Stephen F. Austin State University

In 1993, Texans elected Hutchison to the U.S. Senate in a special election, making her the first woman elected to represent the state in the Senate. One year later, she was re-elected to a full six-year term, and in 2000, more than four million Texans voted for her re-election to a second full term. At the time, no candidate in Texas history had ever captured more votes. She serves in the Senate leadership, having been elected by her colleagues to be vice chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, making her the fifth-highest ranking Republican senator.

Hutchison plays a vital role in shaping America's defense policy and fulfilling our nation’s promises to veterans as chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and as a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense. The senator has fought to fund research and treatment of Gulf War Syndrome. She introduced and passed legislation creating an Overseas Basing Commission, which conducted a comprehensive review of the U.S. military’s global footprint to help ensure that our Armed Forces are prepared to meet 21st century threats.

Hutchison was instrumental in establishing The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas as the centerpiece of her effort to obtain research and development funding and to promote Texas as a science state. After her efforts to raise the profile of Texas research at universities and colleges, Texas moved to third in the nation in receipt of federal research and development expenditures. The Columbia Geospatial Service Center and the Center for Medicinal Plant Research are among the initiatives that have been funded at SFA as a result of her efforts.

The senator secured funding for an additional 1,500 border patrol agents to strengthen enforcement of immigration laws. In 2004, she helped pass the National Intelligence Reform Act, which included provisions she authored to ensure greater screening of air cargo. That legislation instructs the Transportation Security Administration to establish a database of known shippers, develop facility security plans, and mandate use of worker identification cards.

During her term as chairman of the Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Aviation, she played a major role in drafting the landmark airline security bill passed by Congress after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Hutchison has been a leader in promoting economic growth and tax relief. In recent years, she has been a leader in the fight to provide relief from the marriage income tax penalty and to re-establish the deduction for state and local sales taxes for Texans. Hutchison has fought to reduce marginal income tax rates, eliminate the death tax, and lower taxes on capital gains.

Early in her Senate career, she was lead sponsor of the bill to create the new Homemaker IRA. It allows spouses who do not work outside the home to save for retirement through an IRA.

The “No Child Left Behind Act,” a historic education reform bill signed into law in early 2001, includes a provision written by the senator to help recruit mid-career professionals and retirees into teaching positions. The legislation contains other initiatives by the senator, including the requirement for a report card to parents, providing them with regular updates on the performance of their child’s school. She also was able to remove barriers that prevented local school districts from giving parents the choice to educate their children in a single-gender school or classroom.

In 2005, Hutchison assumed the chairmanship of the Science and Space Subcommittee of the Commerce Committee, overseeing NASA and the National Science Foundation. In December 2005, the president signed into law the senator’s five-year blueprint for NASA’s exploration and research.

The senator’s Texas roots run deep. Thomas Rusk of Nacogdoches was the first Texan to hold the U.S. Senate seat she currently occupies. He and the senator's great-great-grandfather, Charles S. Taylor, were friends and both signed the Texas Declaration of Independence.

Hutchison grew up in La Marque and graduated from the University of Texas and UT Law School. She was twice elected to the Texas House of Representatives and in 1990 was elected state treasurer. In June 2000, she and several colleagues coauthored “Nine and Counting: The Women of the Senate,” and in 2004, she released her second book, “American Heroines: The Spirited Women Who Shaped Our Country.” In 2005, she was named by Forbes magazine as one of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.

The senator lives in Dallas with her husband, Ray, and their two children, Houston and Bailey.

More than 1,000 graduates will receive degrees during the commencement ceremony, including 795 bachelor's degrees, 245 master's degrees and nine doctorates.