The Heart of Bexar County

JTM
CONSULTING,
LLC
Drawing on a long and successful career in
business, law, government and education, John
T. Montford established his own consulting and
lobbying firm, JTM Consulting, LLC, in 2010.
A graduate of the University of Texas–Austin
and the UT law school, Montford’s professional
career began as an officer in the U.S. Marine
Corps. Following his active duty tour, Montford
launched his legal career in Lubbock, eventually
winning office as district attorney where he
earned a reputation for being especially tough
on violent offenders.
His success as district attorney propelled
Montford to the Texas Senate, where he served
with distinction for 14 years and was regularly
recognized as one the “Top 10 Best Legislators.”
Montford was the driving force behind several
important pieces of legislation critical to the
state. He sponsored 520 bills, including a
statewide water plan, a civil justice reform
package, reform of the “Deceptive Trade
Practices Act,” tort reform, insurance reform,
reform of the workers’ compensation system,
and bills to support higher education.
In 1996, Montford was selected as the first
chancellor of the Texas Tech University System
in a move that attracted attention because the
university went outside of academia to fill the
position. His successful tenure as chancellor
proved the wisdom of that decision. He elevated
the university’s academic standing and
recognition, established records in raising funds,
facilitated $1 billion in new construction and
campus upgrades, and guided the university’s
overall growth. Following completion of his
services as chancellor, Montford was named
chancellor emeritus in 2002.
In 2001, Montford was recruited by SBC
Communications to lead the company’s
legislative and regulatory affairs in Texas and
twelve other states. Following the merger of SBC
and AT&T, in 2007, he was promoted to
president–western region for the new AT&T,
responsible for states west of the Mississippi. He
became senior vice president, state legislative
affairs for AT&T in 2008.
At AT&T, Montford helped shepherd passage of
landmark legislation, including major regulatory
reform bills enabling telecommunications
companies to compete on a level playing field as
well as enter new markets, such as video services.
In Texas, he led the team that secured passage of
video franchise reform legislation, the first of its
kind in the country. This paved the way for
passage of subsequent video franchise reform in
every other state within AT&T territory for which
he provided oversight.
In 2010, Montford was hired by General
Motors Company as senior advisor for
government relations and global public policy to
help rebuild the new GM. He served as a
member of the GM Executive Committee and
chairman of the board of the General Motors
Foundation in 2010 and 2011. He reorganized
GM Public Policy Teams into four groups—
federal, state, international, and GM Foundation.
This resulted in substantial cost savings, more
accountability, and demonstrable results for each
team. Montford instituted effective legislative
and regulatory teams for Congress and all fifty
states and established signature programs for the
GM Foundation, including the “Buick Achievers”
National Scholarship Program.
In addition to delivering hundreds of speeches
in public life, academia and business, Montford
has written or co-authored several significant
legal books and articles, and written forwards for
books on Texas history. His most recent
publication, Board Games…Straight Talk for New
Directors and Good Governance with co-author Joe
McCool, is a comprehensive work about the
many aspects, responsibilities and challenges of
serving as a member of boards of directors for
“for-profit” publicly listed companies.
Montford has also established himself as an
energetic and successful leader of many nonprofit
business and civic organizations. He
served as 2005 chairman for the Greater San
Antonio Chamber of Commerce, and was
chairman of the board of the San Antonio
Economic Development Foundation in 2006
and 2007. He is former president of the board of
the National Western Art Foundation, for which
he personally secured the lead gift to create the
Dolph and Janey Briscoe National Western Art
Museum in San Antonio. Among many other
accomplishments, Montford served as chair of
the Texas State Parks Advisory Committee from
2006 to 2009.
Montford’s spouse, Debbie, attended Texas
Tech University and the University of Texas. She
is an energetic community volunteer, an effective
7 6 F T H E H E A R T O F B E X A R C O U N T Y