About the First Lady

From the time she was old enough to remember her father's work as a family physician in Haskell, Texas, Anita Perry has been committed to caring for others. Whether personally or professionally, she has always strived to help others through education, commitment and compassion.

Pursuing her early interest in health care, Mrs. Perry received a bachelor's degree in nursing from West Texas State University, now known as West Texas A&M University, and later a master's degree in nursing from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Her 17-year career in the health care profession included nursing in the areas of surgery, pediatrics, intensive care and administration. She is currently the outreach and development coordinator for the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, where she draws on her nursing experience with sexual assault victims. Through this role, Perry builds grassroots development campaigns to help spread a message of compassion, hope and education for sexual assault survivors.

As Texas' First Lady, Mrs. Perry continues to pursue her dedication to improving the health of Texans. Mrs. Perry often cites her own nursing experiences when promoting health care issues, and actively encourages Texans to consider careers in nursing. She serves as an advocate on a variety of issues including family violence prevention, immunizations education, and breast cancer and heart disease awareness. It's easy to see why her husband often refers to her not only as the First Lady, but also as the "First Nurse" of Texas.

In 2004, Perry continued her dedication to improving childhood immunization rates, serving as the state's immunization education spokesperson. Recognizing her success in that role, the March of Dimes recently recruited her to chair its national immunization efforts. She was honored to speak at the 50th anniversary of the Salk Clinical Field Trials, which lead to the polio vaccine and ultimately the eradication of the disease in the Western Hemisphere.

Anita Perry has been honored by both her alma maters, which have set up endowments in her name. The Anita Thigpen Perry Nursing Excellence Scholarship provides scholarships to students who have been admitted to the Nursing Program at West Texas A&M University in an effort to help more students follow the dream of a career in nursing. The Anita Thigpen Perry Endowment at the San Antonio Health Science Center helps support the new Center for Community-Based Health Promotion in Women and Children, which focuses on improving areas such as nutrition, cardiovascular disease, health education and early childhood development for women and children in South Texas.

Perry has also been actively committed to opening new doors of opportunity to women. She frequently addresses women's groups around the state and, along with Gov. Perry, helped develop and host the Texas Conference for Women for the past six years. The conference, which has annually drawn thousands of women from across the state and nation, addresses numerous women's issues including professional development, health care and personal growth.

She is an active participant in many volunteer and charitable programs, and has served as the national co-chair of Scholastic Read for 2005, encouraging the development of regular reading habits among children.

Gov. and Mrs. Perry are the proud parents of son Griffin and daughter Sydney. The family also shares the governor's mansion with their dachshund, Lucy.