Dr. Henry G. Cisneros Biography

Chairman & Co-Chief Investment Officer, American Triple I Partners, L.L.C.
Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors & Equity Owner,
Siebert, Williams, Shank, L.L.C.
Founder & Chairman, City View

Dr. Henry G. Cisneros is Chairman and Co-Chief Investment Officer of American Triple I, an infrastructure investment firm based in New York. He is also a Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors & Equity Owner of Shank Williams Cisneros & Co., L.L.C., and Principal of Siebert Williams Shank & Co., LLC., a national municipal and corporate finance firm. Dr. Cisneros is the Founder and Chairman of CityView, a partner in building more than 100 communities in 13 states, building more than 7,000 homes with a total value of over $5 billion.

Dr. Cisneros’ community-building career began at the local level. After serving three terms as a City Councilmember, in 1981, Dr. Cisneros became the first Hispanic-American Mayor of a major U.S. city, San Antonio, Texas. During his four terms as Mayor, he helped rebuild the city’s economic base and spurred the creation of jobs through massive infrastructure and downtown improvements.

In 1984, Dr. Cisneros was interviewed by the Democratic Presidential nominee as a possible candidate for Vice President of the United States, and in 1986 was selected as the “Outstanding Mayor” in the nation by City and State Magazine. After completing four terms as Mayor, Dr. Cisneros formed Cisneros Asset Management Company, a fixed income management firm operating nationally and ranked at the time as the second-fastest growing money manager in the nation.

In 1992, President Clinton appointed Dr. Cisneros as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. As a member of President Clinton’s Cabinet, Secretary Cisneros has been credited with revitalizing many of the nation’s public housing developments and formulating policies that contributed to achieving the nation’s highest-ever homeownership rate. In his role as the President’s chief representative to the nation’s cities, Dr. Cisneros personally worked in more than 200 U.S. cities in every one of the 50 states.

After leaving H.U.D. in 1997, Dr. Cisneros was President and chief operating officer of Univision Communications. This Spanish-language broadcaster has become the fifth-most-watched television network in the nation. Dr. Cisneros currently serves on Univision’s Board of Directors. Dr. Cisneros has served as President of the National League of Cities, Deputy Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and Vice-Chairman of Habitat for Humanity International. Dr. Cisneros remains active in San Antonio’s leadership. He is the former Chairman of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation, the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and BioMed S.A. He is a former member of the advisory board of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Cisneros has been inducted into the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) “Builders Hall of Fame.”

Dr. Cisneros has also been the author or editor of several books, including Interwoven Destinies: Cities and the Nation. His book project with former H.U.D. Secretary Jack Kemp, Opportunity and Progress: A Bipartisan Platform for National Housing Policy, was presented the Common Purpose Award for demonstrating the potential of bipartisan cooperation, and Casa y Comunidad: Latino Home and Neighborhood Design were awarded the Benjamin Franklin Silver Medal in the category of best business book of 2006. In 2017 he co-authored Building Equitable Cities.

Dr. Cisneros holds a Bachelor of Arts, and a master’s in Urban and Regional Planning from Texas A&M University, where he has been designated a Distinguished Alumnus. He earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University, was a graduate assistant in urban economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, holds a Doctorate in Public Administration from George Washington University, and has been awarded more than 20 honorary doctorates from leading universities, Texas A&M University at San Antonio is the site of the Henry G. Cisneros Center for Emerging Leaders. He served as an infantry officer in the United States Army. Dr. Cisneros is married to Mary Alice P. Cisneros, who, from 2007–to 2011, served on San Antonio’s City Council. They have three children – Teresa, Mercedes, and John Paul – and four grandchildren.