2011

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

Public Servant, Senior U.S. Senator from Texas, Trailblazer

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is the first (and to date only) woman to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate, which she joined in 1993. Hutchison grew up in La Marque, Texas and graduated from The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas Law School. She was twice elected to the Texas House of Representatives and served as the Texas State Treasurer.

Senator Hutchison has established a well-deserved reputation as one of the Senate’s leading advocates for science, education and competitiveness. She was instrumental in establishing The Academy of Medicine, Engineering, and Science of Texas (TAMEST) in 2004. During her tenure in the Senate, Texas has moved to third in the nation in receipt of federal research and development expenditures.  

As the Ranking Republican on the Senate Committee overseeing NASA, Senator Hutchison has been a strong, effective, supporter of space exploration. In 2010, Senator Hutchison negotiated a bipartisan NASA reauthorization bill that will safeguard America's human spaceflight capabilities while balancing commercial space investment with a robust mission for NASA.

Senator Hutchison is currently the Ranking Republican Member on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. Senator Hutchison also serves on the Appropriations Committee and leads the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science as the ranking Republican. In the 110th Congress, Senator Hutchison served as the Chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, the fourth ranking position in Republican leadership.

2010

In 2010, we celebrated all 50 previous recipients of the Hall of Honor. No new recipients were named this year.