In this episode of British Suits and Cowboy Boots, Richard chats with Dr. Heather Wilson, President of The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). She talks about running a university during COVID, how UTEP students contributed to the success story of El Paso’s high vaccination rate and why the University is so vital to the development of the surrounding US-Mexico border region.  

Heather also discusses her service as former Secretary of the United States Air Force, her 10 years representing New Mexico in the United States Congress (she was the first female veteran elected to a full term), and being the first in her family to go to college as a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy’s third class to admit women. She talks about earning her masters and doctoral degrees from Oxford University in England as a Rhodes Scholar and her time on the Oxford rowing team.

She reminisces about her time in the US Air Force stationed in the United Kingdom, her Scottish immigrant grandparents and her grandfather’s service in the RAF. She discusses growing up surrounded by airplanes, including the memory of her dad building an experimental plane in her bedroom.

An inspiring discussion with a true trailblazer and a leader of one of the fastest growing, vibrant regions in the US.