Houston, Texas

Gretchen Garver Hilyard, TAMU Class of 1990, is married to Alan K. Hilyard, who is also TAMU Class of 1990. They have two children.

Gretchen is passionate about special education and early intervention.  Her first teaching position was as a special education teacher in Galena Park ISD.  After serving as a kindergarten and fourth grade classroom teacher for several years, Gretchen chose to stay at home and raise her family.

Volunteering in her church and in the children’s schools became her main focus. These activities included service as a Spring Branch ISD reading buddy for second grade and as a parent volunteer at River Oaks Baptist School and Episcopal High School. Gretchen also served on the minister search committee for St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, as well as the flower visitation of members, and as a Sunday school teacher. She was also a co-chair of the Bayou Preservation Gala and a volunteer for Trees of Hope.

In recent years, Gretchen has been learning about the family real estate business and traveling with her husband. She and Alan established the Garver Family Foundation Industrial Distribution Scholarship in the TAMU College of Engineering.  They also support the Aggie Achieve Program in the College of Education and Human Development. Aggie Achieve is a four-year comprehensive transition program (CTP) for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) who have exited high school.