Henry Cisneros

Henry Cisneros’ CityView companies help urban homebuilders create homes priced within the range of average families and is a partner in building more than 60 communities in 13 states, incorporating more than 7,000 homes with a home value of over $2 billion.
Henry’s community-building career began at the local level. After serving three terms as a city councilmember, in 1981, he became mayor of San Antonio. During his four terms as mayor, Henry helped rebuild the city’s economic base and spurred the creation of jobs through massive infrastructure and downtown improvements.
After serving as mayor, Henry formed Cisneros Asset Management Company, a fixed income management firm operating nationally and ranked at the time as the second fastest growing money manager in the nation.
In 1992, President Clinton appointed Henry to be Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). As a member of President Clinton’s Cabinet, Secretary Cisneros was credited with initiating the revitalization of many of the nation’s public housing developments and with formulating policies which contributed to achieving the nation’s highest-ever homeownership rate.
After leaving HUD in 1997, Henry was president and chief operating officer of Univision Communications. He currently serves on Univision’s Board of Directors.
Henry has played an active role at the Chamber, serving on a number of committees, councils and task forces. As a result of the Chamber’s 2005 Economic Outlook Conference, Henry helped found BioMedSA to build upon the city’s impressive base of biomedical assets and raise its visibility nationally and beyond.
Henry has served as President of the National League of Cities, as Deputy Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and is currently Vice Chairman of the International Board of Habitat for Humanity International. Henry remains active in San Antonio’s leadership where most recently, he served as Chairman of the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation. He is currently a member of the advisory board of the Broad Foundation.
Henry 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. He served as an infantry officer in the United States Army and is married to Mary Alice P. Cisneros, who from 2007–2011 served on San Antonio’s city council.