Thomas Dan Friedkin

Dan is chairman of the Friedkin Group, a privately held consortium of businesses and investments primarily in the automotive industry. Friedkin Group’s core business is Gulf States Toyota, Inc. (GST), the exclusive distributor of Toyota and Scion vehicles, parts and support services to more than one hundred and fifty dealerships throughout Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. In addition to several GST affiliated entities, Dan is chairman of the Ascent Automotive Group, a retail platform that owns and operates dynamic, successful and customer focused automobile dealerships. At the tender age of fourteen, Dan began his distinguished career in aviation as a glider pilot. He quickly advanced to more sophisticated aircraft. By eighteen Dan was fully licensed and rated in the Lockheed Jetstar, and by twenty was checked out and proficient in the World War II warbird, the P-51 Mustang. In addition to the P-51, Dan actively flies the T-6, F-86 Sabre, P-38 Lightning, F6F Hellcat, F8F Bearcat, F4U Corsair, Hawker Hurricane, various models of Spitfire as well as several models of helicopters. Dan is one of only eight civilian Heritage Flight pilots qualified to fly in formation with U.S. Air Force single-ship demonstration teams. Dan is the founder and chairman of the Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation, a not-for-profit organization established to honor the men and women of the U.S Air Force through Heritage Flight displays. He also flies right wing for the Horsemen Flight Team, the world’s only P-51 formation aerobatic team. With his Horsemen teammates, Dan participates in numerous aerobatic air shows every year throughout North America and Europe in high performance vintage military aircraft. Profoundly committed to conservation, Dan leads a number of conservation and environmental initiatives focused primarily in Texas and Tanzania. He is chairman-emeritus of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission, the state agency responsible for managing the wildlife, cultural and natural resources of Texas. In Tanzania, Dan oversees a number of luxury safari operators and the Friedkin Conservation Fund, a charitable organization established to conserve the wildlife and wilderness of more than seven million acres of Tanzania’s protected areas. He is a trustee of the Wildlife Conservation Society and advises other conservation-oriented causes. Although his professional and environmental pursuits require him to be a citizen of the world, Dan and his family reside in Houston, TX. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Georgetown University and a Master’s Degree from Rice University.