As senior education advisor to Akin Gump, Beth Ann Bryan assists both private and public entities with the implementation of education reforms and counsels clients on education policy issues. Prior to joining Akin Gump, Ms. Bryan served as a senior advisor to U.S. Secretary of Education Roderick Paige from 2001 to 2003. She also served as a member of the President’s Commission on Excellence in Special Education and worked closely with Laura Bush’s office on education initiatives in Texas and nationwide. After leaving Washington in 2003, Ms. Bryan served as the volunteer Executive Director of the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries. Prior to joining the U.S. Department of Education, Ms. Bryan worked as an education advisor to the Texas Governor’s Business Council. Ms. Bryan previously worked as a Psychological Associate in private practice for 12 years and as a public school teacher in Houston, Texas for seven years. Ms. Bryan received her B.A. from Houston Baptist University in 1969 and her M.Ed. from the University of Houston in 1978. She has served as Vice Chair of the National Board for Education Sciences.