Ralph Eads III (AB ’81), President, Randall & Dewey, Houston, Texas

Eads is the president of Randall & Dewey, which is the leading specialist investment bank in the oil and gas industry. The firm was acquired by Jefferies & Co. in 2005. Prior to joining Randall & Dewey in 2003, Eads was executive vice president of El Paso Corp., where he was responsible for its unregulated businesses. Previously, he was managing director and head of the energy group at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. He has held senior positions at S.G. Warburg and Lehman Brothers. He is active in a number of educational organizations, serving on the boards of St. George’s School, the Kinkaid School Foundation, and Expectation Graduation, an outreach program to keep kids in school. Eads is a native Houstonian who graduated from Duke with high honors in economics. He and his wife, Lisa, have five children. Their oldest child, David, is enrolled at Duke.