orig. Oveta Culp
born Jan. 19, 1905, Killeen, Texas, U.S.
died Aug. 16, 1995, Houston, Texas
U.S. publisher and government official.
A graduate of the University of Texas Law School, she was parliamentarian of the Texas legislature from 1925 to 1931. In 1931 she married William P. Hobby, publisher of the Houston Post-Dispatch , and went to work for the newspaper, becoming its executive vice president in 1938. From 1942 to 1945 she headed the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (later Women's Army Corps ). In 1953 she was appointed director of the Federal Security Agency, which was reorganized as the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare; as secretary of the department (195355), she was only the second woman to hold a U.S. cabinet position. She became chairman of the board of the Post in 1965.