Fowler Program 2015 - Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison -"The President and Congress: Can They Work Together?"

The first—and only—woman elected to represent Texas in the

United States Senate, Kay Bailey Hutchison has been a passionate and commanding force in American politics.

One of only six female senators when she was elected in a special election in 1993, Hutchison forged a path for other women to make their mark in the political world. By the time she retired in 2012, she was the Senate’s highest-ranking Republican woman and had been the fourth-highest ranking Republican senator. Forbes magazine has ranked her among the world's 100 most powerful women.

          While in the Senate, she served in a number of important roles, including: Vice-Chair of the Republican Conference; Chair of the Republican Policy Committee; ranking member of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; and a key member on appropriations subcommittees for commerce and on defense.

          A tireless advocate for military preparedness, she served as chair of the Board of Visitors for West Point from 1998 to 2012.  In addition, she was an advocate of American leadership in science, technology, and education.  In 2007, she cosponsored the American COMPETES Act in response to a National Academy of Sciences report.  She was instrumental in the creation of an academy of medicine, science, and technology in Texas to foster academic research there. 

While in the Congress and since, she has participated in outreach to Hispanics and in US/Mexican parliamentary cooperation.  The University of Texas, her alma mater, has created a center named for her to foster international contact, study, and teaching with a focus on Latin America, as well as domestic energy issues.   

          She has authored two bestselling books dealing with the role of American women leaders and trailblazers and contributed to a book on women in the US Senate.

          Currently she serves as a member of the Bank of America’s Global Advisory Council; a member of the Campaign to Fix the Debt Congressional Fiscal Leadership Council; senior counsel, Bracewell & Giuliani LLP; and a contributor to CNBC TV Network.