Norman Roy Garza, Jr., joined Texas Space Commission (TxSC) as the inaugural executive director on July 1, 2024. Previously, he served in several capacities in the Texas A&M University System (TAMUS) since 2014.
During his time with TAMUS, Mr. Garza held two titles: assistant vice chancellor of government relations and external affairs for three state agencies funded by the Legislature – Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, the Engineering Extension Service and the Transportation Institute. He also served as vice president of government relations for Texas A&M University in College Station – TAMUS’s flagship campus – and for TAMUS’s remote sites in McAllen, Houston and D.C. and the Branch Campus in Galveston.
While with TAMUS, Mr. Garza supported major initiatives such as partnering with U.S. Army Futures Command to create the Bush Combat Development Complex; obtaining management contracts from the National Nuclear Security Administration for the Los Alamos National Laboratory as well as the Pantex Plant; securing state appropriations to build the Center for Infrastructure Renewal at The RELLIS Campus in Bryan, Texas; implementing an advanced manufacturing workforce training program with the Port of Brownsville; and establishing the A&M Semiconductor Institute as well as the A&M Space Institute. Mr. Garza also was an associate legislative director at the Texas Farm Bureau and worked for a state senator at the Texas Capitol.
Born in Harlingen, Mr. Garza is a native Texan with roots across the Rio Grande Valley and South Texas. He is a graduate of Pleasanton High School and St. Edward’s University, having earned a bachelor’s degree in political science. Additionally, he studied at the Universidad de Belgrano in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and earned a certificate through the Governor’s Executive Development Program from The University of Texas at Austin.
Mr. Garza has volunteered in leadership roles with several statewide non-profit organizations, such as the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation’s Stewards of the Wild program; Texan by Nature; Texas Agriculture Land Trust; and Saint Mary Cathedral in Austin, Texas.
