Wallace Design Collective

The headquarters of Wallace Engineering is located in the Brady Arts District, where among other things, a couple of historic music venues – the Brady Theater and Cain’s Ballroom are located. The Cain’s Ballroom was a regular home to my dad’s favorite music, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. My dad started coming to Cain’s in the 1940’s and continued visiting there into the early 2000’s. One of his favorite Bob Wills songs was titled “Time Changes Everything”. Over the past thirteen months I have certainly seen in my own life how true that statement is.

My youngest child, graduated from high school in May of 2016. Only those that know us well know how significant this was. Two weeks later, Luke, the middle of my three children, was married in a ceremony in our backyard. Luke and his girlfriend Sydney had dated two years when they were in high school, but separated for six years shortly after graduation. Less than two years ago, they got back together, bringing great joy to my wife Mary and me. And the oldest of our three children, Jake, completed his four years of service with the United States Army last October, completing three meaningful family events within the span of less than five months. By the end of the year, my wife and I found ourselves empty nesters for the first time since 1987. This was a pretty monumental change, in and of itself.

Early in 2017, I was elected as the new President & CEO by the shareholders of Wallace Engineering, succeeding our Founder, Tom Wallace, who had served as the President & CEO since Wallace Engineering was founded in 1981. Tom will remain with the company serving as the Chairman of the Board and continuing his work in forensic engineering and litigation support services, as well as mentoring our staff.  It has been an interesting change for me, one I am still adjusting to. I am especially grateful to my business partners for putting their trust in me. I can’t say that becoming CEO was ever a goal for me or something I was aspiring to become, but I will work hard to fulfill the responsibilities of the position they have elected me to.

Finally, the most recent change and the best news of all is I became a grandparent for the first time in the early morning hours of July 5^th. My daughter-in-law Sydney gave birth to a beautiful 8 lb., 8 oz. baby girl named Elliot Sofia. My wife and I adopted all three of our children so we never experienced a full pregnancy. The last nine months have truly been an interesting experience for us, which culminated with the birth of this beautiful little girl. We are happy and blessed to be grandparents.

The Brady Arts District will soon be home to the Bob Dylan Center, which will house Bob Dylan’s archives and highlight his unique artistry and worldwide cultural significance.  Like Bob Wills, Bob Dylan had a famous song about time – “The Times They are a Changing”.   Yes, Bob and Bob, you are both right about that!