Thomas Suehs, Texas Health and Human Services
Executive Commissioner

Thomas Suehs was appointed Texas health and human services executive commissioner on Sept. 1, 2009, by Gov. Rick Perry. As head of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Suehs provides leadership and strategic direction to the health and human services system in Texas. The executive commissioner oversees the operations of the five health and human services agencies, including more than 50,000 employees and combined annual budgets of $30 billion.

Suehs served as deputy executive commissioner for financial services at HHSC from 2003 until his appointment as executive commissioner. His responsibilities included providing administrative leadership, oversight and direction for the financial management of the state’s five health and human services agencies. He also served as the deputy commissioner of the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. He is a former executive director of the Texas Health Care Association, past president of the American Society of State Health Care Executives and former special adviser to the Texas Indigent Health Care Task Force.

Suehs has a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Texas and a bachelor’s degree from Texas State University.

Jon Weizenbaum, Department of Aging and Disability Services Interim Commissioner

Weizenbaum was named interim DADS commissioner on Sept. 1, 2009. He has served as DADS deputy commissioner since May 2006. Before that he was director for the Center for Policy and Innovation at DADS, where he was responsible for overseeing policy development and oversight, analysis and support, and quality assurance and improvement. Weizenbaum also has served as legislative policy director for the Texas Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, specializing in aging and disability services. He holds master’s degrees from the University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work and the LBJ School of Public Affairs.

Terry Murphy, Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services Commissioner

Before being named DARS commissioner, Murphy served as the executive director for the Commission for the Blind. He joined the Commissioner for the Blind in 1972 as a placement specialist in the Fort Worth office, and he became executive director of the agency in 1997. He was elected as the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation's Regional Representative for Region VI in 1999, and he became president of the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind in February 2000. Murphy was awarded three Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart during his service in Vietnam, and he is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.

Anne Heiligenstein, Department of Family and Protective Services Commissioner

Anne Heiligenstein became commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services on Dec. 1, 2008.  Before that, she served as deputy executive commissioner for social services at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). She joined HHSC in 2004 and led teams that recommended comprehensive reforms for Child Protective Services and Adult Protective Services after Gov. Perry ordered reviews of the programs. The recommendations laid the foundation for major reform packages approved by the Legislature in 2005. Heiligenstein’s three decades of human services experience includes being director of policy and projects for First Lady Laura Bush in the White House, director of health and human services policy for Gov. George W. Bush, and assistant deputy commissioner and director of protective services at the former Department of Human Services. She received her master’s degree from Trinity University and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. David L. Lakey, Texas Department of State Health Services Commissioner

Dr. David L. Lakey became commissioner of the Department of State Health Services on Jan. 2, 2007. In his previous position he served as chief of infectious disease and medical director of the Center for Pulmonary and Infectious Disease Control at the University of Texas Health Center in Tyler. He also served as associate director for infectious disease and biosecurity at the UT Center for Biosecurity and Public Health Preparedness. He chaired a bioterrorism preparedness committee for 34 hospitals in East Texas, and he led development of the Public Health Laboratory of East Texas in 2002. He is a graduate of Indiana University School of Medicine. He completed internships and residencies in internal medicine and pediatric medicine and a fellowship in adult and pediatric infectious disease at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.