Bruce A. Austin is a native Houstonian, from the Fifth Ward where he attended Wheatley High School. Elected to the HCCS Board of Trustees in 1989, Mr. Austin was Chairman from 1990 to 1992 and again from 2000 to 2002. He served as Deputy Secretary of the Board in 2006.
Mr. Austin proudly served in the U.S. Navy for ten years. During his tenure, he was nominated for the U. S. Navy Sailor of the Year. He served in the United States Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. in the Office of Information Technology (Management Analyst Staff Coordinator, and Budget Analyst), and the Office of the Assistant Attorney General for Administration (Staff Assistant, Personnel Analyst, Presidential Management, Deputy United States Marshal and Administrative Assistant).
Upon his return to Houston in 1984, he served as Special Assistant to Commissioner El Franco Lee and later as Harris County's Director of Housing and Community Development. While serving as Director, the agency became the first non-federal organization to receive the Vice President's Hammer Award (1996).
Mr. Austin is a proud alumnus of Texas Southern University where he received a BA in Political Science, MPA in Public Administration (specialization in Policy Analysis and Administrative Law), and JD - Juris Doctorate of Law. He continued his quest for learning by engaging in further study through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (budget formulation and federal budget processing) and attended the Department of Agriculture Graduate School (negotiation, administration, contracting, and systems operations). Post education studies included The Cambridge Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, Community and Economic Development Program.
Since 1986, Mr. Austin has dedicated himself to the art of teaching by serving as Adjunct Professor in the Graduate Schools of the University of Houston Clear Lake and Texas Southern University. For three years, he served as Director At-Large, Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), Washington, D.C.; Region Director, Southwestern Region ACCT and a member of the Joint Commission on Federal Relations. He is a poet, artist, and fairly conversational in French, Spanish and Tagalog.
