TPEA Board of Directors

Gilbert Jordan

President

Gilbert Jordan is a long-time TPEA member who is currently serving his second term as TPEA’s president. He joined the association in 1987 and has served faithfully since then.

Gilbert spent the entirety of his 40-year career in state government at the Texas Department of Transportation, eventually serving as Maintenance Support Branch Section Director/Emergency Management Coordinator. In this capacity, among other duties, Gilbert was responsible for supporting the Infrastructure Branch of the State Operations Center, which provides early warning and disaster response in the event of a major disaster event. In 2016, TxDOT awarded him the Raymond Stotzer Award, which is presented to a non-engineer who demonstrates outstanding service to the agency. He also received the Director's Award from the Department of Public Safety, in recognition of his outstanding performance and diligent efforts in supporting that agency.

Gilbert was inducted into the Texas Emergency Management Hall of Fame in 2019. He is retired (32 years) from the US Navy Seabees reserves with the rank of Command Master Chief (highly decorated). He deployed to Iraq in 2004-2005 during Operation Iraqi Freedom and was stationed in the Al Anbar province, his Seabee unit was under the command of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Forces.
 

Delvin Dennis

Vice President

Mr. Dennis has been a TPEA member for over 30 years. He served three terms as statewide President and currently serves as Vice President on the Board.

Mr. Dennis was a state employee for 31 years with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). He served his entire TxDOT career in the Houston District, retiring as the District Engineer in Houston in 2011. In that role he was responsible for managing all district operations with an annual budget of more than $1 billion. He oversaw department operations in six counties, including Harris County. While managing up to 1400 employees, he had the opportunity to interact with over 4.5 million licensed drivers.

Since 2012, Mr. Dennis has worked in the private sector in the consultant engineering field. He currently is a Vice President with Othon Engineering, a multi-discipline civil engineering firm in Houston. Mr. Dennis graduated from the University of Houston with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.

Richard Babcock

President-Elect

Rich Babcock was elected to the TPEA Board in 2016.

Rich serves as Senior Warden of the Jester IV Psychiatric Facility in Richmond, Texas. He has been a state employee with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) for 22 years.  A native of California, Rich earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business and Organizational Management from Ashford University before entering the public sector. As Senior Warden, Rich is responsible for more than 380 employees and up to 550 inmates in need of psychiatric care. He also works closely with the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, which manages health care at the facility, and Alvin Community College, which provides vocational training.

Outside of work, Rich enjoys backpacking, hiking, mountain biking, theater, music, and spending time with his six children. He has also coached soccer for 26 years.

 

Wanda Carter-Dyer

Secretary

Kelly Zrubek

Treasurer

Kelly Zrubek currently serves on the TPEA Executive Committee in the role of Treasurer.  She joined TPEA in 2006 and was elected to the Board in 2019. In 2017 Kelly received the TPEA President’s Award for her outstanding service to the association.

Her public service role is the Special Assistant to the Director of Permitting and Registration Support with over 25 years of state service with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in Austin, Texas.  She is a senior project and program manager with a proven track record in risk management, quality assurance, business enterprise policy analysis and legislative strategy.

She began her state career at the University of Texas in the Recreational Sports Division Office. After university, she spent three years in industry raising fish and toxicology biomonitoring organisms for the EPA. She then furthered her state career by joining TCEQ. She worked in Public Drinking Water determining public water system compliance and overseeing rules related to the Safe Drinking Water Act. 

Kelly holds a Bachelor of Science in Aquatic Biology and a Bachelor of Arts in Czech Language from the University of Texas in Austin. She holds a Master’s Certification in Information Technology Project Management and a second Master’s Certification in Business Analysis from George Washington University. Kelly celebrates more than 10 years as a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®) by the Project Management Institute.
 

Stephanie DeWitt

Stephanie DeWitt is a long-time TPEA member who has served in numerous chapter and statewide positions for many years. Currently serving her second term on the TPEA Board, Stephanie has just completed a term as state President (2018-19). In 2012, she received TPEA’s Joe G. Hanover Award for outstanding contributions to membership activities. Stephanie grew up in Lampasas and obtained her B.A. in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin, followed by an M.S. in Human Resource Management from the University of Central Texas (now Texas A&M University - Central Texas) in Killeen. She is also certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR). Stephanie commenced her public service as an employee of TxDOT nearly 27 years ago. She is currently a Lead HR Generalist for the agency’s Human Resources Division and works in the San Angelo District. She has extensive experience administering HR programs, including recruiting, hiring, employee relations, benefits, compensation, wellness, training, performance management, and career development.

Her goal is to make work-life better for employees and supervisors so they can excel at the core functions of the agency - designing, building, and maintaining the best transportation system in the country. 

Stephanie lives in San Angelo with her husband (a 37-year TxDOT employee), and their daughter, a student at San Angelo Central High School. 

Kysha Holland

Kysha began her career with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) in May 1992 when she was hired by the Director of Construction as a summåer hire while attending college.  As her summer assignment was ending, she was approached by the Chief Accountant to join the Finance Office as a part-time Accounting Clerk.  After working in that position for a year, Kysha was hired as full time Accounting Specialist.  Kysha was promoted to Chief Accountant for the Fort Worth District of TxDOT in 2004.  In this position, she was responsible for a multi-million-dollar budget that consisted of operating, maintenance and construction funds for the state infrastructure.  Mrs. Holland is currently a Lead Accounting Specialist for the North Field Office Finance Office, which consists of 8 district offices.

Outside of her work, Kysha currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Highway District 2 Credit Union.  She is also active in church, serving in various capacities.  

She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Ashford University.

Carolyn Pansy

Tim Fitzpatrick

Tim Fitzpatrick was elected to the TPEA Board in the Summer of 2019. 

Tim currently serves as an Assistant Warden of the W. J. Estelle Unit in Huntsville, Texas. Tim commenced his career in State service with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) at the Jim Ferguson Unit in Midway, Texas in 2005. He then passionately served on multiple facilities with differing missions to include the Goree Unit, the Byrd Unit, the Polunsky Unit, the Michael Unit and the Pam Lychner State Jail before receiving his most recent promotion. 

Tim moved to Texas in 1998 and grew up in the North Houston area. He was accepted into the Criminal Justice Program at Sam Houston State University and graduated with his Bachelor’s Degree in 2011. 

In 2013, the College of Criminal Justice and the Correctional Management Institute of Texas at Sam Houston State University awarded Tim a scholarship to attend the Master of Criminal Justice Leadership and Management Program. Tim graduated with his Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice Leadership and Management in 2015. At the Estelle Unit, Tim is responsible for the oversight, management and leadership of over 1,000 TDCJ and State contract employees and approximately 3,148 offenders.

Jeremy Herndon

Bob Elder

Robert Elder joined the TPEA Board in 2018. 

Robert is the Director of Communications and Investor Education at the Texas State Securities Board (TSSB). He joined the TSSB in 2008 after 30 years as a reporter and editor for publications including Texas Lawyer and American Lawyer Media, the Wall Street Journal, and the Austin American-Statesman.

As the chief spokesman for the TSSB, Robert writes the agency's news releases, investor alerts, and other content, and runs its digital distribution service. He is the primary writer of the Texas Investor Guide: Strategies for Investing Wisely and Avoiding Financial Fraud . Now in its 10th anniversary edition, the Investor Guide has been received by more than 92,000 Texans and praised for its no-nonsense approach and breadth of information about the time-tested principles of investing.

Robert speaks regularly to civic groups, senior organizations, university classes, state employees and retirees, and the military.

Jim McDonnell

Jim McDonnell was elected to the TPEA Board of Directors in 2017.

Jim has had a varied career in both the private and public sectors. Upon graduation he enlisted in the army and spent six years in the military police.  Returning to the civilian world, Jim worked in West Texas oilfields before moving to the Texas Hill Country, where for several years he worked with contractors installing traffic signals.  In 2011 Jim brought his array of skills to public service, joining the Texas Department of Transportation family in Burnet County. Jim enjoys his work at TXDOT and living in the beautiful Texas Hill Country.

Jim feels that working closely with TPEA gives him the opportunity to share with his fellow public employees additional employee benefits, as well as to keep them informed of legislative news from the TPEA team.  Given the breadth of his career, Jim offers a unique perspective on the advantages of state service, as well as on the contractor side of state projects.
   
He is an avid outdoorsman and loves fishing, hunting, and spending time with family. 

Gene "Wes" Smith

John "Dan" Maxwell

Dan Maxwell was elected to the TPEA Board in 2018. This is Dan’s second tour of duty, as he represented Region 13 for two terms from 2004 to 2010. He has been a member of TPEA since the late 1970s.

Dan commenced his long career in state employment within two days of his high school graduation, taking a job in the print shop at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. A graduate of Stephen F. Austin University with a B.S. in Communications and Media Studies (where he managed SFA’s television production facility and over the air radio station), Dan served as Media Services Director for the Lufkin State School and Lufkin Supported Living Center from 1976 to 2010. Dan retired from active state employment in 2010, but that has not stopped him from contributing as a leader in TPEA and as President of the Retirees Chapter in Austin since 2015. Dan combines his love of music (he is a drummer and percussionist) with his tireless work as a volunteer. He has received three significant awards recognizing his volunteer service to the Lufkin and Austin Supported Living Centers: the 2009 DADS Vision Award (with his band, The Strat Cats) which still plays monthly in Lufkin; the 2014 DADS Vision Award; and the 2019 Volunteer of the Year Award from HHSC Deputy Commissioner Mike Maples.