Heather Wilson Bio
Heather Ann Wilson (born December 30, 1960) is an American politician, academic administrator, business consultant, and former military officer. A Republican, she represented New Mexico’s 1st congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1998 to 2009, becoming the first female military veteran elected to a full term in Congress. Wilson later served as the 24th United States Secretary of the Air Force from 2017 to 2019 and is the 11th president of the University of Texas at El Paso.
Wilson is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and a Rhodes Scholar, with an M.Phil. and D.Phil. from the University of Oxford. Her career has spanned national security, elected office, higher education leadership, and private-sector consulting.
Early Life and Background
Heather Ann Wilson was born on December 30, 1960, in Keene, New Hampshire. She is the daughter of Martha Lou, a nurse, and George Douglas Wilson, a commercial pilot and member of the Experimental Aircraft Association. Her paternal grandparents were born in Scotland, and her grandfather, George Gordon “Scotty” Wilson, flew for the Royal Air Force in World War I before emigrating to America in 1922. He barnstormed and operated airports in the 1920s and 1930s, served as a courier pilot during World War II, and started the New Hampshire Civil Air Patrol as a Wing Commander. Wilson’s father began flying at age 13 and enlisted in the United States Air Force after high school.
Growing up around aviation, Wilson hoped to become a pilot like her father and grandfather. She attended Keene High School in Keene, New Hampshire, where her junior year coincided with the United States Air Force Academy beginning to admit women. She applied and was appointed to the Academy, where she became the first woman to command basic training and the first woman Vice Wing Commander. She graduated in 1982 as a Distinguished Graduate and earned a Rhodes Scholarship, going on to complete an M.Phil. and D.Phil. in international relations at Jesus College, University of Oxford, by 1985.
Path to Politics
Wilson served as an Air Force officer for seven years, working as a negotiator and political adviser to the U.S. Air Force in the United Kingdom and as a defense planning officer for NATO in Belgium, where her responsibilities included arms control negotiations. In 1989, she was chosen to serve on the National Security Council staff as director for European Defense Policy and Arms Control, working for President George H. W. Bush during the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Warsaw Pact.
After leaving government in 1991, she founded Keystone International, Inc. in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to promote business development in the United States and Russia. In 1995, New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson appointed her Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department, where she championed child welfare reform, juvenile justice modernization, early childhood education, and charter school legislation. This state-level executive experience set the stage for her entry into Congress.
Heather Wilson Career
Early Career (1998–2001)
Wilson entered politics in 1998 after five-term Congressman Steven Schiff announced he would not seek re-election due to his battle with squamous cell carcinoma. She won the Republican primary for New Mexico’s 1st congressional district with 62 percent of the vote, earning the support of Schiff and U.S. Senator Pete Domenici. Three weeks later, Wilson won a four-way special election with 44 percent of the vote, defeating Democratic state senator Phil Maloof, Green Party candidate Robert L. Anderson, and Libertarian Party candidate Bruce Bush. She was sworn into office on June 25, 1998, becoming the first woman to represent New Mexico since Georgia Lusk in 1946 and the first Republican woman ever to do so.
Less than five months after the special election, Wilson faced Maloof again in the general election and won a full term, 48 percent to 41 percent. The race was at that time the most expensive House contest in New Mexico’s history, with Maloof spending an additional $5 million to Wilson’s $1.1 million.
U.S. House of Representatives (1998–2009)
Wilson went on to win re-election multiple times, defeating former U.S. Attorney John J. Kelly in 2000, State Senate President Pro Tem Richard M. Romero by ten points in 2002, and Romero again by eight points in 2004. Her 2006 rematch against New Mexico Attorney General Patricia A. Madrid was one of the closest races in the country, with Wilson prevailing by just 875 votes out of 211,000, a margin of 0.4 percent.
During her time in Congress, Wilson served on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee on Energy and Commerce. She was a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership and was the first woman to represent New Mexico in Congress since the 1940s. In 2002, she joined 213 other Republicans and 81 Democrats in voting to authorize the use of military force against Iraq. In 2006, as Chairwoman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence, she called for a full congressional inquiry into the NSA warrantless surveillance program. She did not seek re-election in 2008 and instead ran for the U.S. Senate seat of retiring Senator Pete Domenici, finishing second in the Republican primary to Congressman Steve Pearce by a margin of 51 percent to 49 percent.
Senate Campaigns and Academic Career (2009–2017)
After leaving Congress, Wilson headed the consulting firm Heather Wilson & Company. She launched another Senate campaign in February 2011 to replace retiring Senator Jeff Bingaman, but lost the 2012 general election to Democrat Martin Heinrich, 51 percent to 45 percent. In April 2013, she was selected as the 12th president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, becoming the first woman to lead the institution. She served in that role until 2017, when she was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as Secretary of the Air Force.
Secretary of the Air Force (2017–2019)
Wilson was nominated by President Donald Trump on January 23, 2017, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 8, 2017. On May 16, 2017, she was sworn in as the 24th Secretary of the Air Force, becoming the first U.S. Air Force Academy graduate to hold the position. She was responsible for organizing, training, equipping, and supplying 685,000 active, guard, reserve, and civilian personnel and their families.
On March 8, 2019, Wilson announced her resignation as Secretary of the Air Force, effective May 31, 2019, in order to become the 11th president of the University of Texas at El Paso. On March 2, 2020, President Trump appointed her to the National Science Board.
University of Texas at El Paso (2019–Present)
Wilson assumed the presidency of the University of Texas at El Paso in 2019 and continues to lead the institution. In May 2024, she joined the board of directors of Lockheed Martin Corporation, America’s largest defense contractor. She also serves on the boards of Google Public Sector and the Texas Space Commission, and has previously chaired the Women in Aviation Advisory Board to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Notable Events and Milestones
Wilson was the first female military veteran elected to a full term in Congress and the first Republican woman to represent New Mexico. In 1988, her book International Law and the Use of Force by National Liberation Movements won the Paul Reuter Prize, awarded by the International Committee of the Red Cross for a major work in international humanitarian law. Her 2006 House race against Patricia Madrid was decided by just 875 votes, making it one of the most closely watched congressional elections of the decade.
Heather Wilson Career Wins
Heather Wilson’s career includes election victories at the local, state, and federal levels, as well as recognition in academia, business, and public service. She has won a U.S. House special election, multiple House general elections, and leadership appointments from two Republican presidents.
U.S. House of Representatives Highlights
Wilson won New Mexico’s 1st congressional district in 1998 through a special election and went on to win a full term that same year. She secured re-election in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006, with her narrowest victory coming in 2006 against New Mexico Attorney General Patricia A. Madrid. Her ten years in the U.S. House remain the foundation of her political legacy.
Other Wins & Achievements
Wilson was appointed Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department in 1995, selected as president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in 2013, and confirmed as the 24th United States Secretary of the Air Force in 2017. She won the 1988 Paul Reuter Prize from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Heather Wilson Family
Family Background and Aviation Lineage
Wilson was raised in Keene, New Hampshire, in a family with deep aviation roots. Her mother, Martha Lou, worked as a nurse, while her father, George Douglas Wilson, was a commercial pilot and member of the Experimental Aircraft Association. Her paternal grandfather, George Gordon “Scotty” Wilson, flew for the Royal Air Force in World War I, emigrated to America in 1922, and helped start the New Hampshire Civil Air Patrol as a Wing Commander.
Personal Life
Wilson is married to Jay Hone, an attorney and retired Air National Guard Colonel. The couple has two adult children, two granddaughters, and two grandsons. Their adopted son, Scott Alexander Hone, died in 2023. Wilson is also an instrument-rated private pilot, continuing her family’s aviation tradition.