BOARD OF REGENTS
Glenn O. Lewis, Chairman
Richard Salwen, Vice Chair
Enrique Javier Loya, Secretary
Gary Bledsoe
Samuel Bryant
Richard C. Holland
Honorable Richard Knight, Jr.
Curtistene McCowan
Tracye McDaniel
Larry Taylor, Student Regent
The Honorable Glenn O. Lewis, Chairman
Forth Worth,
Texas
Chairman Glenn O. Lewis comes to the University with
a stellar career in public service and law. His appointment to the Board
of Regents follows his leadership as Chairman of the Blue Ribbon Advisory
Committee for Texas Southern University established by Texas Governor Rick
Perry. His colleagues named him Chair of the Texas Southern University Board of
Regents on May 22, 2007.
Lewis served for ten years in
the Texas House of Representatives. His leadership roles included serving as
Chairman of the Committee on County Affairs, Vice-Chairman of the
Committee on House Administration, Vice-Chairman of the Tarrant County
Legislative Delegation and as Vice-Chairman of the Texas Legislative Black
Caucus.
A long-standing supporter of
causes in his local community, Lewis serves as Chairman of the Board of the Fort
Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce and on the Corporate Leadership
Council of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce. He also serves on numerous
non-profit boards including the Fort Worth Tarrant County Branch of the NAACP,
the Fort Worth Area Arts Council, Water From the Rock, Inc., and the Tarrant
County Medical Education and Research Foundation. Included in his tireless
public service commitments is his service on the Public Policy Committee of the
United Way of Tarrant County and membership in both the Fort Worth Chamber of
Commerce and the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Lewis is currently a partner in
the national law firm of Linebarger Goggan Blair and Sampson. He received his
B.A. from Texas Wesleyan University and a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from
The University of Texas School of Law in Austin, Texas.
He and his family are members of
the Mount Olive Baptist Church in Arlington Texas, where he serves on the Deacon
Board and the Usher Board. He is also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha
Fraternity, Inc., Rainbow Masonic Lodge and the Ambassadors of Fort Worth.
Term: May 11, 2007 – February 1,
2013
The Honorable Richard Salwen, Vice Chair
Austin, Texas
Regent
Rick Salwen is the retired former Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate
Secretary of Dell Computer Corporation. He joined Dell in 1989 when it was
a company with $250 million in annual revenues, and retired in 2000, when Dell
had reached $30 billion – revenue growth of approximately twelve thousand
percent in twelve years.
Prior to joining Dell, Salwen
was General Counsel and Partner for the Perot Group in Dallas, and also served
as Associate General Counsel for Electronic Data Systems Corporation.
Earlier, he worked as a lawyer for the Federal Aviation Administration,
practiced law in a private law firm, and taught legal research and legal ethics
as Adjunct Professor at University of Puget Sound Law School in Tacoma
Washington. salwen earned his B.A. and Law degrees at the University of
Washington in Seattle.
Today, Salwen spends his time
working with startup and small business ventures, and serves on the board of
directors of two private high tech companies, and on the advisory boards of
Techxas Ventures, a venture capital firm in Austin, Texas, and Minco
Technologies, also in Austin. Salwen serves as a volunteer for civic and
charitable organizations related primarily to children and education, including
Texas Southern University; the March of Dimes; KIPP Austin College Prep; Ronald
McDonald House, Austin, Texas; and the School of Management and Business at
Saint Edward’s University among others.
Term: May 11, 2007 – February 1,
2013
The Honorable Enrique Javier Loya, Secretary
Houston, Texas
Regent
Enrique Javier Loya is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Houston-based
CHOICE! Energy. Loya, a first generation Mexican-American born in El Paso,
Texas, made headlines in 2002 when he signed on as a minority owner of the
National Football League’s Houston Texans and was appointed to the NFL’s
diversity committee.
He received additional recognition as the recipient of
Entrepreneur of the Year honors from the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in
2002, the (YEO) Young Entrepreneurs Organization in 2003, was a finalist for the
Hispanic Business Magazine Award in 2002, finalist in the Ernst & Young award in
2004 and 2003, and the USHCC Hispanic Business Man of the Year in 2004.
Loya is also the recipient of the prestigious John Jay Award from Columbia
University for distinguished professional achievement.
As one of the founders’ of CHOICE! Energy, Loya created one
of the first institutional natural gas brokerage houses following industry wide
deregulation. As a natural gas options broker, Loya built the business into one
of the most successful of its kind in the country. Today, CHOICE! Energy is one
of the leading institutional energy brokers in the country offering a complete
range of energy commodities from electricity to renewable energy credits, with a
customer base consisting exclusively of the largest utilities, energy marketers,
and financial institutions in the world.
Loya serves on the board of the Greater Houston
Partnership. He also serves on the Board of Directors for The University
of Houston Center for Mexican American Studies and the Texans Hispanic Advisory
Board. Loya is committed to the Houston community as well as local Houston
charities. Loya is a 1991 graduate of Columbia University in New York, with a
Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.
Term: May 11, 2007 – February 1, 2009
The Honorable Gary Bledsoe
Austin, Texas
Regent
Gary Bledsoe is President of the Texas NAACP and has held that position since
being elected in 1991. The Austin lawyer, who specializes in public interest
law, employment and civil rights law, has a longstanding relationship with the
NAACP as a member of its National Board since 2003, and is currently the Chair
of the National Criminal Justice Committee of the NAACP.
Bledsoe’s ties with the NAACP
enabled him to make substantial civil rights changes, which include his handling
of racial discrimination complaints against the Austin Department of Public
Safety that dismantled racial barriers that prevented minorities and women from
becoming Texas Rangers. His involvement in the Cedar Avenue case resulted in
heightened public awareness of the Austin Police Department’s mishandling of
minority youth and led to widespread changes in how police abuse cases are
handled. The landmark settlement resulted in the creation of a scholarship
program for college-bound minority youth. Bledsoe also negotiated an
African-American student scholarship program with HEB which provides $25,000 in
scholarships for students attending Texas Southern University, Prairie View A&M
University and Huston-Tillotson University. Bledsoe’s legal acumen has earned
him an AV rating according to the prestigious legal publication
Martindale-Hubbell, the second highest rating available for lawyers.
Bledsoe has received several
lawyer of the year awards from the Texas Attorney General and the Travis County
Bar Association, the Austin and national NAACP, and the Austin Area Urban
League, among others. He has also received the Kelly Alexander State
President of the Year Award, the Juanita Jackson Mitchell Award for Legal
Advocacy and the Benjamin Hooks Keeper of the Flame Award and is on the Houston
Hall of Fame at Riverside General Hospital. All have recognized him for his
legal acumen and civil rights efforts.
He earned a Doctorate of
Jurisprudence from the University of Texas School of Law, where he is the
permanent class president of the Class of 1976.
Term: May 11, 2007 – February 1,
2013
The Honorable Samuel Bryant
Austin, TX
Regent
Samuel Lee Bryant joins Texas Southern University’s Board of Regents with great
knowledge of asset management, financial planning and a passion for improving
education and the quality of life for today’s youth.
Bryant is the owner of Bryant Wealth Investment Group L.L.P.,
as well as a registered representative of ML&R Wealth Management LLC, an
affiliate of Maxwell Locke & Ritter LLP. He formerly led Applied Materials
Austin as Site Director, Director of Global Community Affairs North America, and
Director of Human Resources.
His knowledge and experience in financial management,
coupled with his dedication to education will be invaluable tools in growing the
University’s endowments for the benefit of its students.
Bryant is a member of the National Association of Insurance
and Financial Advisors. His commitment to the community is evidenced by
his numerous board appointments, including the Boys and Girls Club of Austin,
Austin Community Foundation Board of Governors, Communities in Schools and Board
chair of Mt. Sinai Christian Academy.
Bryant served our country in the U.S. Army and received a
bachelor degree from Tuskegee University.
He is married to Gigi Edwards Bryant and together they have
five children and twin granddaughters.
Term:
October 26, 2007 - February 1, 2011
The Honorable Richard C. Holland
Plano, Texas
Regent
Richard C. Holland is founder and President of Holland Advisors, a management
consulting firm offering assistance to major corporations in the areas of supply
chain management, supplier diversity and business transformation. He has
over twenty-five years of management and consulting experience in a variety of
areas such as human resource management, operations management, technology
strategy, business transformation and organizational change.
Prior to starting his own firm,
Holland was a senior manager at The Boston Consulting Group, and co-leader of
the firm’s diversity practice. He also held senior management positions
with, The Concours Group, Computer Sciences Corporation and Frito-Lay, Inc.
Holland is a frequent speaker on leading-edge strategies
for expanding opportunities for minority-owned businesses, and was instrumental
in assisting Howard University in the creation of their Institute for
Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Innovation.
As a Texas resident, for the past 20 years, he has been
active in a variety of civic and charitable organizations in the Dallas area,
and is also a member of the Board of Directors for SharePlus Federal Bank in
Plano, Texas.
Holland received a master’s in business administration
from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business, a master’s degree in
nuclear engineering from M.I.T., and a bachelor’s degree in engineering physics
from Cornell University.
Term: May 11, 2007 – February 1,
2013
The Honorable Richard Knight, Jr.
Dallas, Texas
The Honorable Curtistene McCowan
De Soto, TX
Regent
Curtistene 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.
Combining her professional and
civic duties, McCowan has served as President of the Dallas Area Chapter of
Federally Employed Women and as the General Chair of the National Training
Program for Federally Employed Women.
McCowan has also 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 currently
serves on the High School Vision Committee. In 2006, McCowan served on the
interview panel for the prestigious Dr. Emmett J. Conrad Internship Program.
In honor of her contributions, in 2007, DeSoto ISD named and dedicated the
“Curtistene S. McCowan Middle, School.”
McCowan is active in her
community, currently serving as President of the DeSoto Economic Development
Corporation. She is a charter member and the Immediate Past President of
Concerned DeSoto Citizens (CDC). McCowan has also served on the Board of
Directors for the North Texas Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
and as a member of the Maurine F. Bailey Cultural Foundation Advisory Board. She
has also been an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. for over 21
years.
McCowan received a Bachelor of
Business Administration Degree from Dallas Baptist University and an Associates
Degree in Business Management from El Centro College.
Term:
October 26, 2007 - February 1, 2009
The Honorable Tracye McDaniel
Houston, TX
Regent
Tracye McDaniel currently serves as executive vice president and chief operating
officer of the Greater Houston Partnership, a post that she began in June
2006. In this capacity, McDaniel has oversight of the daily operations at the
Partnership, which was formed in 1989 from a merger with the Houston Chamber of
Commerce, Houston Economic Development Council and Houston World Trade
Association.
In addition to McDaniel’s overall operational duties for
the Partnership, she is charged with overseeing activities for the
organization’s $40 million capital fundraising campaign, Opportunity Houston
SM.
Previously, McDaniel served as Executive Director for the Office of the
Governor Economic Development and Tourism Division (EDT), spearheading economic
development and tourism operations for the State of Texas. Under McDaniel’s
leadership, Texas saw the creation of 16,506 net new jobs and a capital
investment of more than $4.3 billion.
Also during her tenure as Tourism Director of Texas, the state became the
second most-visited destination in America. She garnered such honors as one of
the "Most Influential African-Americans in the Meetings/Tourism Industry" and
one of the "Most Powerful Women in Travel," both from Black Meetings &
Tourism magazine.
She also served as chief executive officer for the Texas Economic Development
Corporation TexasOneSM Program, a public/private partnership
marketing initiative to generate job leads by actively promoting Texas as a
business location.
McDaniel holds leadership positions in numerous professional and industry
organizations. She serves as chair-emeritus of the board for the Capital City
African-American Chamber of Commerce (Austin, Texas); honorary chairwoman of the
capital fundraising campaign for the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum (Houston,
Texas); board member of the Houston Greeters; board member of Center for
Houston’s Future; and board member for the United Way of Houston. As the
founding president of the Texas Association of African American Chambers of
Commerce (TAAACC), McDaniel helped create more than 20 chambers of commerce
nationally and throughout Texas.
A native of Waco, Texas, Ms. McDaniel is a graduate of The University of
Texas at Austin.
Term: October 26, 2007 - February 1, 2009
The Honorable Larry Taylor
Ferris, Texas
Student Regent Larry Taylor is a
third year student at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law (TMSL) at Texas
Southern University (TSU). During his academic career at TMSL, Taylor served as
Class Vice President, Student Body Parliamentarian, a member of the Board of
Advocates, member of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) Moot Court Team
and a member of Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, International.
During the 80th Texas
Legislative Session, Taylor interned as a law clerk in the Office of the
Parliamentarian of the Texas House of Representatives through the Mickey Leland
Legislative Program sponsored by Texas State Senator Rodney Ellis. In this
capacity, his work researching and analyzing proposed legislation was used to
aide lawmakers in considering and enacting laws that shape the future of Texas.
Prior to attending TMSL, Taylor
was a well respected banker with Guaranty Bank, working with client investment
needs. Taylor is a second generation Tiger, his father, Larry Taylor Sr.
was a running back and graduate of Texas Southern University, and his mother
received her teaching certificate from TSU. Taylor attributes his
decision to enroll at Thurgood Marshall to his growing up with Tiger Pride.
Taylor received a bachelor’s
degree in psychology from Texas A&M University, College Station, in 1994.
As a member of the Cain Hall Student Athlete Association, he was active in
student body governance and student athlete relations. He was a four year
letterman on the Texas A&M University Track Team, made the Dean’s List and a
four year recipient of the GTE Academic Achievement Award. At Texas A&M
University, he became a member of the distinguished Omega Psi Phi Fraternity,
Incorporated (Nu Delta Delta Chapter in 1993).
Term: May 11, 2007 - February 1, 2008
