Gordon Wilkerson

Career Experience

Gordon Wilkerson is president of Wilkerson Properties, Inc., a full-service commercial and industrial real estate firm, and Wilkerson Storage Co., a third-party logistics company. A Texas real estate broker since 1981, he maintains an active membership in the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors. He has served as past chairman of the Southwest Chapter of the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses.

Board Experience

Wilkerson has served as an alumni-elected regent on Baylor’s Board of Regents since 2017. From 2002 to 2010, he was a member of the Lubbock Independent School District’s board of trustees, serving four years as president. He also is a past chairman of Keep Lubbock Beautiful and a past board member of the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce, the Baylor Alumni Association and the Baylor Line Foundation.

Awards and Honors

Wilkerson is a summa cum laude graduate of Baylor and was awarded the William Cullen Walters Excellence Award in Hankamer School of Business.

Baylor Philanthropy

Wilkerson is a Hankamer School of Business donor, having given to the Ray Hankins Wilkerson Endowed Scholarship Fund in Business. He and his wife Lori Reid Wilkerson, B.B.A. ’83, have also supported the Armstrong Browning Library.

Church/Christian Mission Affiliations

Wilkerson and his wife are members of First Baptist Church in Lubbock, where he has served as a deacon. In addition, he serves on the board of directors of Paisano Baptist Encampment, and he has served on the board of the Baptist Standard.

Questions and Answers

Note: Baylor University is pleased to provide additional information via online exclusive Q&As with each Alumni-elected Regent candidate.

1. Baylor University’s mission is “to educate men and women for worldwide leadership and service by integrating academic excellence and Christian commitment within a caring community.” How is that mission meaningful to you?

Baylor met its mission well in my life. Professors challenged and strengthened my beliefs. I made friends that have lasted a lifetime. In fulfilling its mission, Baylor helped me find mine. Foundations formed at Baylor put me on the path I still walk today. 

Baylor’s mission is noble—determining how it is to be implemented is challenging. The rapid pace of change in today’s society creates an increasingly complex intersection of accepting new perspectives while simultaneously preserving Baylor’s foundational tenets. The Baylor experience not only educates students but also inspires them to embrace their calling in committed Christian leadership. This model is incredibly effective and uniquely distinctive. More than anything, I want Baylor to be able to provide this same experience for its present and future students.

2. How have you attempted to make a difference in your professional and personal communities?

Most of my professional career has focused on listening to customers and developing solutions for their real estate or logistics requirements. Coordinating design, architectural, engineering and construction teams to create facilities that improve efficiencies and work experience for customers is demanding and rewarding. From a personal perspective, active involvement has been a priority, whether as a tee-ball coach, a church member, a parent, a community volunteer or a local school board member. I try to make a difference in these responsibilities by handling what has to be done while not losing sight of what ought to be done. 

As an Alumni-elected Regent, I’ve tried to be mindful of how fellow alumni would consider an issue. My favorite aspect of serving has been the chance to have thoughtful conversations with alumni about what Baylor means to them and what the future holds for the University. It is imperative that Baylor seize the tremendous opportunities of the present while maintaining and honoring its Baptist roots and Christian heritage. Baylor’s faculty, facilities and academic programs provide students with unparalleled opportunities. While its mission is the University’s touchstone, Baylor’s greatest strength has always been its students and its alumni.

3. As a board member, what perspectives, skills, interests and relationships would you bring to the board?

Our family has three generations of Baylor graduates, each of whom maintains a love and respect for the institution and its mission. While it’s certainly not comprehensive, having perspective as both an alumnus and a Baylor parent provides some sense of where the University has been and where it is going. 

I served for eight years as a trustee of the Lubbock Independent School District. The district served some 28,000 students and their families, comprised over 60 campuses, employed over 3,500 persons and had an annual budget in excess of $200 million. This work required developing a knowledge and understanding of school finance, personnel decisions, curriculum development and effective communication with students, parents and taxpayers.

It’s critical that regents remember that they serve the Baylor family. I remember as a Baylor freshman hearing Judge Abner McCall address a small group of Baylor students at First Baptist Church one Sunday evening. A man who uniquely balanced incredible brilliance with an equal measure of humility, Judge McCall noted that during his storied career at Baylor, staff and faculty had a tendency to believe they worked for him. He paused in his delivery, making eye contact with each of us. “That’s not correct,” he said. “In reality, I work for the faculty and staff. I work for you and your families.” In that moment we observed a living illustration of servant leadership, who remains a stellar example for today.

4. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received, and who gave it to you?

When I was a high school junior, my journalism teacher, Marjorie Wilson, insisted that we do our best work no matter how small the assignment. Her mantra, which still resonates, was “Good crowds out best. Good enough is not good enough.” Baylor Economics Professor Kent Gilbreath taught a fascinating class in economic history, acquainting students with theorists from Adam Smith to Karl Marx. In his final lecture to our class, he implored, “Whatever path you choose in life, read broadly.” Forty plus years later, I’m still working my way through his reading list. Life experiences have allowed me to see the truth in this Winston Churchill quote: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.”