Gov. Nixon has named nine people, from a variety of backgrounds, to help him choose the next director of the Department of Natural Resources.

DNR Director Mark Templeton has resigned to become executive director of the trust fund making payments to those financially harmed by the British Petroleum Gulf oil spill. Nixon named Kip Stetzler acting director.

Nixon will appoint the next director, subject to confirmation by the state Senate.

The search committee members released by the governor’s office include:

  • Charles W. Burson, of St. Louis, senior professor of practice at Washington University School of Law and the former executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of Monsanto Co.;
  • Wayne Goode, of St. Louis, former state senator representing St. Louis County;
  • Judith S. Heeter, of Kansas City, shareholder and director with the law firm of Shughart Thomson & Kilroy and former director of business affairs and licensing of the Major League Baseball Players Association;
  • William Jackson, of Brunswick, general manager of AGRI Services of Brunswick, an agriculture retail and fertilizer wholesale company;
  • Michael Middleton, of Columbia, deputy chancellor and professor of law at the University of Missouri School of Law;
  • David Murphy, of Jefferson City, executive director of the Conservation Federation of Missouri;
  • Timothy B. O’Reilly, of Springfield, a partner in the law firm of O’Reilly and Jensen;
  • Warren K. Wray, of Rolla, a civil engineer who is provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at Missouri University of Science and Technology; and
  • Karl Zobrist, of Kansas City, a partner in the law firm of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, specializing in the energy industry.


Missourinet