Rolando Pablos

Rolando Pablos
111th Secretary of State of Texas
In office January 6, 2017 – December 15, 2018
Governor	Greg Abbott
Preceded by	Carlos Cascos
Succeeded by	David Whitley
Commissioner of the Public Utility Commission of Texas
In office September 20, 2011 – March 1, 2013
Governor	Rick Perry
Preceded by	Barry T. Smitherman
Succeeded by	Brandy Marty Marquez
Personal details
Born	(1967-09-26) September 26, 1967 Sonora, Mexico
Political party	Republican
Education	St. Mary's University, Texas (BS, JD) University of Texas at San Antonio (MBA) University of Houston (MA)

Rolando Burgoa Pablos (born September 26, 1967) is an American executive, attorney, and Republican politician from the U.S. state of Texas. He was sworn in as the 111th Secretary of State of Texas on January 5, 2017. On December 6, 2018, Pablos announced his resignation as Secretary of State effective December 15.

Background

Born in Sonora, Mexico, Pablos grew up in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and El Paso, Texas. He graduated from Cathedral High School in El Paso.

Education

In 1992, he graduated from St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas, with a bachelor's degree in biology. He then earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at San Antonio, a master's in Hospitality Management from the Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston, and in 1998 a Juris Doctor from St. Mary's University School of Law.

Pablos was described as the "driving force" behind the creation of the San Antonio campus of Hilton College, at which he formerly served as adjunct lecturer of hospitality law.

Career

Pablos formerly served as a Texas Public Utility Commissioner and then chaired the Texas Racing Commission. He was nominated to serve as Texas Secretary of State by Republican Governor Greg Abbott and confirmed by the Texas Senate on February 14, 2017.

In March 2017, Pablos made his first international diplomatic mission to Mexico City, during which he affirmed the strong economic relationship between Texas and Mexico. After the trip, Pablos said he was "highly encouraged" by his meetings and discussions with both private and public sector officials, including representatives from the SENER, Mexico's energy ministry.

Pablos co-founded Uriel Americas and served as chief executive officer of the Borderplex Alliance, a bi-national economic developmental corporation.

In August 2017, as a new school year loomed, Pablos urged high school principals to register qualified students for voting. The principals, noted Pablos, are required under the state election code to serve as deputy voter registrars, in which capacity they are expected to distribute voter registration applications to students who will turn eighteen by election day.

Writing in World Oil magazine in November 2017, Pablos expressed optimism that Mexico's energy reforms enacted in 2013 would provide Texas and Mexico "a new opportunity" to collaborate in cross-border energy trade, through what he calls the "Texas-Mexico Energy Nexus," adding that "the potential is enormous for Texas energy leaders to expand in a newly privatized Mexican energy market." Pablos had made cross-border energy integration the focus of a Texas Border Trade Advisory Committee meeting earlier that year.

In March 2018, Pablos welcomed Aga Khan IV to Texas during his Diamond jubilee visit to the United States.