Yvette Rodriguez will celebrate 27 years at UTA in May! She started working at UTA on May 18, 1998, at the front desk for the Human Resources department and would sometimes receive calls which were not necessarily HR related. Prior to UTA, Yvette worked at the UT Health Science Center and at UT San Antonio. Her years of service began as with work study in 1981 at UTSA. 

Yvette’s current role is serving as a benefits administrator in Talent, Culture & Engagement, which is HR’s current name. The most interesting part of Yvette’s job is that every day is different—who she speaks to and what issues she works on. Yvette takes pride in making a difference in people’s lives. That’s because Yvette helps us navigate the world of insurance and benefits whenever there is a life changing event. Whether it’s birth, death or retirement, these experiences are both happy and sad.

The most memorable person whom Yvette had the pleasure of advising was Allan Saxe, UTA’s beloved political science professor. Yvette met Allan and his wife for breakfast to discuss his retirement plans one weekend. The Saxes were late to the local breakfast spot to meet Yvette because their new car didn’t start. They ended up taking a taxi to breakfast and then asked Yvette for a ride home afterwards.

Did you know that Yvette is a political junkie? She loves watching TV analyses and presidential debates, as well as reading political cartoons. Yvette and her sisters have decided to agree to disagree about politics and keep the peace.

Living in the DFW metroplex, you are either a Cowboys fan or not. Yvette falls into the first category.  She is a huge Cowboys fan, so naturally she would like to have lunch with Jerry Jones and Dak Prescott. Yvette is also a Rangers fan, as shown in the photo.

Yvette visits her family often in San Antonio where they reside. Yvette has a twin sister, Yvonne, who has twin daughters and a son. She is a proud aunt and is currently helping with the bridal shower for one of her nieces.

Like other interviewees before her, Yvette would like to tell her younger self to stop worrying so much about life because everything will work out. This is the case for her when she took the job at UTA many years ago which uprooted her from her family in the San Antonio area. Yvette feels she gets to experience the best of South and North Texas. Yvette hopes to continue working at UTA until retirement.