Douglas W. Walker

Biographical Information

"Doug Walker was born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina where he graduated from Wade Hampton High School. Doug graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1972 with high honors in Mathematics and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He and Maggie moved to Seattle to attend the University of Washington. After graduate studies in Mathematics at University of Washington, Doug began working in the computer industry and in January of 1981, he co-founded a software company called WRQ (Walker Richer & Quinn). He served as CEO of WRQ (until 2004), an integration software company that served Fortune 500 companies and had customers in 51 countries. Doug rode his bike 18 miles round-trip to work to a company listed by Fortune Magazine as one of the best companies to work for in America.

"Currently, Doug is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Vice Chair of the Governing Council of The Wilderness Society. He also serves on the boards of the Seattle Parks Foundation, Green Diamond Resource Company, Harbor Properties, Inc., Technology Alliance, MessageGate, Inc., National Conservation System Foundation, The American Alpine Club, and Cascade Land Conservancy. He is past chair of Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI). Doug is an avid hiker and mountain climber, a year-round bicycle commuter, and an ardent conservationist."

Affiliations

• Director, Civil War Trust
• Director, Conservation Lands Foundation
• Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition
• National Council of National Parks and Conservation Association
• National Council of Land Trust Alliance
• Co-founder, with Maggie Walker, of Social Venture Partners
• Advisory Council for Seattle Shakespeare Company
• Past Chair of The Nature Conservancy of Washington
• Former Member of Board of Governors of The Nature Conservancy
• Former Vice Chair of Children’s Trust Fund