Chief Operating Officer

Clay Mulford joined NMSI during its initial formation, assisting Tom Luce in the establishment of its operations and all aspects of its activities.  He is responsible for the daily oversight of the organization.  A corporate and securities lawyer prior to joining NMSI, he was a partner with Jones Day and, earlier, with Hughes & Luce, where he was a member of that firm’s executive committee.  In his law practice he served as lead counsel in numerous high-profile mergers and public offerings and on several national ABA Committees.   

Clay has served as a resident lecturer at Harvard University and has also served as a guest lecturer at Oxford University, University of Virginia, Harvard College, University of Virginia School of Law, Princeton University, the British American Project of SAIS, Northeastern University, UCLA and Austin College. He has also been a featured speaker for the Annenberg Foundation, the Aspen Institute, the Carnegie Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and the 20th Century Fund.  He has appeared as a commentator on PBS, served on a national advisory committee for the League of Women Voters, and his testimony has been requested before the U.S. Congress.

His articles and commentaries have been published by the Journal of Law and Politics, the Gannett Foundation, Harvard University Press, Northwestern University, the University of Virginia School of Law, Northeastern University, the ABA, Social Policy Magazine, the Kennedy School, the Freedom Forum, and the Joan Shorenstein Center for Press, Politics and Public Policy.  He is a current or former trustee or board member of Dedman College at SMU, the Episcopal School of Dallas, St. Mark’s School of Texas, North Texas Public Broadcasting, The Dallas Museum of Art, the Dallas Zoo, and Baylor Hospital Foundation.  He also serves as a director of several public and private corporations.  He is an honors graduate of Amherst College and the law and business schools of the University of Virginia.