ADVISORY BOARD
The Hobby School of Public Affairs is supported by an advisory board of members prominent in business and civic affairs. The Hobby School maintains cooperative relationships with numerous entities in higher education, public service, and the private sector.
Hobby School Advisory Board Bylaws
2024 Members
Alice Aanstoos, Chair Emerita
Ashley Smith, Chair
Senator Don Adams (retired)
Ramona Adams (retired)
John Cryer III, Page Southerland Page, LLP
Jason Fuller, Straife, LLC
Charles Foster, FosterQuanLLP
Raymond Eugene "Gene" Green, U.S. Congress (retired)
Bill Hobby, Hobby Communications, Inc
Curtis Huff, Freebird Partners
Powell Hutton, US Army (retired)
Kathryn McNiel, Consultant
Beth Madison, Higginbotham
Matthew Moseley, Harris County Intergovernmental and Global Affairs
Tyler Nelson, Cornerstone Government Affairs
Mark Nitcholas, Baird
Alex Obregon, Comcast Houston
Beth Robertson, W.E. Robertson Interests
Francisco Sanchez, Jr., U.S. Small Business Administration
Katherine Summerlin, City of Houston's Public Works
Frederic (Freddy) Warner, Memorial Hermann Health System
Andrew White, Sweat Equity Partners, LP
Hobby School Ambassadors
Lynne Bentsen
Paul Hobby
Beverly Kaufman
Melissa Kean
Stephen Klineberg
Alison Leland
Ted Poe
Graciela Saenz
Bill Sarpalius
Saralee Tiede
Massey Villarreal
Claudia Williamson
Spotlight
Kathryn Chace McNeil
Hobby School Advisory Board member Kathryn Chace McNiel has witnessed the school's transformation during her longtime involvement and leadership. She has chaired seven fundraising luncheons for the Hobby School's Austin and Washington, D.C. internship programs, providing UH students with the opportunity for firsthand policymaking experience. The 2025 luncheon featured a one-on-one conversation with Houston Mayor John Whitmire and Hobby School Senior Research Fellow Richard Murray, benefiting the Hobby Fellows working during the 89th Texas Legislature.
A native of Houston, Kathryn McNiel received her undergraduate degree in political science and psychology from Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts, and later earned a master’s degree in public administration from the John F.Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.