Redevelopment

The Riverside Campus wasn’t a barren locale when The Texas A&M University System assumed authority over the site and renamed it the RELLIS Campus in 2016. In fact, most of the old Bryan Air Force Base remained intact, although numerous buildings, warehouses and other structures were falling into ever-greater states of disrepair. A few new buildings had been constructed through the years, most notably the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service Law Enforcement Training headquarters and the nearby Robert E. “Bob” Wiatt Physical Skills Training Complex as well as the Texas A&M University Automated Fabrication and Design Lab, more commonly called the “Architectural Ranch.”

One of the main challenges in orchestrating the planned redevelopment of the RELLIS site was to place the physical embodiment of the new vision of Chancellor John Sharp over the existing, crumbling infrastructure. Not a small task.

Retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel James Bright has been an integral part of the RELLIS Campus team since August of 2017.

Retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel James Bright is the deputy director of the RELLIS Campus. Bright is an accomplished leader with 30 years of proven success in progressive executive level responsibilities that include strategic and operational planning, leadership development, personnel and program management, team building and ethical decision making. Before joining The Texas A&M University System, Bright was a Texas A&M faculty member and head of the Naval Science Department within the A&M Corps of Cadets responsible for curriculum development, instructor certification and academic compliance. In addition, he was responsible for the leadership, education, training, mentoring and professional development of the largest Naval ROTC unit on any college campus in the United States. He is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and holds Master’s degrees from the Marine Corps University and the Naval War College.