Alumni Spotlight

It’s never easy to give up something you love. But, any sadness University of Houston graduate Carlie Bishop (’91, J.D. ’03) experienced over having to relinquish her cherished volunteer duties with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLS&R) was extinguished when she landed her dream job—the show’s new general counsel and chief administrative officer.

Bishop, who earned an M.B.A. in business administration from the C.T. Bauer College of Business in 1991 and a J.D. from the UH Law Center in 2003, began her volunteer work with the show in 1993 while working at Marathon Oil Co.

By the time Bishop joined the trial group at Jones Day in Houston in 2003, she had spent thousands of hours working as a volunteer at the HLS&R, a seventy-five-year-old charity that has raised more than $220 million in scholarships for Texas youth. Along the way, Bishop served on multiple HLS&R committees including the Legal
Advisory Committee.

Her volunteer work—which ended when she became a paid HLS&R employee—along with her legal and business skills, fully prepared her for the challenges of joining HLS&R’s senior management team. Bishop is responsible for all legal matters and has oversight over risk management, contracts, human resources, education programs, and office administration.

“Carlie is a dynamic individual and is a great addition to the show’s executive management team,” says Skip Wagner, president of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which attracts about 20,000 volunteers annually. “I am excited to welcome this forward-thinking person to the show’s family.”

Bishop says she is passionate about the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the Texas youth who benefit from its efforts. “I am thrilled to become a senior management team member of such a prestigious organization,” she adds.

The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo regularly supports UH students through endowments and scholarships.

Over twenty years ago, Jim Nantz (’81) was a young a man filled with big dreams.

Today, he is an American sports icon—one of the few individuals to never wear a jersey or nail a game-winning basket, but who is still recognized by sports fans around the globe.

Nantz, who earned his bachelor’s degree in radio and television in 1981 from UH’s Jack J. Valenti School of Communication, went on to become the signature face and voice of CBS Sports—providing play-by-play commentary for an array of sports including the NFL, the PGA Tour, and college basketball, to name a few.

In 2007, the former UH golfer enjoyed a remarkable sixty-three-day journey where he became the first sportscaster to host the Super Bowl, announce the NC AA Men’s Championship game, and cover The Masters golf tournament all in the same year.

This achievement compelled Nantz to write his autobiography: Always By My Side: A Father’s Grace and a Sports Journey Unlike Any Other. It quickly climbed to No. 3 on the New York Times best-seller list and is currently the highest ranking sports book of 2008.

According to Nantz, Always By My Side is about much more than sports. It’s a “loving tribute” to his father, Jim, who battled Alzheimer’s disease for more than thirteen years before passing away in June—shortly after the book hit the shelves.

Nantz’s father remains his inspiration. He was the one who always told him to follow his dreams, and in return, Nantz desperately wanted his dad to be there for it all—the Super Bowls, the Final Fours, and The Masters, where he coined Tiger Woods’ amazing victory in 1997 as being “one for the ages.”

And, although that ultimate father-son road trip never came to pass, Nantz finds solace in knowing that he had a father who was truly “one for the ages.”