Hon. J.D. Clark, Wise County Judge
County Judge J.D. Clark is the president of the National Association of Counties and is serving his third term as county judge of Wise County, Texas. A former high school history teacher and mayor of Chico, he holds degrees from University of North Texas and Midwestern State University.
In addition to his county leadership role, Clark serves on governance boards across Texas and is active in numerous community and civic organizations. His work in Wise County centers on “honoring the past and building the future,” with an emphasis on infrastructure planning, public service improvements, historic preservation, and restoration of the county’s iconic 1895 courthouse.
Clark and his wife, Leah, live near Chico with their three daughters.
Keri K. Stephens, Ph.D., Professor and Co-Director of the Technology & Information Policy Institute at The University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Stephens is a professor in Organizational Communication Technology and is co-director of Technology, Information, & Policy Institute in the Moody College of Communication at The University of Texas at Austin. With over 25 years of interdisciplinary research experience, Dr. Stephens’ expertise includes organizational communication, mobile technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), crisis and disaster communication, infrastructure communication, and health communication.
Her team authored the Texas Water Development Board’s Flood Resource Guide for Community Officials in 2022, and they developed the Public Involvement Training for TxDOT in 2023. She also works as a partner for the Institute for a Disaster Resilient Texas and the Digital Risk Infrastructure Program (DRIP) for under-resourced Texas communities.