UTA alumnus runs for Texas’s 24th congressional district

Alumnus John Biggan is putting his scientific career on hold and running for election to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Biggan is running as a democratic candidate for Texas’s 24th congressional district, including DFW airport, Carrollton and parts of Hurst and Irving.

Biggan completed his undergraduate, graduate and doctoral studies at UTA and worked in academia for around 10 years.

Biggan’s field of study is cognitive neuroscience. He looked at how the brain changes as people age and how to slow down the effects of aging.

“Science is a perfect tool to set somebody up in politics because the whole point of science is you identify a problem, come up with some hypotheses, look for potential solutions, put a team together, we test out those solutions and see which one works. And then rinse and repeat,” Biggan said.

In the scientific field, he learned to view his efforts like building a house brick by brick, where people come together to solve a problem, he said. He sees policy issues and political change in the same way.

“I think that the top priorities for me come down to health care and education,” he said.

Biggan is constantly looking to improve the way things are done, said Erik Wendland, a longtime friend of Biggan’s. Their friendship spans back to their freshman year at UTA, when they were roommates.

“The opportunities that UTA gave him, both in class and from a social perspective, gave him the opportunity to really explore and grow into the person he is today,” Wendland said.

UTA helped Biggan grow by giving him opportunities to interact with people and really shine on a personal level. Those skills have made the transition from academia to politics relatively smooth for him, Wendland said.

“I think both of us hold fond memories of UTA,” Wendland said. The last time the Mavericks played in the NCAA tournament, they both stopped what they were doing to watch the game together.

Wendland is now the treasurer for Biggan’s campaign.

Biggan asked him to help, but he didn’t have to, Wendland said. After growing into adults together, he was immediately ready to help in whatever way his friend needed.

Lara Trevino, Biggan’s friend and colleague, said Biggan is a man who does his research before forming an opinion. The two met in graduate school and have been good friends ever since.

The friends often talked about political issues and possible solutions to problems, Trevino said.

“I think with him running for office, you know, he just decided to take those discussions and put them to practice,” Trevino said.

While not surprised by Biggan’s announcement to run for Congress, she was impressed he followed through with the plan, she said.

While working on her dissertation, Trevino’s graduate mentor passed away unexpectedly. The day she heard the news, Biggan and his wife came over with a few other friends and they sat with some wine and beer and spent the evening reminiscing about her mentor, Trevino said.

“He just did that, you know, that’s the kind of friend he was,” Trevino said.

Although she’s not volunteering with the campaign, Trevino said she is always there to be a sounding board for Biggan.

Every congressional seat in the state of Texas is being contested in this election, Biggan said.

The amount of students on UTA’s campus alone could be a powerful political force if they mobilized, he said. There’s enough campaigns for students on all sides of the political spectrum to get involved and make their voices heard.

Students have so much power, Biggan said. It just comes down to whether they’re willing to take the time to use it.

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