Corporate Governance

David R. Brooks is Chairman of the Board, President, CEO and a director of Independent Bank Group, Inc., a Texas-based bank holding company with over $8 billion in assets. Independent Bank operates banking offices throughout Texas and Colorado. Mr. Brooks has more than 35 years of experience in the financial services industry and previously served as the Chief Financial Officer at Baylor University.

Mr. Brooks served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Noel-Levitz, Inc., a national higher education consulting firm from 2007-2014.  He also served on the Board of Trustees at Houston Baptist University from 2006-2015 and as Chairman from 2010-2012. Mr. Brooks joined the Capital Southwest Corporation Board in 2014, serving as the Chair of the Audit Committee from 2015-2017 and now serves as Chairman of the Board.

Christine S. Battist is the Chief Financial Officer of Avison Young, a private commercial real estate services firm. Ms. Battist joined Avison Young in January 2018 and as CFO is responsible for all accounting, finance and strategy activities of the company. Previously, Ms. Battist was the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer from 2012 to 2016 at Silver Bay Realty Trust Corp. (NYSE: SBY), a public real estate investment trust focused on the acquisition, renovation, leasing and management of single-family properties for rental income and capital appreciation. Prior to this, from 2011 to 2012, Ms. Battist was Managing Director at Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE: TWO), a public real estate investment trust focused on investing, financing and managing residential mortgage-backed securities. From 2007 to 2011, Ms. Battist was Director of Investor Relations at The Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS), a Fortune 500 agribusiness company. Ms. Battist has over 25 years of experience in the accounting and finance fields, including leading an IPO, secondary offerings, mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, investor relations and establishing finance infrastructure. Ms. Battist holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from St. Norbert College and is a Certified Public Accountant in Texas. 

Mr. Diehl joined Capital Southwest in 2014 as Chief Investment Officer.  He was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer in 2015 and led the relaunch of the firm as a lender to middle market companies.  Mr. Diehl chairs the firm’s investment committee and leads all aspects of the firm’s investment activities and strategic direction. He brings over 20 years of experience in sourcing, structuring and managing investments in a variety of industries. Mr. Diehl came to Capital Southwest from American Capital, Ltd., which he joined in 2001 and where he had acted as Managing Director and Co-Head of the Sponsor Finance Group since 2007. While at American Capital, he closed investments in 15 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions, representing over $1.1 billion of invested capital. Mr. Diehl’s investment experience has been in a variety of industries, including industrial manufacturing, healthcare, business services and consumer finance. His investments have been in the form of various securities and structures including first lien, unitranche, second lien and subordinated debt, as well as preferred and common equity in both control and non-control positions.  Mr. Diehl earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree, with majors in Environmental/Geotechnical Engineering and Economics from Vanderbilt University and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin.  Mr. Diehl lives in Dallas with his wife and three children.

Jack D. Furst, Founder, Oak Stream Investors, is a distinguished private equity investor. Oak Stream Investors makes investments in real estate, oil and gas, fixed income securities and public and private equities. Jack is an Adjunct Professor at The University of North Texas where he teaches finance and investments. He has over 25 years of private investment experience completing over $50 billion in transactions which resulted in attractive returns for investors. Jack was a founding Partner in HM Capital Partners (formally Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Incorporated). The Firm, established in 1989, specialized in private investments of companies primarily serving the energy, financial services, food, manufacturing and media sectors of the economy.

Prior to founding HM Capital, he was a partner at Hicks& Haas Incorporated (a private investment firm) from 1987 to 1989. From 1984 to 1986, he was a merger and acquisition/corporate finance specialist for The First Boston Corporation in New York. Before joining First Boston, Jack was a financial consultant at Price Waterhouse in Phoenix. He received his BS degree with honors from the College of Business Administration at Arizona State University and his MBA degree with honors from the Graduate School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin.

Mr. Morgan is an experienced investor with broad expertise in the energy sector. He’s the President of the Engineered Products Group of Gardner Denver, Inc. and co-founder of three independent corporations. Mr. Morgan holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from McNeese State University and a Master of Business Administration from Louisiana State University.

Mr. Thomas is a private investor who provides leadership for, and invests in, organizations that demonstrate social impact.  He is also President of the Thomas Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit grant-making corporation.  During his tenure as a Vice President with Capital Southwest Corporation from 2006 to 2012, Mr. Thomas made, enhanced and monetized investments in stand-alone private companies and add-on opportunities, oversaw the portfolio valuation process and  ensured compliance with all regulated investment company and business development company requirements. Previously Mr. Thomas served as a pilot and in numerous leadership positions in the United States Air Force, achieving the rank of Major.  He has served on the board of eleven private companies, currently serves as a director of Encore Wire Corporation (NASDAQ: WIRE) and is a National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Board Leadership Fellow.  Mr. Thomas graduated from the United States Air Force Academy and has a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.