Personal
Born: January 19, 1932, Houston, Texas
Wife: Diana Poteat Stallings
Children: Laura (Mrs. John) Beckworth, Paul Hobby, Andrew Hobby, Kate (Mrs. Steve) Gibson
Education
St. Albans School, Washington, D.C., 1949
Rice University, BA in American History, 1953
Military Service
U.S. Navy, 1953-1957, served to Lieutenant (jg), USNR.
Business History
Chairman, Hobby Communications, 1983-present
President, Executive Editor, The Houston Post, 1965-1983
Public Service
Lieutenant Governor, Texas, 1973-1991
Commissioner, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, 1993-1995
Commissioner, Education Commission of the States, 1991-1994
Co-Chair, Texans for Tier One PAC, 2009
Higher Education Service
Current:
Radoslav Tsanoff Professor, Rice University, 1989-present
Past:
Chancellor, University of Houston System, 1995-1997
Sid Richardson Professor, LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas, 1990-1997
Trustee, St. Edward’s University, 1990-1995
Governor, Rice University, 1989-1993
Regent, University of Houston, 1965-1969
Chairman, Texas Commission on a Representative Student Body, 1998
Member, Commission on Colleges, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, 2000
Member, Visiting Committee, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 1995-2001
Member, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Formula Advisory Committee 1996-2002
Member, Institute for Social Research, National Advisory Council, 1999-2005
Honorary Degrees
Doctor of Laws, University of Houston, 1997
Doctor of Laws, Austin College, 1989
Doctor of Humanities in Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, 1986
Doctor of Humane Letters, St. Edward’s University, 1986
Awards
President Emeritus, Texas Senate
Santa Rita Award, University of Texas System Board of Regents, 1985
Distinguished Alumnus, Rice University, 1985
President’s Medallion, University of Houston, 2009
Professional Associations
Fellow, National Academy of Public Administration, 1991-present
President, Philosophical Society of Texas, 1986
Member, American Newspaper Publishers Association, 1960-1983
Member, American Society of Newspaper Editors, 1960-1972
President, Texas Daily Newspaper Association, 1971
Chair, National Conference of Lieutenant Governors, 1976-1977
Directorships
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation, 1998-present
Center for Public Policy Priorities, 2003-present
Southwest Airlines, 1990-2007
Columbine-JDS, 1995-1997
Book
How Things Really Work: Lessons from a Life in Politics (with Saralee Tiede), Dolph Briscoe Center for American History (2010).
Download a PDF of Bill Hobby's Vita.