Henry Cisneros
Former US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Henry Cisneros is Executive Chairman of the CityView companies, which work with leading homebuilders to create homes priced within the range of average families.
After serving three terms as a City Council member, Mr Cisneros became the first Hispanic-American mayor of a major U.S. city, San Antonio, Texas. During his four terms as Mayor, he helped rebuild the city’s economic base and spurred the creation of jobs through massive infrastructure and downtown improvements, marking San Antonio as one of the nation’s most progressive cities.
In 1992, President Clinton appointed Mr Cisneros to be Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. As a member of President Clinton’s Cabinet, Secretary Cisneros was credited with revitalizing many public housing developments and formulating policies which contributed to achieving the highest ever homeownership rate in the U.S.
Mr Cisneros served as President of the National League of Cities. He is also an author, editor or collaborator in several books. He has received numerous awards, including the Benjamin Franklin Silver Medal.
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 by leading universities.
We caught up with Mr Cisneros duting his visit to the US Studies Centre.
