Scott D. Forbes

Senior Vice President, Governmental Relations, UTHealth Houston

Scott Forbes serves as senior vice president of governmental relations at UTHealth Houston.

He and the governmental relations team are liaisons to local, state, and federal governments. Forbes, who joined the Office of Governmental Relations in 2007, assists in obtaining federal and state appropriations for the biomedical research, health care, community service, and education missions of UTHealth Houston, as well as statutory changes and working with federal and state agencies on critical programs for UTHealth Houston’s students, faculty, and staff. This work has garnered support for initiatives such as the John S. Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center at UTHealth Houston, the Texas Epidemic Public Health Institute, numerous capital construction projects, the research performance-based mission specific formula, and increased formula funding for McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics at UTHealth Houston.

Prior to UTHealth Houston, Forbes spent seven years leading governmental relations for the Port of Houston Authority, the busiest port in the nation. He was instrumental in securing federal earmarks and funding, creating the first in the nation Port Security District, passing a state constitutional amendment to allow the Port to be on the coffee exchange at the New York Board of Trade, and creating the Gulf Coast Freight Rail District. He was also a key member of the team to get federal approvals and funding for the Bayport Container Port.

From 1992 to 2000, Forbes served as the assistant director for state and federal relations for Houston Mayor Bob Lanier and for two years for Houston Mayor Lee P. Brown as acting director for state and federal relations. During his tenure in the Houston Mayor’s Office, Forbes worked on the Stadium Bill to build four professional sports stadiums in Houston; legislation for convention center hotels, neighborhood protection, criminal justice overhaul, and infrastructure legislation; federal authorization for I-69 from Port Huron, Michigan, to the Texas Rio Grande Valley; amendments to President Clinton’s Crime Bill; and added the Houston-to-Tokyo direct route in the Open Skies Agreement.

Forbes is a graduate of Austin College in Sherman, Texas, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science.