Bush School To Host Former Speaker Of The Texas House

The Bush School of Government and Public Service will host Cameron Distinguished Fellow Joseph R. Straus III, former speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, for the 2023 Cameron Fellows Lecture.

The event will begin tomorrow (April 4) with a reception at 5 p.m. and the lecture at 5:30 p.m. in the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center on the campus of Texas A&M University. The event is free and open to the public; register online here.

About The Speaker

Straus served as Speaker of the 150-member Texas House of Representatives from 2009 to 2019, making him the longest-serving Republican Speaker in state history.

Under the leadership of Speaker Straus, the Texas House of Representatives focused on improving public schools and workforce readiness, funding the state’s water plan, directing additional funding to mental health care and the protection of children, and balancing the biennial Texas budget amid both prosperous and challenging economic conditions. In 2019, Speaker Straus launched the Texas Forever Forward political action committee to promote principled leadership and causes that are focused on Texas’ future.

Nationally recognized for his commitment to public service, Straus serves on the Brookings Institution Board of Trustees, and is a member of the Class of 2009 of the Aspen Institute-Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership. He also serves as a member of the Honorary Board of Directors at the SMU John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies and serves on the Texas Biomedical Research Institute Board of Trustees.

Straus is a principal with La Cima Partners, LLC, a strategic consulting business, and a partner in Bennett & Straus, LLC, a San Antonio-based insurance, investments and executive benefits firm. A graduate of Vanderbilt University, Straus and his wife, Julie, have two adult daughters.