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Humanities Texas welcomes our new board members! The Humanities Texas Board of Directors formulates policy, approves programs and projects, reviews grant applications, participates in fundraising, and promotes organizational activities. Directors are selected for knowledge of or involvement in the humanities and represent a balance between the academic and public spheres.

The Humanities Texas Board of Directors meets at the Westin Riverwalk in San Antonio in November 2019.
Thomas DiPiero

Thomas DiPiero, who received an MA and PhD in romance studies from Cornell University, is dean of the Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences at Southern Methodist University (SMU), where he is also a professor of English and French. Prior to his arrival at SMU, he taught at the University of Rochester, Reed College, and the University of Paris.

"It is an honor and a privilege to be joining the board of directors of Humanities Texas, whose educational mission I find both impressive and compelling," commented DiPiero. "I'm looking forward to joining the other board members, the director, and staff in making more inspiring programs available to Texans everywhere."

Thomas DiPiero.

John Morán González

John Morán González is originally from Brownsville, and earned an MA and PhD in English and American literature at Stanford University. At UT, he serves as director of the Center for Mexican American Studies and on the advisory board of the Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage project. He is a co-editor of The Cambridge History of Latina/o American Literature (2018), which was selected as a 2018 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title. In addition, he is a founding member of Refusing to Forget, an award-winning public history project dedicated to critically memorializing state violence in the South Texas borderlands.

"I am delighted to serve the people of Texas on the Humanities Texas board of directors and look forward to advancing the vital public relevancy of the humanities for all Texans," commented González.

John Morán González.

Blair Labatt

Blair Labatt is president of Labatt Food Service, the tenth-largest broadline foodservice distributor nationally. Before joining Labatt Food Service, he earned a PhD in English at the University of Virginia and was an assistant professor of English at The University of Texas at Austin. Since 1983, he has conducted the Princeton Book Prize, an annual city-wide contest to choose the most outstanding high school juniors in San Antonio.

"The humanities have been central to everything I have done," commented Labatt. "I believe cultural literacy is the essential glue that binds us together and makes upward mobility possible, and Humanities Texas is dedicated to making that vital cultural literacy available to everyone."

Blair Labatt.

Katharine Schlosberg

Katharine Schlosberg has been involved in public education for over forty years as a teacher, counselor, school administrator, and university professor. She recently retired after teaching at the University of the Incarnate Word for ten years. Schlosberg currently serves on the board of visitors of Trinity University, the board of visitors of the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA, and the KLRN Foundation board.

"I am honored to be joining the board of Humanities Texas and look forward to the opportunity to support quality classroom teaching and educational excellence throughout the state of Texas," commented Schlosberg.

Katharine Schlosberg.