TPEA Board of Directors

 

Gilbert Jordan

President

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

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

Jim McDonnell

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.