Eugene Salazar serves as the Operations Administrative Officer for the Houston Independent School District, the nation’s seventh largest school district. A 20-year veteran with HISD, Salazar has served in his current post since July 2021.

In his role, he oversees an annual operating budget of more than $260 million and leads a workforce of more than 6,000 employees from five major departments, including construction, transportation, nutrition, facilities, and support.

His oversight includes bond construction programs totaling more than $3 billion and a real estate portfolio with more than 30 million square feet of facility space in more than 600 buildings at more than 300 locations spread out over 300 square miles. He also manages a fleet of nearly 1,000 buses that travel more than 15 million miles annually and a food service operation that serves 250,000 meals daily.

Salazar began his career in HISD in 1999 as a budget analyst in the Budget and Financial Planning department. He quickly advanced, serving in a variety of positions, including accounting manager, administration senior manager, quality assurance senior manager, and general manager of facilities support before assuming the role of Business Operations officer in 2017.

He most recently served as operations administrative officer, a position he has held since 2018. In that role, he was tasked with overseeing and monitoring all Business Operations departments and ensuring compliance with all district policies and procedures. 

Salazar earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio in 1997 and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Houston Downtown in 2016. He is a member of the Texas Association of School Business Officials.