Federation and Vice President of the Texas Chess Association. Luis is currently certified as a Senior Tournament Director. He attained the Expert rating in 1992.

DACIS Treasurer

Rodney Thomas is manager of national software support for IBM Corporation's TECHLINE organization. He learned chess at the age of 10 and began playing in competitive tournaments at age 14. Rodney was the 1975 New Orleans High School Chess League champion, competed at the intercollegiate level, and has played in numerous tournaments across the United States during the past 26 years. His volunteer work has focused on helping young people develop academically. Rodney was on the board of the Louisiana Engineering Advancement Program (LEAP) and has managed many volunteer efforts for IBM. Prior to joining the DACIS board, he served as a chess instructor in the group's program in the Dallas public school district. Rodney and his wife, Tracey, reside in Dallas.

DACIS Secretary

Jim Stallings is a Vice President at Resource Spectrum, a Dallas recruiting firm. He graduated with a BA in Psychology from Eastern Illinois University in 1976. At DePaul University in Chicago he received an MBA in Marketing in 1983. Jim began competing in Dallas in rated chess competitions at age 10. At 12 he won the Class B Championship at the U.S. Open. At 14 he earned an Expert rating, and he won the Dallas City Championship at 16. In 1963 he helped found the Dallas High School Chess League and was President of the Bryan Adams High School Chess Club in Dallas from 1963-65. He served as a First Lieutenant in the Army Field Artillery in Vietnam 1967-68. He played as a member of the University of Texas intercollegiate chess team in 1969 and 1970.

DACIS Educational Advisor

Tim Redman is an author and a professor of literary studies in the School of Arts and Humanities at the University of Texas at Dallas. He received his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Chicago in 1987. He was President of the U.S. Chess Federation (1981-1984), the Editor of the 3rd edition of the Rules of Chess (New York: David McKay, 1987), and a member of the U.S. Championship Collegiate Chess Team, the University of Chicago (1973 and 1974). He is currently a member of the Executive Board of the U.S. Chess Federation. He is also a National Tournament Director for the U.S.C.F. and an International Arbiter for the world chess federation (F.I.D.E.). He is Director of the Chess Program at the University of Texas at Dallas.

DACIS Board Member

Frank St. Claire is Managing Partner of the Real Estate Practice Unit of the law firm of Strasburger & Price, L.L.P., and practices in commercial real estate law and business transactions. At 16, he won the Dallas Chess Club ladder tournament and organized the St. Mark’s School of Texas Chess Club. He has played in the American Open and served as a past director of the Dallas Chess Club. He received his JD from New York University and his BS in Management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a member of both the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and the American College of Mortgage Attorneys. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Texas College of Real Estate Attorneys, Immediate Past Chair of the Real Estate, Probate & Trust Law Section of the State Bar, and a Sustaining Member of the Real Estate Council. He is past chair of the University of Texas Mortgage Lending Institute and the University of Texas Conference on Land Use Planning Law and past Course Director of the State Bar Advanced Real Estate Law Course. He is listed in both Marquis' Who's Who in American Law and the Best Lawyers in America. Frank and his wife, Mary, and their two children reside in Dallas.