Thursday, August 17, 2023

Mannti and Blanca Cummins spending this academic year as Tower Fellows at the University of Texas

 I am extremely proud of my brother Mannti and my sister-in-law Blanca. Both of them have been named Tower Fellows at the University of Texas at Austin based on their careers to date and their previous accomplishments. The Tower Fellow Program offers highly accomplished individuals an opportunity to come to Austin for two semesters to explore, discover, and reflect while being formally affiliated with the University. The program seeks participants who are eager to pause, think, and create an enriching professional and personal journey. Being a Tower Fellow is a full-time commitment. Each week's schedule typically includes a weekly lunchtime seminar with all members of the Tower Fellows Program cohort as well as faculty from across the university. They meet and interact with faculty members according to their interests and expertise while they pursue their individual projects.

Mannti Cummins is a pioneering leader in Renewable Energy. He is currently Project Director for Hydrogen City Texas, an integrated Green Hydrogen production, storage and transport hub slated to become the world's largest. Before this position, Mannti led development of 1.8 GW of operating wind energy, preventing annual emissions of 4 million tons of CO2, equivalent to that of 630,000 cars.

He received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas A&M Corpus Christi with post graduate studies at New York University Institute of Taxation and is a CPA. An honors graduate of Thunderbird with a Master of International Management, he received a Diploma in Derecho de la Energia from La Escuela Libre de Derecho in Mexico City, Mexico's leading law school. His academic focus as a Tower Fellow are the deployment challenges of Green Hydrogen including pipeline rights of way, hydrology and brackish groundwater treatment, electrical system architecture and interconnection, salt cavern storage and stakeholder engagement plans.

He is thrilled to be sharing the Tower Fellows experience with his wife Blanca and being close to their two daughters who reside in Austin and San Antonio.


Blanca Cummins, a native of Mexico, is a Communications and Advertising Executive, Montessori Educator, Catholic School Administrator and mother.

She is the founding director of Herrera Publicidad and served as Creative Director and Copywriter for multiple firms and media institutions resulting in award-winning advertising campaigns. She was a Television Producer for XHAK Channel 12, a Televisa affiliate in Hermosillo, and an Account Executive for El Imparcial, the leading daily newspaper in Northwestern Mexico. For the Universidad del Noroeste, Blanca was Coordinator of Community Outreach and Media Relations for the University.

At Corpus Christi Montessori School, a dual-language charter school, she was a founding classroom teacher and conducted research published in the Journal of Texas Council of English Language Arts. As Director for the Montessori School of Incarnate Word Academy she led credentialing by the Texas Catholic Conference Education Department and supported the fundraising efforts for construction of a new $4 million dollar Montessori building.

A graduate of Universidad del Noroeste with a degree in Ciencias de la ComunicaciĆ³n, she also was awarded a master's in education from Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Her Montessori Education credentials include Elementary Levels I & II from Sierra Madre Montessori in Monterrey, Mexico and Montessori School Administration from the Center for Montessori Education of New York in New Rochelle. She also earned a Certificate in Catholic School Leadership from the University of Dallas.

Her Tower Fellow goals include the organization and exposition of the photo archive of Alberto Herrera Fernandez, her father and a renowned photographer in Mexico, as well as developing communications strategies for the Synod on Synodality. Blanca balances her professional activities while raising two daughters and supporting her husband's efforts in Renewable Energy.