William P. Hobby

William P. Hobby:
Educating to Ensure Good Government

William P. Hobby served as Texas’ Lieutenant Governor 1972-1990, longer than any Lieutenant Governor in Texas history. He served 21 years as President of his family’s newspaper, the Houston Post, and he has been Chancellor of the University of Houston System. Currently he is the Radoslav Tsanoff Professor at Rice University. He believes that Texas must sustain its commitment to excellence in higher education, and in 1999 he gave an endowment to Texas State to establish the William P. Hobby Center for Public Service, located in the Political Science Department. The Hobby Center, part of the National Certified Public Managers’ Consortium, trains Texas public employees as Certified Public Managers. Income from the endowment supports the Center's activities and the William P. Hobby Professor in Public Service. The Hobby Professorship is held by Dr. Howard Balanoff.

Gov. Hobby, who has taught in the program, said in making the gift, "Without good government administered by honest, well-trained people, the United States would be a third-world country like Mexico, China, or Russia, where economic progress is impossible and revolution is always around the corner. The Center for Public Service recognizes that fact and the importance and dedication of our public officials."