Vice Chairman, UH System Board of Regents
Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Litigation & Regulatory Law, Deere & Company

Ricky A. Raven was appointed to the University of Houston System Board of Regents by Governor Greg Abbott in 2021 and is serving a six-year term through August 31, 2027. On August 21st, 2025, he was appointed as Vice Chairman of the Board for the Fiscal Year of 2025-2026.

Raven currently serves as Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Litigation & Regulatory Law at Deere & Company. He previously held senior roles including Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Allstate Insurance Company, where he led global litigation and managed both corporate and staff counsel litigation teams across the U.S. Prior to his work in the corporate sector, Raven spent over two decades in private practice, including as a partner in the commercial litigation sections of Reed Smith LLP and Thompson & Knight LLP.

In recognition of his distinguished legal career, Raven was honored with The American Lawyer Award for Best Deputy/Associate General Counsel in 2023 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Texas Lawyer in 2020.

Raven is a member of the Board of Directors for the National Judicial College and serves as an Independent Board Member for CenterPoint Energy in Houston. He is a Trustee of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and a Fellow of both the Texas Bar Foundation and the Houston Bar Foundation. His professional affiliations include the American Board of Trial Advocates, the International Association of Defense Counsel, and the United States Supreme Court Bar. He is also a member of the Houston, New York State, Arkansas, and Texas Bar Associations.

A double alumnus of the University of Houston, Raven earned both his Juris Doctor from the UH Law Center and his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Houston.