Terdema Ussery

Board

Terdema L. Ussery II is in his 11th year as President & CEO of the Dallas Mavericks. Ussery serves as an alternate governor for the Mavericks on the NBA Board of Governors. In addition, Ussery serves as CEO of HDNet, the nation’s first all high-definition television network. Ussery came to Dallas after serving as president of Nike Sports Management. Prior to that, he was commissioner of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA).

In his first season with the Mavericks, he led a successful campaign which resulted in funding for American Airlines Center. He actively participated in the architectural selection and design of the building. Once the plans were underway, Ussery was involved in securing the naming rights partnership with Dallas/Fort Worth based American Airlines for the downtown facility and played a key role in the overall development of the building.

His impact has been evident in the growth of both the Mavericks business operation and community involvement. Under his direction, the club has experienced increased corporate sponsorship, ticket sales, television revenues and community awareness. Sports Illustrated consistently ranks Ussery as one of the most powerful executives in sports, and he was named the 2003 Corporate Executive of the Year by Black Enterprise Magazine.

Ussery grew up in the Watts section of South Central Los Angeles. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1981 from Princeton University, a master’s degree in 1984 from Harvard, and a law degree from Berkeley, where he served as executive editor of the California Law Review.

Ussery practiced business and entertainment law in the Los Angeles office of the San Francisco-based firm Morrison and Foerster, before joining the CBA as its deputy commissioner and general counsel in 1990. In April 1991, he was named CBA Commissioner. His two-and-a-half-year term was highlighted by rapid growth and much-needed stability. While serving as CBA commissioner, Ussery was profiled in Sports Illustrated, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

In August 1993, Ussery was named president of Nike Sports Management. While reporting to Nike Chairman & CEO Phil Knight, Ussery’s responsibilities included marketing Nike’s pro athletes and negotiating contracts. Twice, while at Nike, Ussery was included on The Sporting News’ annual list of the 100 most powerful people in sports.

Ussery sits on the boards of two NYSE companies: The Timberland Company and TreeHouse Foods, Inc. He is a member of the Advisory Board of Wingate Partners, a Dallas private equity partnership. He also chairs the Economist Council of the Executive Committee of the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce.

Ussery, a popular speaker at companies and on campuses nationwide, has taught Business Ethics and Corporate Governance as an adjunct professor at several graduate institutions. Ussery is a former member of the Board of Trustees at Princeton University. He also serves on several non-profit boards, including the Communities Foundation of Texas and the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation Board. He is also a newly-elected member of the Council on Foreign Relations.