Hugh's professional career has been  in petroleum, chemical and natural gas Industry having held engineering and management positions with American Oil Company, Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation,  Dixie Pipeline Company and most recently,  Coastal Refining & Marketing Company where he retiring after in 1998 as  Senior Vice President after having worked for the company for 30 years. Hugh is a graduate from Mississippi State University with a BS-Civil Engineering degree.

Hugh joined Executive Service Corps - Houston as a volunteer consultant in 2001 and has been a project coordinator and served on various committees in addition to participating in marketing, information technology  and planning projects for clients including Urban Outreach, DBSA Houston, Santa Maria Hostel.