Councilman At-Large

Robert Brevelle serves as Councilman-at-Large and Registered Agent for the Adai Caddo Indian Nation. He assists the Chief and Tribal Council on special projects, government relations, and regulatory compliance. During Tribal Council meetings, he serves as parliamentarian.

A genealogist, Louisiana historian, and former university professor, Robert was raised in the Central Louisiana communities of Marksville and Leesville–Fort Polk.

He is a direct lineal descendant of one of the earliest French explorers of La Louisiane and his Native American wife. Isle Brevelle, the birthplace of Creole culture, is named for his family. His ancestors helped establish the oldest towns, missions, and forts in both Louisiana and Texas. Today, their descendants include Creoles, Cajuns, and members of the Adai Caddo, Choctaw Apache, Natchitoches, and Tunica-Biloxi Indian Nations.

After graduating with honors from Leesville High School, Robert earned a Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude, and a Master of Science in Computer Science, with a minor in Military Science and History, from the Illinois Institute of Technology. He later completed a Master of Arts in History and a Master of Business Administration at Southeastern University and the University of Texas at Dallas, where he was also a doctoral candidate. He completed additional postgraduate studies and professional programs in finance and law at Southern Methodist University. Robert is a graduate of the Executive Leadership Program at Cornell University. Robert was a member of the National Honor Society and Tau Beta Pi, and he attended these universities on full scholarship.

As an amateur archaeologist, Robert participated in excavations of Civil War and Native American sites throughout Central Louisiana. The Louisiana Archaeological Survey and Antiquities Commission noted that “a number of colonial European families can boast of Caddoan ancestors: Grappes, Brevelles, Balthazars…” His family is recognized in the First Families of Louisiana registry maintained by the Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Society (LAGHS). Working with Araldica Italiana in Rome and the Vatican Apostolic Library, he traced his French ancestry and family coat of arms to 14th-century Normandy. Robert has also studied genealogy and heraldry through the Roman Catholic Church, Presentation College, the International Association of Professions Career College, Alison, and the Art Institute of Dallas. His professional credentials include Project Management Professional (PMP), Louisiana Professional Genealogist (LPG), and Fellow of the Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Society. 

As an engineer, scientist, entrepreneur, and business executive, Robert has led multiple private and public companies in the U.S. and abroad. He served as Managing Partner of a Top 10 nationally ranked startup accelerator and as Entrepreneur-in-Residence for Intellectual Ventures, whose portfolio includes more than 75,000 patents and over $6 billion in investments. His was featured on the cover of the Dallas Business Journal and in numerous national and international publications, including NASDAQ News, Yahoo Finance, Electronics Weekly, Reuters, and Aviation Week. Throughout his career, he has received numerous honors, including recognition as one of the Top 100 Innovators and Entrepreneurs in the World, the NASA Innovation and Leadership Award, Top 10 Angel Investors in Dallas, the Strategic and Nuclear Deterrence C2 Award, and the Department of Defense Team of the Year Award. For nine years, Robert served as an adjunct professor, teaching business and engineering courses. He regularly presents at conferences on venture capital, emerging technologies, Native American history, genealogy, and Louisiana history. The LAGHS and Crunchbase maintain an archive of his published news coverage.

Robert is deeply committed to historical, military, and civic organizations. He serves as Chairman of the Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Society, where he received the society’s highest honor, the Order of Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. He is also President of the Baton Rouge Genealogical and Historical Society and serves as a director of several scholarship programs and conservation trusts, work that has earned him multiple lifetime achievement awards, including the Evangeline Award for Conservation. He is a trustee of the CENLA Historical Society, former President of the Association of Old Crows Dallas Chapter, and former Chairman of the global RTX Diversity Initiative. He has also been recognized for his longstanding support of military veterans through the Veteran Jobs Mission, the Fisher House Foundation, and numerous corporate initiatives.

Robert is a life member of the Association of the U.S. Army, National Guard Association of the U.S., Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, Society of American Military Engineers, National Rifle Association of America, Association of Old Crows, Baton Rouge Genealogical and Historical Society, Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Society, CENLA Historical Society, Sons of the American Revolution, and the Century Club of the Leesville High School Alumni Association. He is also a member of Mensa, Intertel, Christ the King Catholic Church, the U.S. Air Force Big Safari Association, and a founding sponsor of the National Museum of the U.S. Army.

Robert is especially proud of his Adai Caddo and colonial Louisiana heritage. He grew up hiking, hunting, and fishing the lands of his ancestors, from Toledo Bend to the Red River. He is happiest there when the bass are spawning and the whitetails are in rut. Now, he is accompanied by his son Tristan, forging his bond with the land just as his father lovingly did for him.