Carol Dinkins has blazed trails throughout her life.
She grew up in Mathis, a small town near Corpus Christi, where she spent much of her childhood outdoors hunting with her dad and fishing with her maternal grandmother. Her love for the natural world helped propel her truly remarkable career in environmental law.
She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and then earned her law degree from the University of Houston at a pivotal time.
“When I graduated in 1971, there were no courses in environmental law,” said Dinkins. “It didn’t exist. New environmental laws passed about the time I got out of law school.”
Her first job was at the Texas Law Institute of Coastal and Marine Resources, where she spent the first two years of her professional career researching seashore boundary law, coastal and marine law and freshwater inflows. That work led to her next move, the prestigious Vinson & Elkins law firm in Houston, where she developed her reputation as one of the top environmental lawyers in Texas. She was admitted to the partnership in 1980.
In 1979, Governor Bill Clements appointed her to chair the Governor’s Task Force on Coastal Management, the first of a multitude of high-level appointments to advisory groups, task forces and committees.
In 1981, Governor Clements pushed for her appointment in the Reagan Administration, and she was tapped as Assistant Attorney General of the Environment and Natural Resources Division in the U.S. Department of Justice, the first woman to ever hold that high-ranking position. Then, in 1984, President Reagan appointed her Deputy Attorney General of the United States, the first woman to serve in the number two position at the Justice Department.
“I was very fortunate, and I was at the right place at the right time,” said Dinkins. “It was certainly time. That’s late in the world for there not to have been a woman in those positions.”
Parallel to her professional career, Dinkins’ track record of volunteer service for conservation organizations is similarly noteworthy. She joined The Nature Conservancy in 1980, its Texas board of trustees in 1987, and was chair of the Texas board from 1996-1999. She chaired TNC’s global board of directors in 2003, and she is now an emeritus member of both boards.
In 1997, Governor George W. Bush appointed her to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission, where she also served as vice chair. During her tenure, Dinkins and her husband, Bob Brown, visited every single Texas State Park, the first (and still only) commissioner to have ever done so. In 2000, while still on the Commission, she chaired Governor Bush’s Conservation Task Force, and the comprehensive Taking Care of Texas report she helped pen almost 25 years ago is still referenced today.
“I enjoyed serving on the Parks and Wildlife Commission as much as I’ve enjoyed anything I’ve ever done, and that’s saying a lot,” said Dinkins. “Being outdoors with Parks and Wildlife, seeing what Parks and Wildlife is doing for outdoor recreation for Texas and what it’s doing to protect our environment and our ecological systems is very meaningful to me.”
Dinkins has also been a supporter of Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation (TPWF) since its inception. TPWF is the nonprofit partner of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and Dinkins values TPWF’s mission to conserve the wild things and wild places of Texas.
In 2015, she retired from Vinson & Elkins, though she continues to serve the people of Texas on the Texas State Parks Advisory Committee. She appreciates the opportunity to stay connected to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department staff and leadership and is particularly gratified to serve at a time when there are funds to expand the state park system. In 2023, voters approved the Texas State Parks Centennial Fund, which earmarks $1 billion for the creation of new state parks.
“To see the potential for new parks to come into the system is just exhilarating,” said Dinkins. “It’s going to be so fabulous to have an expansion of our state park system because there are so many people who need to experience all that our parks offer.”
In 2019, her beloved husband, a former police officer and prosecutor, passed away, and Dinkins chose to honor his memory with a gift to the Texas Game Warden Training Center through TPWF’s S. Reed Morian Gear Up for Game Wardens program.
“Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation has been so impactful in an incredible number of ways,” said Dinkins. “The Gear Up for Game Wardens program that Reed Morian first championed is just a wonderful way to support our Texas Game Wardens who give so much to Texas. It is a fitting tribute for Bob.”
Dinkins continues to share her love of the outdoors with her daughters, son-in-law and four grandchildren. They’ve travelled together all over the world, and she plans on traveling with them for years to come.
She’s also thinking ahead, and as she considered her estate planning, she began making regular gifts to TPWF. She also signaled her intention of making an additional planned gift to TPWF in the future.
“I am fortunate to be able to make gifts now, while I’m still alive,” said Dinkins. “But when I pass on, I want there to be a legacy that I leave behind. And the reason I want that is because I want there to be long-term support for the very critical work the Foundation is doing. And that support has to come from the private sector, not just the public sector.”
As she reflects on the incredible life she has lived, she is grateful for the opportunity to give back.
“Given all of the blessings that I’ve had, and all of the great enjoyment I’ve experienced being involved with Parks and Wildlife, I really wanted to do something to continue that work.”
Find out more about how you, too, can leave a wild legacy with a planned gift to TPWF by contacting Amy Allen at 469.895.9514 or aallen@tpwf.org.
