Gloria M. Tarpley is a long-time civic volunteer in Dallas. A retired lawyer who specialized in commercial litigation, Gloria practiced law in Houston, and later in Dallas. Prior to serving on the DFW Airport Board, Gloria most recently served Dallas as a member of the City of Dallas Planning Commission for ten years, serving as Chair of the Commission from 2014 to 2019. Before the Planning Commission, Gloria was a member of the original Ethics Commission for the City of Dallas, serving for eight years as Commissioner. She has been very active in East Dallas and the White Rock Lake area where she has lived for the last 32 years. Gloria is pleased to serve on the Board of the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Society and as chair of the Arboretum Nominations Committee.

In addition to her service to the City of Dallas, Gloria has been a long-standing alumni volunteer for Rice University, her alma mater. As such, she served six years on the Association of Rice Alumni Board of Directors, and as President of the Association of Rice Alumni in 2011-2012. She was a member of the Centennial Commission at Rice when the University celebrated its 100th year. Gloria had the extraordinary honor of serving on the Rice Board of Trustees from 2015-2019, and she has once again been appointed to the Rice Board of Trustees for a new term, effective July of 2021, which she is currently serving. In the course of being a Trustee, she serves on a variety of committees for the University.  Further, Gloria is honored to serve as the Chair of the Rice University School of Social Sciences Advisory Board.  Gloria is married and has two children, Victoria and Philip, Rice 2012.

In addition to her Rice degree, Gloria received her J.D. from the University of Houston in 1984.