The Honorable Curtistene McCowan, Second Vice Chair (De Soto, TX)

Regent Curtistene Smith McCowan is a former Senior Investigator at the Federal Trade Commission. After more than 32 years of meritorious service, McCowan retired from the federal government in 2005.

McCowan has made significant contributions to the advancement of education at the local, state and national levels.   She was the first African-American elected to public office in DeSoto, when she won a seat on the DeSoto ISD Board of Trustees in 1990.   She served two three-year terms as a School Board Trustee -- two of those years as President.In 2000, she was elected as the Charter President of the DeSoto ISD Education Foundation Board of Directors and has served on the Executive Committee since 2001.  

She is also an active participant in DeSoto ISD’s One-on-One Mentoring Program and Discipline Management Committee.   Since 2006, McCowan has served on the interview panel for the prestigious Dr. Emmett J. Conrad Internship Program.   In honor of her 30+ years of volunteer service, in 2007, DeSoto ISD named and dedicated the “Curtistene S. McCowan Middle School.”

In May, 2012, McCowan won a seat on the DeSoto City Council. Prior to her election, she served four years as Board President of the DeSoto Economic Development Corporation. She is a Charter Member and Past President of Concerned DeSoto Citizens (CDC) and also serves on the Advisory Board, Methodist Charlton Medical Center; and the Ready When the Time Comes (RWTC) Advisory Board, Red Cross-Dallas. A Golden Life Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., McCowan has held numerous regional and local leadership positions, including president of Dallas Alumnae Chapter and Vice Chair of Dodd Education & Support, Inc.

McCowan received a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree from Dallas Baptist University and an Associate Degree in Business Management from El Centro College.

Term: October 26, 2007 - February 1, 2009,
Reappointed: March 13, 2009 - February 1, 2015