Wednesday’s Plenary Session

Henry Cisneros, Executive Chairman, CityView

Mr. Cisneros is Executive Chairman of the CityView companies, which work with the nation’s leading homebuilders to create homes priced within the range of average families.  Mr. Cisneros’ community-building career began in urban public service.  After serving three terms as a City Councilmember, in 1981, Mr. Cisneros became the first Hispanic-American mayor of a major U. S. city, San Antonio, Texas.  In 1992, President Clinton appointed Mr. Cisneros to be Secreetary of the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.  He is credited with initiating the revitalization of many of the nation’s public housing development, with formulating policies which contributed to achieving the nation’s highest ever homeownership rate, and with upgrading the nation’s strategies to reduce homelessness.  After leaving HUD in 1997, Mr. Cisneros was president and chief operating officer of Univision Communications, the Spanish-language broadcaster which as become the fifth-most-watched television network in the nation.  Mr. Cisneros has been awarded the President’s Award by the National Council of La Raza and the Mexican Order of the Aguila Azteca, the highest award bestowed by the Government of Mexico to a person who is not a citizen of the nation.

Mr. Cisneros holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Texas A&M University.  He earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University, studied urban economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, holds a Doctorate in Public Administration from George Washington University, and has been awarded more than 20 honorary doctorates from leading universities.