[1][2] Presently, he is a Herman Barnett Distinguished Professor as well as the Associate Vice President for Educational Outreach and Diversity for the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB).
[3] In 1979, Houston received his PhD in microbiology and immunology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.
[3] In the same year, he was appointed as the associate vice president at the Office for Educational Outreach and Diversity at UTMB.
[3] In 2006, Houston was elected as the first black president of the ASM, the world's largest professional biological research organization with over 45,000 members.
[3] During his tenure as president, the organization made greater efforts to attract the attention of minority participants.
[3] Kathleen Sebelius, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services at the time, appointed him to the National Advisory Board for Bio Security in 2011.