Rose Rougeau, UH alumna and current student in the graduate Human Resources Development program in the College of Technology, recently joined the board of directors for the Texas Business Hall of Fame.
The Texas Business Hall of Fame Foundation (TBHF) is an educational organization that recognizes past and present Texas business leaders who are noted for their outstanding accomplishments in business and their contributions to the community. The board of directors includes members who represent a variety of industries and professions statewide. With a goal to assist future business leaders, the Texas Business Hall of Fame Scholarship Program has awarded more than $3 million in scholarships to date to students at participating Texas universities. As a director, one of Rougeau's highest profile roles will be the opportunity to interview prospective scholarship winners.
Rougeau is regarded as one of the most effective media relations strategists in the U.S., providing strategic communication counsel on highly complex issues to Fortune 500 clients.
Her extensive experience in media relations and broadcast journalism began at the University of Houston, where she earned a B.A. degree in radio and television. As an undergraduate student, Rougeau and three fellow classmates started a student chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists, which provided an avenue to meet professional journalists and to learn more about the industry. She began her television career at KOCO-TV (ABC) in Oklahoma City and later served as a news producer locally for KTRK-TV (ABC). Rougeau served as the senior media relations advisor and chief spokesperson for AAA in Texas, where she was a highly sought after commentator on energy and safety-related issues. Highly involved in community-based organizations, she is a board member of various non-profit associations that focus on uplifting families such as the Houston Texans YMCA – the nation's first and only "Y" to be named after an NFL team. Rougeau has also organized and chaired several fundraising events such as the Sakurambo School of Martial Arts, to benefit families with financial need.
A Life Member of the University of Houston Alumni Association, she recently returned to UH to pursue a Master of Science degree in Human Resource Development in the College of Technology.
Rougeau believes that it does not take much for each of us to make a positive impact on another's life in our own individual way. Her guiding principle is "to those whom much is given, much is expected," which she stands by with a scholarship contribution for human resource development students in the Department of Human Development and Consumer Sciences.