Matthew Watkins, Texas Tribune

Managing Editor of News and Politics, incoming Editor-in-Chief (Sept. ‘24)

Matthew Watkins is currently managing editor of news and politics and incoming editor-in-chief of the Tribune. He will transition to this role in September. Matthew is a Texas native, born in Houston and raised in Austin. He attended public schools and graduated from Texas A&M University. He’s spent nearly two decades in Texas journalism and previously worked at The Eagle in Bryan-College Station and The Dallas Morning News.

Matthew joined the Tribune in 2015 and has held various roles, including higher education reporter, breaking news editor, and politics editor. As a managing editor, Matthew has guided the Tribune’s award-winning journalism and other reporting of statewide significance, including coverage of elections and legislative sessions to major breaking news and ambitious storytelling about the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Texas-Mexico border, the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, the impeachment of Texas attorney general and battles over public education. He lives in Austin with his wife, Susan, and their two children.

Sam L. Susser, Susser Bank

Chairman & CEO

Sam L. Susser is the Chairman and CEO of Susser Bank and also serves as the President of Susser Holdings II, L.P., a private investment company. He completed a BBA in Finance in 1985 from the University of Texas and started his finance career at Salomon Brothers in NY from 1985-1987 in the corporate finance division and in the mergers and acquisitions group, before returning to Texas in 1988 to assist with the family business.

From 1988 to 2014, Mr. Susser led the growth of Susser Holdings Corporation from a five-store operation to a $6.7 billion enterprise that was a member of the Fortune 500 and employed 12,000 team members. The company went public in 2006 and was traded on the NYSE as “SUSS” and its wholesale fuel division, Susser Petroleum Partners went public in 2012 and was traded as “SUSP”. After producing 26 consecutive years of same-store merchandise growth, the business was sold to ETP on August 29, 2014, and Mr. Susser continued to serve as Chairman of the Board of SUSP (now renamed Sunoco LP “SUN”) until May 2015.

He is currently Chairman and CEO of Susser Bank, Chairman and CEO of the Corpus Christi Athletic Club, Chair of the Advisory Board of Advisory Research Partners Fund, Chair of the Finance and Strategic Planning Committee and a member of the Executive and the Officers Committee of the MD Anderson Board of Visitors, and a director of the Board of Southwestern Medical Foundation. He also serves as Chairman of the Governor’s University Research Initiative, Secretary/Board member of Texas 2036, is a member of the Dallas Citizens Council Board, the Dell Med Strategic Advisory Board at the University of Texas, the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum Board and the Edwin L. Cox School of Business Executive Board and is a Past Chair of the Driscoll Children’s Hospital System in South Texas.

Mark Metcalfe, Susser Bank

Executive Vice President, Central and South Texas

Mark Metcalfe is Executive Vice President of Central and South Texas for Susser Bank. Based in Austin, he oversees the bank's technology banking team and a group of professionals who provide lending, treasury management, deposits, and a wide variety of banking services to individuals and companies in Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi and surrounding communities.

Mr. Metcalfe began his career more than 30 years ago as a credit analyst with Promenade Bank. He held commercial lending and management positions with several national banks. In 1999, he joined SouthTrust Bank, which was later acquired by Wachovia. He became the San Antonio commercial banking regional manager after the merger of Wachovia and Wells Fargo in 2009 and was given responsibility for the Austin market in 2013. Mr. Metcalfe was named division manager of Central Texas Business Banking in January 2018, and his role was expanded to market executive of the Commercial Bank in March 2019. He graduated with a B.B.A. degree in finance from The University of Texas at Austin and received his M.B.A. in finance from The University of Texas at Arlington.

Chris Wheeler, Susser Bank

Austin Market President

Chris Wheeler joined Susser Bank in March 2022 as Austin Market President. His 35 years of banking experience in all facets of lending and treasury management have proven key to developing deep and full banking relationships with his clients by providing them with the right solutions to continue to expand and grow their businesses. Mr. Wheeler’s clients range from small to large businesses, medical practices, law firms, title companies, hoteliers, large corporate clients, and private equity groups. He leads a team whose relationships range from the most basic banking and cash management needs to the most complex needs for acquisition or construction and permanent real estate loans.

Prior to joining Susser Bank, Mr. Wheeler served at Texas Capital Bank from 2002 to 2022 as a Senior Vice President responsible for developing and managing corporate, commercial, and private client relationships. Mr. Wheeler began his banking career in McAllen, Texas with McAllen State Bank, one of the largest independent banks in South Texas at the time. His primary focus was on Private Client relationships. He then took a position with Bank One in Sherman, Texas to run their consumer and business banking group for several years. After that, he transferred with Bank One to Austin, Texas to run several different loan origination and underwriting divisions for Central and South Texas.

He served in the United States Marines for several years after attending High School in Moore, Oklahoma. After his tour in the Marines, he attended Sam Houston State University where he received his BBA Degree in Management and Economics.