Our Alumni, Our History

You may have heard ordinary Americans tell their stories on “Story Corps” episodes on KUHF, Houston Public Radio. As a pilot project of the Houston Alumni Organization (HAO) and the UH Office of University Relations, UH grads were invited to tell their stories about their time at UH. Eight alumni—several from the era when the campus was filled with trailers to house returning veterans of World War II—shared their memories of life at UH. The interviews, conducted at Homecoming during HAO’s Golden Cougar Ice Cream Social, will be stored in the M.D. Anderson Library. Support for the project came from the university’s Center for Public History, which conducts research, trains graduate students, and engages in community outreach, such as publishing The Houston Review of History and Culture. For more information about the Review or for a subscription, call 713-743-3123 or visit: www.class.uh.edu/TheHoustonReview

Cougar to Lead A&M System

He gets things done. That’s why Dr. Michael McKinney (’73) was the unanimous choice to lead The Texas A&M University System as its chancellor. The physician and former legislator has a wealth of experience in government, academia, and the medical field. His government contacts will help him secure funding for TAMU—a boon in these days of dwindling state funding for universities. McKinney is perhaps best known as an able financial steward and administrator—he has served as chief of staff for Governor Rick Perry, as Texas Commissioner of Health and Human Services, and since 2003 has served as senior vice president and chief operating officer at the University of Texas Health Science Center. And he's a Cougar.