Alphonso Jackson, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (3/4/2008)

ALPHONSO JACKSON, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

Building a Foundation for the Future

With more than 25 years of direct private and public-sector experience under his belt, HUD head Jackson will discuss the ongoing housing crisis and the current efforts to help families keep their homes. He will delve into how to stop predatory lending and explain how homeownership can still be a safe and affordable endeavor for every hard-working American. In January of this year, Jackson met with civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson to discuss solutions to the home foreclosure crisis as hundreds rallied in Washington, D.C.

Jackson was unanimously confirmed President Bush’s HUD Secretary by the U.S. Senate in March 2004. Prior to that, he worked as HUD's Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer. A longtime friend of President Bush, Jackson has counseled the President since his days as governor of Texas. He was in charge of the Dallas branch of the Texas Housing Authority until 1996. Before that, Jackson served as President of American Electric Power-TEXAS, a $13 billion utility company located in Austin. From January 1989 until July 1996, Secretary Jackson was President and CEO of the Housing Authority of the City of Dallas, Texas, which was considered one of the best-managed large-city housing agencies in the country.

Secretary Jackson also was Director of the Department of Public and Assisted Housing in Washington, D.C., and has served as Chairperson for the District of Columbia Redevelopment Land Agency Board from January 1989 until July 1996. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science (1968) and a master's degree in education administration (1969) from Northeast Missouri State University now Truman State University and a J.D. from Washington University School of Law in 1973.
 

This program was recorded live on March 4, 2008