MPA Commencement Ceremony

Friday May 18, 2012; 3:00 p.m.
Gregory Gym

MPA Commencement Distinguished Speaker

Rosa Flores
Television Journalist, Photographer, and Author

Rosa Flores is a television journalist who has contributed news reports at the national, state and local levels.  Presently she covers enterprise and breaking news stories at WDSU-TV, the NBC affiliate in New Orleans, Louisiana.  She is also the author of Progreso, a history book about her hometown.  Ms. Flores is currently working on several fiction books, including a middle-grade novel. In 2005 she joined KWTV in Oklahoma City.  Ms. Flores covered breaking news stories from the ground and from the air using a helicopter.  Covering weather in tornado alley gave Ms. Flores tremendous exposure.  Her reports appeared on CNN, The Weather Channel and CBS National Radio.  Less than three years later she joined KHOU-TV, the CBS affiliate in Houston, Texas.

In 2008 Ms. Flores created a motivational talk show for teenage girls.  Her inspirational message touched the lives of teens in Texas and Oklahoma.  One of her shows empowered students to conduct a food drive, gather about 1,000 pounds of food and deliver the items gathered to indigent Oklahoma families.  She has also made dozens of public appearances at schools, juvenile centers, churches and before professional groups.

Ms. Flores completed her undergraduate and graduate work at the University of Texas at Austin.  She earned a Bachelor’s in Broadcast Journalism, a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and a Master’s in Accounting.  She worked for accounting firm KPMG for two years and received the firms National Award for Community Service.

In 2011 Ms. Flores was selected to participate in the Peter Jennings Project for Journalists and the Constitution and for the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting Oil Spill Seminar.

In 2012, Ms. Flores was selected to participate in the 14th Annual Science Immersion Workshop for Journalists at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography, June 3 - 8, 2012. The program will focus on sea level rise, hypoxia, emerging contaminants, and fisheries impacts, as well as developing facility with environmental science tools for reporting.

For eight years, starting in 2001, Ms. Flores personally organized and delivered thousands of pounds of food to communities in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico. During 2005 and 2006, Larry Jones, the founder of Feed the Children donated 34,000 pounds of food to the project.

Ms. Flores is also an avid photographer.  She documents her travels with pictures and is working on several abstract photo essays, including a compilation of Louisiana sunrises.

For information regarding the MPA Commencement and Reception, please contact MPAEvents@mccombs.utexas.edu