The Honorable Alberto R. Gonzales
Born in San Antonio and raised in Houston in a poor, working-class family with seven siblings, Judge Gonzales graduated from Texas public schools and then enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. Judge Gonzales attended the U.S. Air Force Academy for two years before transferring to and graduating from Rice University and later Harvard Law School. After working at the Houston law firm of Vinson & Elkins, in 1995 he began service as General Counsel to Texas Governor George W. Bush, who later appointed him Texas Secretary of State and as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of Texas.
In 2000, Judge Gonzales accepted a commission as Counsel to President George W. Bush. He was sworn in as Attorney General in 2005, and in that role maintained the Department’s focus on preventing acts of terrorism and reducing the threats of gangs, drugs, and violent crime, as well as the protection of children from sexual predators. Judge Gonzales is presently Dean and the Doyle Rogers Distinguished Professor of Law at Belmont University College of Law in Nashville.
Judge Gonzales is a former board director of the State Bar of Texas and former president of the Houston Hispanic Bar Association. The State Bar of Texas awarded him a Presidential Citation for addressing the legal needs of the indigent and the National Hispanic Bar Association honored him as the Latino Lawyer of the Year. He served as board director of the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Houston, as president of Leadership Houston and of the Houston Hispanic Forum. He serves as board chair of the United Way of Metropolitan Nashville and of Music City Baseball. He was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus of Rice University, and with the Harvard Law School Association Award, the Director’s Award from the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal of Exceptional Public Service. He was recognized as Hispanic American of the Year by HISPANIC Magazine and one of The 25 Most Influential Hispanics in America by TIME Magazine.
In 2000, Judge Gonzales accepted a commission as Counsel to President George W. Bush. He was sworn in as Attorney General in 2005, and in that role maintained the Department’s focus on preventing acts of terrorism and reducing the threats of gangs, drugs, and violent crime, as well as the protection of children from sexual predators. Judge Gonzales is presently Dean and the Doyle Rogers Distinguished Professor of Law at Belmont University College of Law in Nashville.
Judge Gonzales is a former board director of the State Bar of Texas and former president of the Houston Hispanic Bar Association. The State Bar of Texas awarded him a Presidential Citation for addressing the legal needs of the indigent and the National Hispanic Bar Association honored him as the Latino Lawyer of the Year. He served as board director of the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Houston, as president of Leadership Houston and of the Houston Hispanic Forum. He serves as board chair of the United Way of Metropolitan Nashville and of Music City Baseball. He was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus of Rice University, and with the Harvard Law School Association Award, the Director’s Award from the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal of Exceptional Public Service. He was recognized as Hispanic American of the Year by HISPANIC Magazine and one of The 25 Most Influential Hispanics in America by TIME Magazine.