HispanicBusiness

Victor Carrillo
Commissioner
Railroad Commission of Texas
As commissioner of the Railroad Commission of Texas since 2005, Victor Carrillo is the highest-ranking Hispanic official in Texas. Mr. Carrillo's government experience includes his two-year position as chairman of the Railroad Commission, chairman of the governor's Texas Energy Planning Council, and second vice-chair of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. He received a law degree from the University of Houston Law Center and has worked as an energy attorney and a judge. In May 2006, Mr. Carrillo was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Hardin-Simmons University.

Nitza Margarita Cintron
Chief of Space Medicine and Health Care Systems Office
NASA's Johnson Space Center
Dr. Nitza Margarita Cintron has been the chief of the space medicine and health care systems office at NASA's Johnson Space Center since 2004. Dr. Cintron's experience at NASA includes her positions as the chief of biomedical operations and research branch in the medical science division and the director for managing the life sciences research laboratories. Her work in the medical science field at NASA was recognized when she received the NASA Medal for Exceptional Science Achievement, the highest science honor given by the agency. In 2004, she was inducted into the Hispanic Engineers National Achievement Awards Conference Hall of Fame.

Henry Cuellar
Congressman-28th District of Texas
U.S. House of Representatives
In his first year in Congress, Mr. Cuellar saw all 11 amendments he introduced to the House pass -- ranking him first among all first-year legislators and third among all House members. A member of the House Agriculture and Budget committees, the Democrat secured federal grant assistance that totaled more than $850 million for his district. And with five advanced degrees, he has earned more than any other sitting member has. Before entering the House of Representatives, Mr. Cuellar was the Texas Secretary of State and a 14-year member of the Texas legislature.

Jolen Flores
Chief, Aircraft Project Office
NASA's Ames Research Center
Starting as a research scientist with NASA in 1981, Dr. Flores climbed to the top to become NASA's chief of its aircraft project office where the University of California at Berkeley graduate now controls a $10 million budget planning, managing, and reviewing flight research projects. The Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington featured an exhibit of Dr. Flores' research and in 1998, NASA recognized him as one of its 12 Superstars of Modern Aeronautics. His work at Ames earned him NASA's Equal Opportunity Medal in 2002.

Irma Gonzalez
Chief Judge
US District Court, Southern District of California
Judge Gonzalez's career is highlighted by firsts: She is the highest-ranking and first Hispanic female judge in the 9th Circuit; when appointed to the federal bench, she was the first Hispanic female in the United States to be a Federal District Court judge; and she was the first Mexican-American woman appointed U.S. magistrate in the federal court for California's Southern District. Before becoming chief judge of the Southern District of California, the Stanford and University of Arizona-educated jurist was assistant U.S. attorney in Arizona and California and a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division in Los Angeles.