Dr. Heather Wilson (b.1960) is the 11th President of The University of Texas at El Paso following her service as United States Secretary of the Air Force. She served in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the 1st District of New Mexico from 1998-2009. In 2013 she was appointed as the President of the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. Wilson has experience as a senior adviser to the defense and scientific industry.

Dr. Wilson was born on December 30, 1960, in New Hampshire. In 1982 she graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in the third class to admit women. She earned her master’s and doctoral degrees from Oxford University in England as a Rhodes Scholar.

Dr. Wilson is a member of the National Science Board, which oversees the National Science Foundation. She is chairwoman of the Women in Aviation Advisory Board of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). She also serves on the board of advisors for the private space company Blue Origin.

On May 16, 2017, Wilson became the first U.S. Air Force Academy graduate to be sworn in as Secretary of the Air Force. She was instrumental in creating the new U.S. military branch, the U.S. Space Force, organized under the Department of the Air Force.

In 2019, Dr. Wilson became the President of the University of Texas at El Paso.

by Anthony E. Thomas