Alan Erwin

Alan Russell Erwin (September 4, 1944 – November 12, 2019) was a Texas public relations professional who served as chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas from 1983 to 1984.

Early life, education, and career Born in Greenville, Texas, Erwin received a B.A. in Communications from the University of Texas at Austin in 1967. he joined the United States Navy, eventually becoming an "advisor to the Vietnamese Navy's Swift Boat division" in 1969. Erwin also worked at times as administrative assistant to Congressman Robert R. Casey, and as an assistant to the editor and publisher of The Beaumont Enterprise and Journal.

Public Utility Commission service and later life In August 1975, Governor Briscoe named Erwin to the newly established Public Utility Commission of Texas, along with George Cowden and William Garrett Morris.

As one of "Gov. Briscoe's first appointed PUC commissioners", Alan received the shortest of the three appointed terms, set to expire in 1979. Erwin served as chair of the commission for the remainder of this tenure.

After leaving the commission, Erwin sought to become a novelist, publishing The Power Exchange in 1984. He worked for a time for the international public relations firm of Hill and Knowlton, announcing the opening of his own public relations firm in April 1985.

Personal life and death In December 1967, Erwin married Gay Taylor, with whom he had three sons. In 2010, Gay successfully donated a kidney to Erwin, which "defied compatibility odds of 50 million-to-one regarding organ donation between spouses". Erwin died in 2019, at the age of 75, and was interred at the Texas State Cemetery.