At the December 2025 board meeting, the Board of Directors for South Texas College of Law Houston unanimously elected three new members and one returning member.
New to the board are Maria Chapa Lopez, Sydney Scott, and the Hon. Manpreet Monica Singh, and returning to the board is Gordon Quan. Read more about the recently elected directors below.
MARIA CHAPA LOPEZ
Maria Chapa Lopez is a career public servant, legal leader, and international rule-of-law expert with more than three decades of experience in federal prosecution, military justice, and global justice reform. A proud native of Odessa, Texas, she traces her professional foundation to South Texas Law, where she earned her J.D. and served as assistant editor of the South Texas Law Review. Her Texas upbringing and STCL Houston education continue to shape her commitment to service, justice, and strengthening legal institutions in the United States and abroad.
Chapa Lopez served as the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida from 2018 to 2021, following nearly two decades as a federal prosecutor in the same district. Her work at the Department of Justice focused on complex transnational criminal organizations, including maritime drug-trafficking networks, large-scale money-laundering schemes, domestic narcotics operations, and opioid-related prosecutions. She led numerous high-impact investigations requiring coordinated efforts among federal, state, and international partners.
From 2016 to 2018, Chapa Lopez served as the Department of Justice deputy attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. In that role, she supported critical bilateral criminal-justice initiatives and major cross-border cases. Her portfolio also included maritime security, evidence collection, legal reform, and the strengthening of investigative and prosecutorial practices during Mexico’s transition to an accusatory justice system.
Prior to her DOJ career, she served in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel. Internationally, Chapa Lopez is recognized for her contributions to judicial reform, maritime security, and capacity-building throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. She has served as a consultant and instructor with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Global Maritime Crime Program, the Defense Institute of International Legal Studies, and the Pan American Development Foundation.
Chapa Lopez earned a B.A. from the University of Texas, a J.D. from South Texas Law, and an LL.M. from The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School in Charlottesville, Virginia. As she joins the STCL Houston board of directors, she brings national and international legal expertise and a deep sense of pride in returning to serve the institution that launched her career.
GORDON QUAN
Gordon Quan is a nationally renowned specialist in U.S. immigration and nationality law and senior partner of the Quan Law Group, PLLC. He has earned an AV Preeminent Rating by Martindell-Hubbell, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Texas Lawyer, and the STCL Houston Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016.
Following his graduation from UT-Austin, Quan began his professional career teaching in Houston’s Fifth Ward when schools were beginning to integrate. He later served as coordinator of a federal program teaching appreciation of the various cultures that made Houston home. During this time, he earned his master’s degree in guidance and counseling at the University of Houston.
He continued his education at night, earning his law degree from South Texas Law. He was a founding member of the Asian American Bar Association of Houston and the Asian Pacific American Heritage Association. Gordon has practiced U.S. immigration law for more than 48 years, helping thousands of people navigate the maze of immigration regulations. Quan was elected chair of the Texas Chapter and later to the national board of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and help found and chair the Immigration Section of the State Bar of Texas. He was honored by the Houston Independent School District on its 100th anniversary for his impact on the law.
In 2000, he became the first Asian American elected to an at-large position on the Houston City Council. In his second term, he was selected by the mayor and his fellow councilmembers as mayor pro tem. Nationally, he was elected president of the Asian Pacific American Municipal Officials of the National League of Cities.
Quan is pleased to return to the board of directors at South Texas Law after serving on the advisory board. He also serves on the board of the Asia Society, Texas Center, and he chairs the board of directors for the East Downtown Redevelopment Authority. His proudest accomplishments include his marriage to the late Sylvia Lau, his three daughters — Dr. Caroline Long, Kristen Hammill, and Katherine Ahmann — and his seven grandchildren.
SYDNEY SCOTT
Sydney Scott is a partner in Gibson Dunn’s Houston office. Scott has experience representing plaintiffs and defendants in every stage of litigation, from pre-suit demands to final appeals, in a wide array of complex commercial disputes. She also has represented defendants in white-collar criminal matters. Scott focuses on developing pragmatic, winning strategies to resolve complex disputes.
Benchmark Litigation named Scott to its 2022 and 2024 “40 & Under List – South,” which identifies the best and brightest litigators across the United States and Canada. She is recognized in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for Criminal Defense: White-Collar.
Scott received her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she served as an articles editor for the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law. She graduated from Dartmouth College with a B.A. degree in English. At Dartmouth, Scott won three Ivy League Championships with the women’s basketball team. After college, she played two seasons with B.K. Amager in Copenhagen, Denmark, and won the Danish Women’s League Championship during her first season.
Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Scott practiced at Smyser Kaplan & Veselka, L.L.P., where she was elected to the partnership, and at Vinson & Elkins, LLP. She also clerked for the Hon. Chief Judge Carl E. Stewart on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the Hon. James J. Brady on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.
Scott is admitted to practice in Texas and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth and Sixth Circuits and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
MANPREET MONICA SINGH
The Hon. Manpreet Monica Singh, a Houston native, assumed office in 2022 as judge of the Harris County Civil Court at Law 4, making history as Texas’ first elected Sikh judge. With more than two decades of legal experience, she has been a licensed attorney since 2001, specializing in trial advocacy. Over the course of her career, Singh has served as lead counsel in more than 100 jury trials. She is also a certified ad litem and mediator, actively contributing to dispute resolution since 2002.
Committed to advancing diversity and empowering women, Singh holds directorship positions in prominent organizations such as the Sikh National Bar Association, Texas Lyceum, and the Sikh Coalition. She previously served on the board of the ACLU Texas and has been recognized for her advocacy efforts. She was honored as a Diversity Champion by the State Bar of Texas, received both the Distinguished Member award and the Public Service award from the South Asian Bar Association, and earned a company-wide award for Passion for Excellence.
In addition to her legal contributions, Singh engages in various community endeavors. Most recently, she founded the Sikh National Bar Association. She serves as a chapter representative for ABOTA Houston, completed the FBI Citizen’s Diversity Academy, and is a graduate of both the American Bar Leadership Academy, Leadership Houston, American Leadership Forum, and the Harvard Leadership Program. Moreover, she has conducted numerous continuing legal education sessions on topics ranging from ad litem duties to defense perspectives in personal injury litigation. Beyond her professional commitments, Singh dedicates herself to community outreach, collaborating with Interfaith Ministries, educational institutions across Harris County, law enforcement agencies, and the Boniuk Center.
Singh married her college boyfriend and enjoys reading, traveling, and being ignored by her college boys who think they are adults.
