UST Welcomes New Board Chair

Robert F. Corrigan Jr., J.D., Admires UST’s Mission Focus

Ask the newly appointed University of St. Thomas-Houston Board Chair Robert F. Corrigan Jr., J.D. what he loves about UST, and he immediately tells you that for him, it is all about the mission. He explains, “I admired St. Thomas as mission-focused, and my view became very personal after I had served on the board for several years.” 

He and his wife, Gwen, are parents of two sons, Foster and Perry. Foster transferred to UST in large part due to the mission and the strength of the international studies program. 

From Education and Professional Background to His Introduction to UST

Corrigan earned a Bachelor of Arts in Managerial Studies from Rice University in 1982 and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Vanderbilt University in 1988 before moving into a private law practice as a partner at Fulbright and Jaworski’s Healthcare Law Group.  

In 2011, he left the firm to go in-house at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), also drawn by its quadripartite missions of education, biomedical research, clinical care, and community service. He serves as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. 

Former UST Board Chair and former Board Member at BCM Judge Carolyn Dineen King introduced him to St. Thomas in 2015. Corrigan joined the board at the behest of then Board Chair Dr. Herbert P. Edmundson, Jr. ’69.  

Most recently, Corrigan has contributed as chair of the Board’s Academic Affairs Committee. He has also served as Board vice chair from 2019-2023. He begins his term as chair on July 1. 

Exciting Opportunities for UST’s Future 

Corrigan calls the University “an incredible asset to the city of Houston and Catholics in the greater Houston area.” He sees exciting opportunities in UST’s award-winning distinctions:

• Opportunity to extend UST’s internship programs, like the Rising Stars Program launched by his predecessor and former law partner Curtis Huff, to every interested person who enrolls at UST. 
• Opportunity to continue to enhance support for the outstanding faculty, who accomplish amazing things every day.  
• Opportunity to increase UST’s visibility and recruitment of outstanding student athletes as a member of the NCAA Division III.
• Opportunity to promote UST’s differentiating factor for the workforce — that our faculty teaches ‘ethics.’ 

Asked for final thoughts on what he hopes to achieve as board chair at St. Thomas, Corrigan says, “I am excited that the University has made remarkable progress around fiscal responsibility and our future. I want to see even more progress in that area while never losing sight of our mission and Catholicity.”