2022 Central Texas

Linda G. Battles has 27 years of experience in higher education strategic planning, policy development, and stakeholder engagement. She joined Western Governors University (WGU) in April 2020 as Regional Director of the South Region, which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. In September 2021, Battles was promoted to the position of Regional Vice President, South Region and Chancellor of WGU Texas. In this role, she provides oversight of initiatives that promote WGU's vision to be the most student-centric university and its mission to change lives for the better by creating pathways to opportunity. Before joining WGU, Battles served in various roles for 19 years at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. As the Deputy Commissioner for Agency Operations and Communications/COO reporting to the first Latino Commissioner of Texas Higher Education, Dr. Raymund Paredes, she was responsible for an annual budget of $1.7 billion, state and federal financial aid programs, and policy and budgetary recommendations to the Texas Legislature that prioritized underserved students. Battles also served as the Chief of Staff and Legislative Director to The Honorable Irma Rangel, Chair of the House Higher Education Committee, who was the first Latina elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1976. Battles worked on statewide legislation to expand access to higher education, such as the Top Ten Percent Law which provides automatic admission to the state's public universities for graduates in the top ten percent of their high school class. Battles earned her bachelor's degree in psychology and master's degree in public affairs from The University of Texas at Austin. She is a doctoral student in UT Austin's Executive Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership Program. She holds a DEI in the Workplace Certificate from the University of Southern Florida and a Basic Mediation Certificate from Austin's Dispute Resolution Center. In 2017, the Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce recognized her as a Woman of Distinction. Battles is from El Paso, Texas, and lives in Pflugerville with her husband of 25 years, Mike.