April 12, 1953 – August 13, 2024

BRUCE ANTHONY AUSTIN

April 12, 1953 – August 13, 2024

Public Servant – Navy Veteran

“To whom much is given, much is required.”  [Luke 12:48]

Bruce Anthony Austin was a native of Houston, Texas, born April 12, 1953, into a family of educators and professionals. A collective influence shaped Bruce’s growth and development.  He was raised in Fifth Ward, Texas, by his mother, Dorothy Hinton, an educator who later found her passion in occupational therapy.  Due to her work schedule, his grandparents, Jones and Leatrice Hinton, and his Aunt Geraldine Green, all educators, also played a significant role in his upbringing. This collective influence emphasized the necessity of education and cultivated his ability to become an outstanding and influential community and national leader.  Bruce also had an astonishing and exceptional measure of brilliance. 

Bruce was educated at Houston ISD. He attended E. O. Smith Junior High School and was a proud Phillis Wheatley High School graduate. Throughout his life experiences, Bruce understood and practiced the biblical saying, “To whom much is given, much is required.”  [Luke 12:48]. A statement often repeated by Mother Teresa. As a young person, Bruce excelled academically and in numerous extracurricular activities.  He served as President of the Phillis Wheatley Student Council and was a decorated Eagle Scout.  While at Phillis Wheatley, Bruce attended the Encampment for Citizenship program in New York, where he explored theater and politics. 

At the age of eighteen, he joined the United States Navy.  There, he could share his experiences with people from around the world.   He served aboard the USS Tripoli in Guam from 1972-1976.  While in the Navy, his accomplishments included being nominated for the U.S. Navy Sailor of the Year. Bruce returned to Houston in 1976 after active duty in Southeast Asia.  Not content to leave Navy life behind, he became a Navy Reservist upon his return home. He continued his reserve service in Houston and Washington, D.C., through the end of 1984.  While in Washington D.C. in 1981, he was one of 250 people selected from a field of 4,000 applicants for the Presidential Management Intern position within the U.S. Department of Justice.  After the internship, he continued working with the U. S. Department of Justice. Bruce’s work included Attorney-Advisor, Management Analyst, Budget Analyst, Deputy U.S. Marshal, Personnel Analyst, and Staff Assistant to the U. S. Deputy Attorney General for Administration.   

After completing his 10-year stint in the U.S. Navy, he attended Texas Southern University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, a Master’s in Public Administration with a specialization in policy analysis and administrative law and a Juris Doctorate from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law. While in school, Bruce was employed as an Administrative Assistant in the Texas House of Representatives, serving former Representatives Ben T. Reyes and the late El Franco Lee from 1976 to 1980.

With an ever-present thirst for knowledge, Bruce continued his quest for learning by studying through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (budget formulation and federal budget processing) and attending the U.S. Department of Agriculture Graduate School (negotiation, administration, contracting, and systems operations). Upon his return to Houston in 1984, Bruce served as Executive and Special Assistant to the late Harris County Commissioner El Franco Lee and later as Director of Harris County’s Community Economic Development Department, including the Director of Housing and Community Development. During his service there, he was instrumental in all aspects of leadership and an asset to the department. While serving as Director, the agency became the first non-federal organization to receive the Vice President’s Hammer Award, a recognition sparingly given to organizations that were partners in reinventing government.

His further educational pursuits included the Computer Connectivity Course Special Program for Key Executive Making Information Systems Decisions at the Cambridge Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Community and Economic Development Course at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Bruce also worked as an adjunct professor in the graduate schools of the University of Houston—Clear Lake and Texas Southern University.

In 1989, Bruce was appointed to the newly created Houston Community College (HCC) Board of Trustees to fill an unexpired term after the Houston Independent School District spun off the Community College to have its own Board of Trustees.  He was elected to the HHC Board and held the position for 24 years to become the Dean of the Houston Community College Board of Trustees.  During his tenure on the HCC Board, he held various leadership positions, including Chairperson from 1990 to 1992, again from 2000 to 2002, and Secretary in 2006.  He remains the longest-tenured HCC board member after his retirement in 2013.  During his decades on the HCC Board of Trustees, he was instrumental in advocating for the accessibility and affordability of education and workforce development. He became a stalwart advocate of doing what was best for the institution.  He provided a historical framework for the institution, its policies, and its essential and evolving role in the community.  

In addition to his service on the HCC Board for six years, he served as Director at Large for the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), Regional Director of the Southwestern Region ACCT, and a member of the ACCT Joint Commission of Federal Relations. Bruce continued his work with Harris County until his retirement in December 2016, having served in various leadership positions at Harris County for over 32 years.

Other community and social service boards, activities and awards included the Houston Area Urban League Board; adjunct instructor at the Mickey Leland–Barbara Jordan School of Public Affairs; member of the Acres Home Chamber of Commerce; Julia C. Hester House Board member; guest contributor and editor for PWMAA Wheatley Alumni News; guest contributor for African American News & Issues; County Board Appointee to the Main Street Market Square Redevelopment Authority d/b/a the Downtown Redevelopment Authority, TIRZ Three, Past President of the Houston Chapter of the American Society of Public Administration;recipient of the National Performance Review Award from Vice President Al Gore; Western Region Trustee of the Year from the Association of Community College Trustees;Member of Pi Alpha Alpha National Honor Society for Public Affairs & Administration.

He was also a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Bruce spoke several languages, including Spanish, French, Tagalog, and English, and was conversational in Chamorro, the dialect of Guam. He was also an accomplished poet and artist.

Bruce was preceded in death by his mother, Dorothy Hinton Beard, his loving grandparents, Jones and Leatrice Hinton, his cherished aunt, Geraldine “Aunt Dean” Hinton Green, and his stepfather, Sylvan Beard. Bruce leaves to cherish his memory his son, Carlton Abner, Ph.D. (Andrea); grandchildren Abram and Asher; his Uncle Newton Hinton; his very loyal and dedicated cousin Dennis Jones; and cousins Darrick Eugene, Esq. (Chiquita), Robert Eugene (Joyce), Carla Eugene, Carlton Eugene, Patrica Hinton Davis and numerous other cousins.

He also leaves his closest friends and confidants, Sidney Braquet, Ruby De León, Renee Byas, and Melody Ellis, to remember their associations with him for over 40 years.  Additionally, a host of other relatives, friends, colleagues, and associates will long remember Bruce Anthony Austin as a person who positively impacted anyone whose life he touched.

In honor of his memory and dedication to the educational community, his cherished friend and former HCC Board Colleague Richard Schechter established the Bruce Austin Endowment at Houston Community College for students studying fine arts, visual, or performing arts.