Ernestine Viola Glossbrenner (November 1, 1932 – May 20, 2012) was an American educator and politician. She represented District 58 from 1977 to 1983 and District 44 from 1983 to 1993 in the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abo ...

as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. She was born in Troup, grew up in Carlisle and was educated at

Kilgore Junior College Kilgore College (KC) is a public community college in Kilgore, Texas. It has an annual enrollment in excess of 5,000 students and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the associate deg ...

, going on to earn a BA in chemistry from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

and a master's in mathematics from Texas A & I. Glossbrenner then taught high school mathematics in Alice. She ran unsuccessfully to become a state representative in 1974 before being elected in 1976, when she retired from teaching. Glossbrenner helped bring the first true secret ballot voting to Texas, removing the requirement for voters to sign their ballots. She also contributed to legislation on worker safety and was known as an important advocate for public education, serving as head of the Public Education Committee. She was a founding member of the Texas Women's Political Caucus and served as president of the Texas chapter of the

National Women's Political Caucus The National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC), or the Caucus, describes itself as a multi-partisan grassroots organization in the United States dedicated to recruiting, training, and supporting women who seek elected and appointed offices at all ...

. She served on the Texas Ethics Commission in 2001. In 1974, she was named Woman of the Year by the Texas Women's Political Caucus. She received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1990 from the University of Texas at Austin and the Friend of Education Award in 1991 from the Texas Classroom Teachers Association. Glossbrenner was inducted into the

Texas Women's Hall of Fame The Texas Women's Hall of Fame was established in 1984 by the Governor's Commission on Women. The honorees are selected biennially from submissions from the public. The honorees must be either native Texans, or a resident of Texas at the time of th ...

in 1984. She died in Corpus Christi at the age of 79.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glossbrenner, Ernestine 1932 births 2012 deaths Educators from Texas American women educators Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives University of Texas at Austin College of Natural Sciences alumni Texas A&M University alumni People from Troup, Texas People from Trinity County, Texas 20th-century American women educators 20th-century American educators