Kay Bailey Hutchison has had a long and distinguished career in public service. Throughout her career, she has been a strong supporter of higher education, especially in the areas of science and engineering. Hutchison earned bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and served as a state legislator and state treasurer before being elected to the United States Senate in a special election in 1993. The first woman to represent Texas in the Senate, she was re-elected three times by large margins. Hutchison chose not to run for re-election in 2012. As chair of the Republican Policy Committee, she was the fourth-highest ranking Republican senator. During her years in the Senate, Hutchison expanded higher education opportunities for thousands of Texans. She also championed advancements in science, technology, engineering and math education. She was instrumental in establishing the Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas, which brings together National Academy members and Nobel laureates to foster academic research in Texas. Hutchison's efforts helped bring to SMU more than $20 million in federal funds for research programs, including the Infinity Project, the nation's first math- and science-based high school engineering program. In SMU's Dedman School of Law, she established the Ray and Kay Bailey Hutchison Scholarship and the Hutchison Legal Resource Learning Center. For her distinguished career in public service and support of higher education, Southern Methodist University is honored to confer upon Kay Bailey Hutchison the degree of Doctor of Engineering, honoris causa.