Albert Reyes elected sixth Buckner president

DALLAS – Albert Reyes was elected as the sixth president in the 131-year history of Buckner International Jan. 22, succeeding Ken Hall, who remains with Buckner as chief executive officer.

Reyes, 51, served previously as president of Buckner Children & Family Services, a position he has held since 2007. Prior to joining Buckner, he was president of Baptist University of the Americas in San Antonio.

Albert Reyes

Scott McIlveene, chair of the Buckner board of trustees, said Reyes was the only candidate considered to replace Hall, who was elected to the post in 1993. Reyes will report directly to the board of trustees.

“Dr. Reyes brings the perfect mix of vision, passion and intellect to the task, especially at this point in the history of Buckner,” McIlveene said. “We are uniquely poised as a ministry to move forward like never before, thanks to tremendous work of Buckner’s previous five presidents.”

Reyes, who becomes the first non-Anglo to lead Buckner since its founding in 1879, said, “I understand that with such a great honor come great challenges and opportunities.

“The orphans, vulnerable children, families, and elders served by Buckner depend on us to make their lives better,” he said. “That is tremendous honor, but also a serious responsibility.”

Hall continues in his role as CEO, also reporting to the trustees, while working closely with the staff of Buckner Foundation to secure financial support for the work of Buckner. He will also serve as a consultant to Reyes.

As president of Buckner, Reyes will manage the organization’s nearly $100-million annual budget, while overseeing the daily operations of more than 1,300 employees worldwide. Those operations include work through Buckner Children & Family Services’ domestic and international ministries and Buckner Retirement Services’ seven senior living communities in Texas.

A native of Corpus Christi, Reyes earned his bachelor of business administration in management from Angelo State University and his master of divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary , as well as the doctor of ministry from Southwestern. He completed his doctor of philosophy degree from Andrews University in 2009.

He served as founding pastor of Pueblo Nuevo Community Church in El Paso seven years before becoming president at BUA. He also served as pastor of churches in Dallas. From 1981 to 1988, he was a manager for the National Customer Service Center for Sprint.

“Buckner as a ministry and those served by Buckner owe a great debt of gratitude to Ken Hall for the great leadership he has given the past 16 years,” Reyes said. “My vision is to build on what Dr. Hall has started – to go further and faster with God’s help.”Reyes and his wife Belinda have three sons, Joshua, David and Thomas. They are members of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas.