Robert Brevelle serves at the Chairman of the Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Society. Growing up in the CENLA communities of Marksville and Leesville, Robert’s passion for Louisiana history and genealogy was encouraged by his father. Together, they would spend countless weekends at libraries, museums, old forts and battlefields, and Native American mounds. History was his first love. He was fascinated by the rich and colorful past of Louisiana. From fossil and petrified palm hunting to the religious and cultural festival of Mardi Gras and powwows, Louisiana represented a seemingly endless source of intriguing information to feed every facet of the imagination.
Genealogy grew out of his love for history. His uncles and father would regale him with stories of the adventures and deeds of French and Indian ancestors. Over time, Robert saw the names of these ancestors in maps, archives, and history books. While in college, Robert used the resources of academia to research his family tree, which he traced to the arrival of his ancestor from France in 1718. After graduation, his research was placed on hold for years until a chance sabbatical in Italy. Robert once again pursued his family’s history at the Vatican and the Araldica Italiana SCV Roma, where he traced his ancestors to 1300s Normandy, the armorial bearings, and the original fiefdom. Genealogy not only added meaning and context to his love of history, but it also brought him back into the Church. While always a Christian, for the first time, he felt a love, connection, and devotion to the Church which had evaded him in his youth.
Robert is a direct lineal descendant of one of the early French explorers of La Louisiane and his Native American wife (Jean Baptiste Brevel and Anne des Cadeaux). The birthplace of Creole culture, Isle Brevelle is named for his family. His ancestors were slaves and slave owners who helped establish the oldest towns, missions, and forts in Texas and Louisiana. Today, their descendants are Creoles, Cajuns, and members of the Adai Caddo, Choctaw Apache, Natchitoches, and Tunica Biloxi Indian nations.
Louisiana’s history is diverse, beautiful, and fascinating. It is fundamentally different than the rest of the country, and its people and culture reflect this uniqueness. Our job at the LGHS is to be the curator of this heritage and to cultivate a love and joie de vivre of family, community, and history in future generations.
Career
Robert is an accomplished engineer, entrepreneur, and business leader with over 25 years of experience. He has led multiple private and public companies in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. He is an industry recognized expert in electronic warfare, signals intelligence, cyber security, and airborne ISR. He was the managing partner of a Top 10 nationally-ranked accelerator and the No. 1 ranked business-to-business accelerator in the world. He served as entrepreneur-in-residence for Intellectual Ventures with over 75,000 patents and $6 billion in investments. He was featured on the cover of the Dallas Business Journal and in over 100 other publications, including NASDAQ News, Yahoo Finance, Electronics Weekly, Reuters, Fox, NBC, and Aviation Week. The industry and his peers have recognized him with multiple awards, including the Top 100 Innovators and Entrepreneurs, NASA Innovation and Leadership, Top 10 Angel Investors in Dallas, Strategic and Nuclear Deterrence C2, Engineering Excellence, and DoD Team of the Year.
Robert was an adjunct professor for 9 years and speaks at conferences on venture capital, early-stage technologies, and Louisiana history.
Education
After graduating with honors from Leesville High School in Vernon Parish, Robert earned a BS summa cum laude and MS in computer science with a minor in military science and history from the Illinois Institute of Technology. He went on to complete a MA in history and MBA from Southeastern University and the University of Texas at Dallas, where he was also a doctoral candidate. Robert completed postgraduate work and professional programs in finance, law, and leadership at Southern Methodist University. He is a graduate of the Executive Leadership Program from Cornell University.
After studying genealogy and heraldry at the Roman Catholic Church, Presentation College, and the Art Institute of Dallas, Robert became a certified genealogist and credentialed Project Management Professional from the Project Management Institute.
Robert attended these universities on full scholarship. He was a member of the National Honor Society and Tau Beta Pi.
His credentials include:
Louisiana Accredited Genealogist (LAG)
Louisiana Certified Genealogist (LCG)
Louisiana Certified Heraldist (LCH)
Project Management Professional (PMP)
Fellow of the Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Society (FLGHS)
Boards & Councils
Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Society, Chairman
Baton Rouge Genealogical and Historical Society, President
Adai Caddo Indian Nation, Board Member at Large
BCT Conservation Trust, Board Member at Large
Past positions:
Selery Fulfillment, Chairman
Raytheon Diversity Council, Chairman
Texas Instruments Asian American Initiative, Co-Chair
Teledyne (e2v), Board Member
MobiFalcon, Board Member
SD3D Technologies, Board Member
CC Capital, Board Member
Triasys Technologies, Board Member
iJustOrder, Board Member
Trinity Holdings, Board Member
Association of Old Crows, Dallas Chapter President
E2v Technologies PLC, Executive Committee
Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Gerson Lehrman Group, Advisory Council
Journal of Electronic Defense, Executive Advisory Board
KSI Knowledge Source, Corporate Advisor
International Additive Manufacturing Consortium, Advisory Board
Journal of Global Positioning Systems, Advisory Committee
Dallas Opera, Community Outreach Committee
National Museum of the U.S. Army, Founding Sponsor
Membership & Community Involvement
Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Society, Life Member
Baton Rouge Genealogical and Historical Society, Life Member
Association of the U.S. Army, Life Member
National Guard Association, Life Member
Association of Old Crows, Life Member
National Rifle Association, Life Member
Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, Life Member
International High IQ Society, Life Member
Century Club Leesville High School Alumni Association, Life Member
Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, Life Member
Order of the Engineer, Life Member
Project Management Institute
Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Society of American Military Engineers
Fisher House Foundation
U.S. Air Force Big Safari Association
Wounded Warrior Project
Veterans Job Mission
National Association of Asian American Professionals
National Management Association
IEEE Community Programs and Scholarship Judge
Dallas Opera, Distinguished Audiences Program
Intertel High IQ Society
Mensa International
Christ the King Catholic Church
Adai Caddo Indian Nation
Honors & Awards
Order of Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle — Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Society
Fellow — Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Society
Top 100 Innovators and Entrepreneurs in the World — RMG Magazine
Innovation Leadership — NASA
Top Angel Investors of Silicon Valley — PeopleMaven and Crunchbase
Team of the Year — DoD Advanced Concept Technology
Top 100 Angel Investors that Support Veterans — SBA and Department of Veterans Affairs
Conservation Award — Ducks Unlimited and Rescue our Wetlands
Best Dallas Angel Investors — Investor Available
NCCT Program Award — Aeronautical Systems Center
London’s Best 101 Angel Investors
Ring of Freedom — National Rifle Association of America
Top 50 Health Care Angel Investors in Sweden — Shizune
Leading by Example — National Management Association
Strategic & Nuclear Deterrence — DoD
Top 10 Angel Investors of Dallas — PeopleMaven and Crunchbase
Supporting the Warfighter — US Army Materiel Command and Special Operations Command
Leadership Excellence — CIE
Community Service — IEEE
Officer of the Year — Texas State Guard
Celebrate Success — Leonardo Corporation
Community Service — Association of Old Crows
Leadership & Innovation — L-3 Harris
Leadership Excellence — Texas State Guard
Noble Cause — L-3 Harris
Engineering Excellence — Raytheon
Publications
Learning by Interprofessional Projects, A Practical Multidisciplinary Approach to Engineering Education, Proceedings of the International Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education
Post-Condition Based Stress Testing in Certification of COTS Components, Proceedings of the First International Software Assurance Certification Conference
Assertion-Oriented Testing with Emphasis on Partial Certification and Evaluation of COTS Components, Illinois Institute of Technology, Armour College of Engineering
Analysing Spectral Doppler Echocardiographic Images, IIT and Rush University Medical College Research Conference
I serve the society for the same reason I serve my tribe. I want my son and all of Louisiana’s children to grow up with knowledge and pride in knowing who and where they come from. By understanding our history and culture, our children will have a love of this land and our people. By knowing their genealogy, they will have empathy and respect for all races and creeds. They will have the kinship and confidence to continue to share our past and future contributions with the world while learning from the mistakes of the past. They will know that Louisiana will always be apart of them and forever be home.
