Shelly "Lee" Leffingwell (born October 13, 1939) is an American environmentalist and politician who served as the 57th mayor of Austin from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Leffingwell previously served as chair of Austin's Environmental Board. He was first elected to the

Austin City Council The Austin City Council is the unicameral legislature of the city of Austin, Texas, United States of America. The mayor is included as a member of the council and presides over all council meetings and ceremonies. The current mayor of Austin is ...

in 2005, and won re-election in 2008. He was elected mayor in 2009, and re-elected to a second three-year term on May 12, 2012, with over 52% of the vote.

Early life and education

Leffingwell is a native of Austin, and grew up in the Bouldin neighborhood of South Austin. He graduated from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

with a degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

. His father was an Austin firefighter and later a Travis County Deputy Sheriff and his mother worked as an admissions clerk at UT. Prior to serving as an elected official, Leffingwell was officer and pilot in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

and commercial airline pilot. After spending five years on active duty, including Vietnam service, Leffingwell joined the Navy Reserves, completing a total of 20 years military service. He was a pilot for

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...

for almost 32 years, ending his airline career as an international Boeing 767 and MD-11 Captain.

Career

After retiring from Delta, Lee volunteered in Austin, working on environmental issues. He was appointed to the Environmental Board by the Austin City Council in 1999, and subsequently elected Chair by his colleagues. In 2005, he ran for city council, suffering through the death of his wife just two weeks before election day. In 2008 he won re-election for the Place 1 seat. Leffingwell became mayor of Austin in the 2009 election when his opponent Brewster McCracken, a distant second place contender in the initial round, voluntarily dropped out of the run-off election. He ran on a platform of increased public transparency, investment in transportation infrastructure, and support of small business. Throughout his career, Leffingwell has paid particular interest to environmental concerns, including water conservation, banning plastic grocery bags and supporting Austin environmental symbol Barton Springs. He was reelected mayor in 2012. Leffingwell endorsed Steve Adler for Austin Mayor during the 2014 Mayoral election even though colleagues Mike Martinez and Sheryl Cole were running.

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1939 births Living people 20th-century American naval officers 21st-century mayors of places in Texas American commercial aviators American Vietnam War pilots Austin City Council members Cockrell School of Engineering alumni Mayors of Austin, Texas Military personnel from Texas Texas Democrats United States Naval Aviators United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War {{Texas-mayor-stub