About

Carrin F. Patman

Carrin graduated from Duke University (B.A. 1978, with honors) and The University of Texas School of Law (J.D. 1982), where she was a member of the Texas Law Review. For three decades thereafter, she was a litigator at Bracewell, LLP, concentrating on high-stakes litigation, and was the first woman elected to Bracewell’s management committee. Carrin was the first woman chair of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, a role she held for six years. In 2022, President Biden nominated Carrin to be the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Iceland, and she was confirmed the same year.

Carrin grew up in a political family. Her maternal grandfather, Fred Mauritz, served in the Texas State Senate, and her maternal grandmother, Carrin Foreman Mauritz, was a superintendent of schools. Her paternal grandfather, Wright Patman, served for 47 years in the United States Congress, where he chaired the Banking and Currency Committee, and was supported in all his endeavors by Carrin’s grandmother, Merle Connor Patman. Her father, Bill Patman, served in the Texas State Senate and the United States Congress. Her mother, Carrin Mauritz Patman, was active in the Democratic Party, serving on the State Democratic Executive Committee and on the Democratic National Committee and managing Bill’s many successful elections.

Carrin’s involvement with UT includes serving as president of the Law School Alumni Association, president of the Texas Law Review Association, Trustee and Senior Trustee of the Law School Foundation, and founding board member of the Center for Women in Law. She is a recipient of the Law School’s Distinguished Alumna for Community Service.

Carrin has served on numerous non-profit boards and chaired multiple fundraisers for good causes. She has received multiple awards recognizing her professional achievement combined with community service, including The Anti-Defamation League Southwest Region’s Karen H. Susman Jurisprudence Award.

Linda Addison 

John Beckworth

John Beckworth is an attorney and faculty member at The University of Texas School of Law. He practiced law for thirty years in Houston, first as an associate and partner at Fulbright & Jaworski, and subsequently as a founding partner in his own law firm, Watt Beckworth.  

Bruce Cohen 

Justin Dyer

Justin Dyer is dean of the School of Civic Leadership, professor of government, and Jack G. Taylor Regents Professor at The University of Texas at Austin. Dyer writes and teaches in the fields of American political thought, jurisprudence and constitutionalism, with an emphasis on the perennial philosophical tradition of natural law. He is the author or editor of eight books and numerous articles, essays and book reviews. His most recent book, with Kody Cooper, is The Classical and Christian Origins of American Politics: Political Theology, Natural Law, and the American Founding. Previously, he was professor of political science at the University of Missouri, where he served as the founding director of the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy, a signature academic center for the study of American political thought and history. After attending the University of Oklahoma on a wrestling scholarship, he completed his M.A. and Ph.D. in Government at The University of Texas at Austin. 

Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison 

Kay Bailey Hutchison served as the United States Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 2017 - 2021. During her term, she focused on the importance of U.S. leadership in the Alliance and strengthening the transatlantic bond that provides the security umbrella for Europe and North America. From 1993 to 2013, Kay represented the State of Texas in the United States Senate. She was elected, by her peers, to chair the Republican Policy Committee. Kay served two terms as Chair of the Board of Visitors at The U.S. Military Academy at West Point. She is the author of three books, including the bestseller, American Heroines, (William Morrow, 2004). In 2013, the Dallas City Council named the City’s Convention Center in her honor. Her alma mater named its Energy Center, The Kay Bailey Hutchison Energy Center at The University of Texas at Austin.  Kay is the recipient of The University of Texas Presidential Citation Award, the highest honor bestowed by the University.  She earned a B.A and J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. 

Roxann Neumann

Roxann S. Neumann has spent more than three decades guiding corporate clients in strategic public relations and government affairs. Most recently, she served as senior vice president for Silver Eagle Beverages, one of the nation’s largest Anheuser-Busch distributors. In this role, she led the company’s corporate social responsibility and education initiatives, philanthropic and community involvement, internal and external communications, government affairs and media relations. In the community, Neumann volunteers her time to various community initiatives and non-profit organizations. Her current involvement includes Texan by Nature Board of Directors Vice Chairman, George & Barbara Bush Foundation Board of Trustees, Houston First Corporation Board of Directors, Theatre Under the Stars Board of Directors and Executive Committee and Associated Republicans of Texas Vice Chairman. She also serves on Kinder Foundation Board of Directors and is on the Advisory Board of Catholic Charities and DePelchin Children’s Center. In addition, she is actively involved in local, state and federal political campaigns. A native of south Texas, Neumann received a degree in Journalism from The University of Texas at Austin and a Juris Doctorate from South Texas College of Law in Houston. She resides in Houston with her husband, Tim Neumann.