Alfred Valenzuela

Retired Major General (MG) Alfred A. Valenzuela served in the United States Army for 33 years and was assigned to three Combat Corps, six Combat Divisions, and numerous Joint and Inter-Agency assignments. He was posted to Turkey, Syria, Colombia, Korea, El Salvador, Haiti, Germany, Grenada, Panama, Puerto Rico, Kuwait, Peru, and Somalia. The General is highly decorated for Heroism and Valor and holds the two highest peacetime awards: the Distinguished Defense and Army Service medals.

Upon retirement, MG Valenzuela created a Charter Leadership Academy on the West Side of San Antonio, Texas, and was appointed by the Mayor to be the Interim President/CEO for the San Antonio Housing Authority, followed by being designated the Executive Director of the Bexar County Housing Authority. He has served on the following Community Boards: Communities in School, Haven for Hope (working with homeless Veterans), the Boy Scouts, St. Mary’s University Board of Trustees, and USAA Federal Savings Bank.

General Valenzuela is an Eagle Scout and has been named a distinguished graduate of Jefferson High School and St. Mary’s University; inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Boy’s and Girls Club and served on the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute. He was appointed by US President Obama to the World War I Centennial Commission. He was recently appointed to the Texas Access Judicial Commission and to the UTHSC Military Health Institute to help veterans with mental wellness issues. The General is a Senior Consultant at St. Mary’s University’s Center for Terrorism Law and the Warrior Defense Project, defending pro bono those active duty soldiers who have been accused of violating the Rules of Engagement. He also consults several Fortune 500 Companies and is presently advising several Resort and Winery owners in Fredericksburg, Texas.

Business Magazine named him one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics. He published “No Greater Love: The Lives and Times of Hispanic Soldiers” and “The Essence and Variation of Soldiers in Politics: A Dimensional Typology of Latin American Leadership and Regimes” and was a major military contributor to “Right Before Our Eyes: Latinos Past, Present and Future.”

He has been married to Esther Trevino for 54 years and has two children: Lori Valenzuela, a Justice of the 4th Court of Appeals and a co-founder of the Veterans Felony Treatment Court, and Freddie II, a Senior Consultant in the educational arena. They have four grandchildren: one in law school, one in college, and two in high school.