ADVISORY BOARD

advisory-board-2016

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

Catherine Clark Mosbacher

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

Kathryn 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.