HOUSTON, June 27, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- By unanimous vote, Houston City Council has reappointed Kase Lawal to the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority for a fifth term. Initially appointed in June 1999, Lawal was the first vice chairman of the Port Commission. PHA commissioners serve two-year terms without pay.
A photo accompanying this release is available at http://media.primezone.com/poha/pages/exec.html
"We welcome Commissioner Lawal's return," said PHA Chairman Jim Edmonds. "He is a valued member of the Commission and a well-respected leader in the business community and a supporter of education and small business development. We look forward to continuing our work with Commissioner Lawal."
Lawal is chairman of PHA's Small Business Development Task Force, a member of the PHA Pension Committee and a member of the International Business Development Task Force.
"I can think of very few things as necessary to ensuring robust international commerce as a seaport," Lawal said. "I am grateful for the confidence the City Council has demonstrated in me with this reappointment. I have enjoyed, immensely, the past eight years on the Port Commission and look forward to helping meet the challenges ahead."
Houston Mayor Bill White remarked, "Kase Lawal understands the importance of the Port as an asset in building business opportunities and he has a proven track record in working hard to promote Houston around the world. We certainly want to keep his energy and talents on the Port Commission."
City Council Member Ada Edwards, who nominated Lawal for reappointment, applauded his vast business experience and emphasized the need for his continued involvement on the Port Commission.
"He's a good man, a solid leader and I'm pleased he is continuing his work on the Port Commission," Edwards said.
City Council Member Carol Alvarado, whose district includes the Port of Houston, said, "The Port of Houston is a vital part of the Houston economy and Kase Lawal has proven to be an outstanding businessman and Port Commissioner."
Background
Lawal is chairman and chief executive officer of CAMAC International Corporation, a multi-national corporation with about $1.6 billion in revenue in 2006. CAMAC and its affiliates are engaged in oil and gas exploration and production, crude oil and natural gas trading for worldwide markets and in the transportation services industry in South Africa. CAMAC was named in the 2006 Forbes Magazine list of the 400 largest privately owned corporations and was designated the 2006 Company of the Year by Black Enterprise Magazine. Lawal is also the chairman of Allied Energy Corporation. Lawal is a significant stakeholder in Unity National Bank, the only federally insured and licensed African-American-owned bank in Texas, and also serves as vice chairman of the bank's board of directors.
Lawal brings a rich and extensive history of civic service to his port position. He was appointed to the United States Trade Advisory Committee on Africa, reporting to President Bill Clinton, and was the U.S. Trade Representative on trade policy in Africa. He is a former member of the United States Council on the Business Development Committee of the U.S. -- South Africa Binational Commission and the Board of Directors of the Corporate Council on Africa in Washington, D.C. He is also a former member of the Board of Directors of the World Trade Council of the Greater Houston Partnership.
In 2003, Lawal established a $1 million endowment at Texas Southern University's Jesse H. Jones School of Business for the Kase and Eileen Lawal Center for International Business Development. In 1992, he established a petroleum engineering endowment at the University of Houston's Cullen College of Engineering to benefit graduate petroleum engineering students. Lawal serves as the director of the Cullen Engineering Research Foundation and as a trustee for The Kinkaid School, which is a leading college preparatory school. He also co-chairs Unite for Children, United Against AIDS, a $300-million-dollar UNICEF campaign with his wife Eileen Lawal.
Lawal is a graduate of Texas Southern University with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and later obtained a master's degree in business administration, finance and marketing from Prairie View A&M University of Texas. He was most recently awarded an honorary doctorate in philosophy from Fort Valley State University.
The Port of Houston Authority owns and operates the public facilities located along the Port of Houston, the 25-mile-long complex of diversified public and private facilities designed for handling general cargo, containers, grain and other dry bulk materials, project and heavy lift cargo, and other types of cargo. Each year, more than 7,200 vessels call at the port, which ranks first in the U.S. in foreign waterborne tonnage, second in overall total tonnage, and tenth largest in the world. The Port Authority plays a vital role in ensuring navigational safety along the Houston Ship Channel, which has been instrumental in Houston's development as a center of international trade. The Barbours Cut Container Terminal and Central Maintenance Facility are the first of any U.S. port facilities to develop and implement an innovative Environmental Management System that meets the rigorous standards of ISO 14001. Additionally, the port is an approved delivery point for Coffee "C" futures contracts traded on the New York Board of Trade's Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange. For more information, please visit www.portofhouston.com
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