Ryan College of Business Real Estate Panel

A native and resident of Celina, TX, Rex Glendenning worked in the investment real estate brokerage business for several years, in his early career, before founding REX Real Estate in 1987. Since then, REX Real Estate has grown its team of experienced agents, and the company has become established as a nationally recognized market leader in investment real estate services throughout Texas, with a particular focus in the North Texas area including what is commonly referred to as the “Golden Corridor". This area follows the prestigious Preston Road as well as the affluent Dallas North Tollway. Rex and the award-winning team at REX Real Estate have sold billions of dollars and thousands of acres of development land for both private and institutional investors across Texas. Rex is known for providing his clients with a unique and in-depth perspective on the ever-changing Texas real estate landscape using an experience-based skill set for uncovering unique opportunities, recognizing their potential and seizing opportunities quickly. Having over four decades of real estate brokerage experience has many referring to him as the “King of Dirt.”

Rex Glendenning was born and raised in what was the small town of Celina. After attending the University of North Texas while playing football for Hall of Fame Coach Hayden Fry, Rex chose to return to Celina where he and his wife Sherese made their home and raised their family. Rex graduated from the UNT College of Business with a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) majoring in Real Estate in 1979.

In 2023, Rex was inducted into the Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame by the North Texas Commercial Association of Realtors (NTCAR) and also received D Magazine’s 2023 Power Brokers Legacy Award. In 2024, Rex was honored with the University of North Texas “Distinguished Alumni Award.” Rex also a received the 2025 Stemmons Service Award.

With 36 years of NFL experience, Stephen Jones has established himself as one of the most successful and versatile executives in professional sports, as Co-Owner and the franchise’s Chief Operating Officer. Jones also serves as the Cowboys’ Executive Vice President of Player Personnel and President of AT&T Stadium.

Jones oversees the management and business operations for all aspects of the Dallas Cowboys and AT&T Stadium, while also overseeing the team’s scouting and player personnel department. His work involves managing the organization’s several hundred staff members, while also handling all of the club’s salary cap and major player contract concerns. He is active in the recruitment and management of all major events that come to AT&T Stadium and The Star in Frisco. Jones’ experience as a major college football player, and his years as one of the NFL’s top executives, were instrumental in his appointment to the NFL’s prestigious Competition Committee, which he currently serves as Co-Chairman of. His active involvement in stadium management, design and development has also landed him a spot on the NFL’s New Stadium Committee.

Over the last decade-plus, Jones has helped craft and led one of the most impressive drafting records in the NFL. Dallas has selected 15 players who have become Pro Bowlers (as Cowboys) since 2014. The 15 Pro Bowl draft picks are the most by any team over that span, and that group has gone on to earn a combined total of 42 Pro Bowl selections.

Shortly after the turn of the century, Jones began spearheading the club’s new stadium efforts, overseeing every element of the development and construction of the venue while also working closely with local government, community and business leaders. He was directly responsible for the club’s successful referendum campaign in the fall of 2004 that saw the City of Arlington agree to join forces with the Cowboys in building a new state-of-the-art stadium later to be named AT&T Stadium.

With its architectural versatility and cutting-edge media and technology capabilities, AT&T Stadium has become a visible beacon that has established North Texas as a major focal point on the sports and entertainment canvas of North America and around the world. AT&T Stadium remains the only venue in the world to host an NBA All-Star Game, a Super Bowl, the Men’s NCAA Final Four and the College Football Playoff Championship Game. In the summer of 2026, the venue will add the FIFA World Cup to that list and remain the only venue in the world to host all of those mega-events.

Jones also spearheaded a partnership with the City of Frisco (TX) and the Frisco Independent School District to develop a new home for the Cowboys World Headquarters and training facility in Frisco. The Star in Frisco opened its doors for operation in the summer of 2016. The Star is an innovative partnership that focuses on inspiring a strong future for high school football, youth sports and the next generation of players and fans by uniquely engaging them at the place where the Dallas Cowboys organization is operated and the team practices.

The Star is the only NFL training facility in the United States that is shared with a public high school athletic program. All 12 Frisco ISD high schools play home games within Ford Center at The Star, a state-of-the-art, 510,000-square-foot indoor athletic facility. With a capacity of 12,000 seats, Ford Center hosts a variety of events in addition to football games, such as concerts, collegiate basketball, professional boxing, award shows, soccer matches, ATP Tennis tournaments and corporate meetings and events, to name a few.

The Star includes a 91-acre mixed-use development located on the Dallas Tollway. In addition to the team’s headquarters, the project features shopping, dining, nightlife, athletic, fitness, event, hotel and residential options.

Jones has enjoyed a lifelong association with the game of football. A four-year letterman as a linebacker and special teams standout at the University of Arkansas, Jones was a starter for the Razorbacks in the Orange Bowl Classic Game that followed the 1986 season. Prior to attending the University of Arkansas, Jones was an all-state quarterback and a three-year starter at Catholic High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. In February of 2015, Jones was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, where he joined his father who was a 1999 inductee.

He earned his degree in chemical engineering from Arkansas in 1988 and immediately went to work in the oil and gas business for JMC Exploration as an engineer. In 2013 he was inducted as a member of the Arkansas Academy of Chemical Engineers.

Jones is a past president of the Dallas Chapter of the Young Presidents’ Organization. He serves on the board of directors for Complexity Gaming as well as the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association. He also serves on the board for the Dallas Citizens Council. He is a former member of the NFL’s Business Ventures Committee, and he is also a member of the board of directors for Legends Hospitality - the joint stadium catering venture involving the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Yankees organizations that Jones was instrumental in creating. In the spring of 2015, Jones was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.

Mehrdad Moayedi is the founder, President, and CEO of Centurion American Development Group and has been a driving force in North Texas real estate for more than four decades. Since founding it in 1990, he has grown the company into one of the region’s most active developers, specializing in master-planned communities, mixed-use developments, commercial properties, and hospitality assets. 

Under his leadership, Centurion American has developed more than 200,000 lots across approximately 75,000 acres in over 300 premier communities. The company was honored by the Dallas Business Journal with the Best Real Estate Deal award in 2024 for Legacy Hills in Celina, its largest development to date, and again in 2025 for Alpha Ranch in Fort Worth. 

Moayedi continues to lead transformative developments across North Texas, including Legacy Hills, Collin Creek in Plano, City Point in North Richland Hills, Platinum Ranch in Gunter, and The Statler in downtown Dallas. He is also deeply committed to philanthropy, supporting organizations and initiatives that strengthen communities across Texas.

David Craig is a visionary and works tirelessly to push the boundaries of his development projects. The proud son of a retired Air Force colonel, David learned the value of hard work and dedication at a very young age. He founded Craig International, a commercial brokerage and development company more than 46 years ago in McKinney, Texas and the company have grown to control, broker and/or develop more than 25,000 acres in Collin and Grayson Counties. In the geographical boundaries of the City of McKinney alone David and his company Craig International has owned, brokered or developed over 30% of the City of McKinney’s incorporated land area.

David’s motivation and passion drove the success of Craig Ranch, a national awardwinning master-planned community in McKinney, Texas that he began developing with his partners 24 years ago. Craig Ranch started with 1,125 acres of farmland and has a current ad valorem value of more than $6 billion. The now thriving 2,200-acre community includes 500 acres of parks and green space, a 270-acre employment district called McKinney Corporate Center Craig Ranch, and commercial, residential and mixed-use retail anchored by the TPC Craig Ranch, home of the CJ CUP Byron Nelson Classic. David is the Chairman of the Board of Governors of TPC Craig Ranch and is Chairman of the TPC Craig Ranch Host Committee for the CJ CUP Byron Nelson.

David’s current projects include the $250 million District 121, a mixed-use development with retail, office, hotel, high-end restaurants and a multimillion-dollar park as its amenity. District 121 is adjacent to Craig Ranch at the northeast corner of the Sam Rayburn Tollway and Alma Road.

In 2024, David and his partners announced Preston Harbor, a $6 billion master-planned community on Lake Texoma in Denison, Texas. The 3,114-acre project is anchored by a Margaritaville resort hotel and will include restaurants, an upscale marina and approximately 7,500 homes, with a mix of luxury single-family, active adult and multifamily. Preston Harbor received the 2024 Best Land Deal by D CEO Magazine and the 2024 Dallas Business Journal Real Estate Award for Largest Land Deal.

Most recently, David was inducted into the North Texas Commercial Real Estate 2025 Hall of Fame. David received the Carey Cox Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award 2025, at the annual McKinney Chamber of Commerce Awards ceremony for his four decades of contributions to the City of McKinney’s growth and his extensive philanthropic efforts throughout Collin County. David was named a 2022 Texas Icon and one of D CEO’s 500 most influential business leaders in Dallas Fort Worth. In addition, he received the Love Life Foundation Ambassador Award in 2022 and the 2021 Spirit of McKinney Moving Forward award.

Craig International supports The Boys and Girls Club of America - Collin County, The Family Place, Habitat for Humanity Collin County, The Samaritan Inn, Smiles Charity, Cornerstone Ranch, Love Life Foundation, American Heart Association and Momentous Institute, to name a few.

An Arkansas native, Joseph E. Hickman graduated from El Dorado High School, in Ed Dorado, AR in 1979.  He went on to attend the University of Arkansas graduating with a BBA in Marketing Management.  In 1989, when Jerry Jones made his first high profile investment in Texas with the purchase of the Dallas Cowboys Football Club, Joe moved to the Dallas area.  Since 1997, he has worked with the Jones family (Joe’s sister Karen is the wife of Cowboys Executive Vice President and Co-owner, Stephen Jones) in real estate investment, acquisition and development and currently serves as Vice President of Blue Star Investments and General Manager of Blue Star Land, LP the residential and commercial real estate development arm of the Dallas Cowboys.  With a reputation for high profile developments, Blue Star is best known for The Star in Frisco, Texas,  Gates of Prosper,  Starwood development in Frisco, TX, StarCreek development in Allen, TX, AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX and StarTrail, also in Prosper, TX.

Joe is a member of the Frisco Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Home Builders, the Texas Association of Builders, Sigma Nu Fraternity, Collin County Association of Realtors, Rise School, Touch Down Club, Prosper Developers Council, Frisco Developers Council, and the Razorback Alumni Association.