Colin Carney was appointed as a board member for Humble ISD Aug. 8.[/caption]

The Humble ISD board of trustees appointed a new member Aug. 8 from a crowded field of candidates.

The board selected Colin Carney, an asset and wealth management tax director at PricewaterhouseCoopers, over 13 other candidates who applied for the vacant Position 6 following the resignation of former trustee Heath Rushing in May. Rushing moved out of the district to serve as CEO of Memorial Hermann Cypress and Memorial Hermann Katy hospitals.

Carney will serve in Position 6 until at least May 2019 when the position will return to the ballot during a general election. Carney said he decided to apply for the position because he wanted to give back to the community.

"I think what was missing was the opportunity to make an impact locally," he said. "So when I became aware that the opportunity came up—I've got two small children as well and I really wanted to be involved and really do what I could to help with all of this change going on."

The field of applicants included former trustees and candidates who ran for a board position in the November election, including Lohit Datta-Barua, Bob Rehak, Christopher Herron and Robert Scarfo.

Before joining PwC in 2006, Carney attended Baylor University where he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration in accounting and a master of taxation degree.

“Mr. Rushing is a good man and was a huge asset to the board," board President Angela Conrad said. "His energy and experience will be hard to replace, but Colin should be able to hit the ground running. His experience with business, finance and education will bring a valuable perspective to the group. He also brings an open mind and desire to learn. Those are attributes that will serve the community well."

Carney has resided in Kingwood for 10 years with his wife Jennifer. He has two children, including his daughter Addison, an HISD elementary school student, and son Blake, who will be attending HISD after completing preschool.

"I don't come here with any agenda myself—I really am trying to learn as much as I can right now," Carney said. There are a lot of things discussed in this meeting that are news to me that over the next few weeks I'll be spending time getting up to speed. I'm looking forward to it."