Louis Molnar

Louis Molnar
Louis Molnar in front of Houston City Hall
Born	(1973-04-29) April 29, 1973 Houston, Texas, US
Nationality	triple Canadian-American-Hungarian Citizen
Alma mater	Trinity University University of London Western Governors University
Occupation	Businessman, politician, author

Louis Molnar (born April 29, 1973) is a businessman, politician, and author.

Biography

Early life

Louis Molnar was born in Houston, Texas. He is a first-generation American with triple Canadian-American-Hungarian citizenship through his Hungarian father, and is the second-born of three children to Alexander Louis Molnar and Rebecca (née de Morin). Molnar is a graduate of Galena Park High School, and obtained an MBA in international business strategy undergraduated in international relations from Trinity College, studying in London, England where he was proctored at the University of London. Molnar subsequently attended Western Governors University and studied accounting.

Business career

Louis Molnar started his first business at the age of nine employing neighborhood children for landscaping work benefiting the elderly in his community. This early experience in business led Molnar into business management. Molnar later founded, in 1992, operations consulting firm L I Molnar Consultants, which later became the partnership Kiraly Molnar Jansen.^[1] By his mid-twenties Mr. Molnar's operations expertise had led to large projects around the world, including infrastructure development for the Republic of Chad.^[2]

In a 2011 interview Louis Molnar called himself "a watchdog" of public spending, and has since said on many occasions he allies himself with individuals who seek efficiency in government. Both as a businessman and in his subsequent political career Molnar has placed a great deal of attention on urban planning, infrastructure, efficiency, environmental concerns, and economic development.^[3] Molnar has worked with various municipal governments and organizations world-wide on these areas. In this same interview, Molnar spoke briefly about his tenure as the Chair of Law and Urban Planning at the Spencer School of Real Estate.^[4]

Louis Molnar served as the Chair of the Houston Economic Summit's 11th biennial anniversary meeting of global leaders,^[5] that year titled "20/20". At the Summit Mr. Molnar addressed logistics and infrastructure development of the inner city, which he identified as a passion of his. In 2010 Louis Molnar was presented with the Economist of the Year Award by the Houston Economic Summit.

In 2008 Louis Molnar was inducted into Strathmore's Who's Who in American Business^[6] and in 2011 received a U.S. Congressional Proclamation noting his contributions in business and politics.^[7]

Louis Molnar was identified in 2010 as the Compliance Officer of investment firm Carlyle Ultra during a brief lawsuit by the City of Houston alleging the firm's chief executive officer attempted to influence the outcome of permitting for a restaurant that was part of the Carlyle portfolio. Mr. Molnar resigned as Compliance Officer, the restaurant closed its doors, and the charges were subsequently dropped.^[8]

In 2014 the Dallas Business Journal named Molnar in their list of "People on the Move".^[9]

Political career

Louis Molnar served two terms as Chair (D) of Precinct 139 in Harris County, Texas from 2009–2012 and later one term as Presiding Judge,^[10] with his final term in public office ending on August 1, 2013.

Mr. Molnar also served from 2009–2013 on the Harris County Executive Committee and as Chair of the Finance Committee from 2010–2012.^[11]

Louis Molnar was also the first elected official to sign a nationwide dissenting MoveOn.org petition against the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 decision in Citizens United v. FEC which gives corporations the same First Amendment rights as individuals.^[12] After signing the petition he noted, "There are those, like me [a businessman], who do well for the common good with what we're provided," Molnar said. "But that's not what these tools [corporate funds] are meant for."

In 2011 Mr. Molnar was a candidate for Houston city council at-large position 4.^[13] It was during this race that Louis Molnar wrote and recorded a song called "Erin", which he used as a fundraiser for his campaign under the name "P4" (for Precinct 4). The song was an homage to Erin Stevenson, a singer he was rumored as dating at the time.^[14]

Louis Molnar was listed at #7 in a LinkedIn Top Elected Officials roster.^[15]

Mr. Molnar has continued to provide political commentary on CNN as an iReporter and through social media.^[16]

Advocacy

After being diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome (a mild form of autism) in 2013 at the age of 40, Louis Molnar found that there were a lot of misconceptions about autism, saying in an OutSmart Magazine article "being the consummate researcher, I learned that the perception of autism was one of disability and inability. That certainly didn’t describe me, so I set out to do what I could to help with that perception: I came out as an autistic in an iReport on CNN, and more recently founded Twainbow to bring awareness to this segment of the LGBT+ community." ^[17] He has written a college-level presentation to educators and mentors about students on the autism spectrum,^[18] and speaks about autism in various media, including articles, radio and television, and social media.

Personal life

Louis Molnar has been an actor in film, television, stage, radio and voice-over work.^[19] According to Molnar, he has been creating art since his childhood, and had his first break-out exhibit of sketches, paintings, and photographic samples in June 2016 at the prestigious OCAD Grand Gallery alongside collaborative works featuring artist and arts professor Cheryl Pope. During this presentation he mentioned creating "hundreds of pieces" that he will exhibit. Molnar has mentioned being blinded when he was "about 6 or 7" as a defining moment for him.^[20]

In 2013 Mr. Molnar was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism. He wrote about his experiences in a CNN iReport and a LinkedIn Pulse article.^[21] In 2015 he founded Twainbow, a global not-for-profit dedicated to advocacy for those who are both LGBT+ and autistic, where he serves as its chairman.^[22]

Published works

Books

• Operations 101: A Primer^[23]
• Property Management in Texas: Law and Ethics, Principles and Practices^[24]

White papers

• "Benefits of Having a Real Estate License in Property Management"^[25]
• "A Step Beyond AI: Artificial Philosophy"^[26]
• "Environmental Sampling and Analysis: developing the infrastructure of Chad"^[27]

Research papers

• "Plant Neurological Responses and Learning"^[28]

Presentations

• "Autism in Education: A Resource for the Student Mentor" ^[29]

References

External links

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