Policy on Purpose Creators & Guests

Dr. Abigail R.A. Aiken is an expert in evidence-based reproductive care. Her research focuses on unintended pregnancy, evidence-based obstetric practice, and the impacts of laws and policies restricting access to abortion. Currently, she is a Professor at The University of Texas Austin. She is also an associate professor of public affairs and a fellow of the Richter Chair in global health policy at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.Aiken received her B.A. from the University of Cambridge, her M.D. from the University of Cambridge, her M.P.H. from Harvard University, and her Ph.D. from The University of Texas Austin.

Kirk Preston Watson is an attorney and a politician. Currently, he is the Mayor of Austin TX.Previously, Watson was a Texas Senator from 2007 to 2020. Before that, he served a previous term as Mayor of Austin from 1997 to 2001.Watson received his B.A. in Political Science and his J.D. from Baylor University, where he was editor-in-chief of the Baylor Law Review. He clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Father, husband, Texan, presidential candidate. Former Secretary of Housing & Urban Development, Mayor of San Antonio.