LW Board Bios

Penny Beaumont (Bryan, Texas) retired as Associate Director Emerita of the Texas Transportation Institute where she served as Associate Director for Policy and Government Relations for13 years. During her 26-year career with The Texas A&M University System she led several communications/external relations programs, served as assistant deputy chancellor of engineering and was the System’s first female vice chancellor for communications. In those positions, she was actively engaged in both state and Federal legislative relations. Since her retirement from the University, Penny has been a public relations, marketing and development/fundraising consultant for public and private sector clients. Penny was the first woman employed at Texas A&M to attend LT as a member of the class of 1988 and of Leadership America in 1990. She was instrumental in recruiting members and securing financial support for LT, LA and other LW programs while serving as the first regional representative from Bryan-College Station on the LT Alumnae Board. Penny joined the Foundation for Women’s Resources (now Leadership Women) board of directors in 2002, and served for 12 years, including five years as president, the first non-founder to hold that position. At the LT 30th anniversary celebration, she was awarded the “Cathy” Award in recognition of her many years of service and contributions to the Foundation’s programs. Beaumont’s extensive public service includes being a founding board member of the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services, now known as the Department of Protective and Family Services. After seven years on the DPRS board, serving under Governor Ann Richards and Governor George Bush, she was elected to the Texas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) board, the statewide organization for volunteers in court on behalf of abused and neglected children. She served another seven years at Texas CASA, including two terms as vice president, during which time she helped establish Voices for Children, the CASA program in Bryan-College Station. VFC began in 2001, and is now serving children in seven counties in the region. She is currently helping to establish the UP (Unlimited Potential) program, a new nonprofit to assist foster children who age out of the state system. Beaumont has also served on, and/or been president, of a number of other local nonprofit boards including the Prenatal Clinic and the Clinic’s Foundation, United Way, Health for All, the League of Women Voters, the University of New Mexico Alumni Association, and the College Station Medical Center. She was honored by Voices for Children as the 2013 Champion for Children, and was a Jefferson Award winner in 2014. In 2010, Penny and her husband Roger, Professor Emeritus of History at Texas A&M, published Imperial Divas: The Vicereines of India. She is currently writing a biography of Lady Hariot Dufferin.