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The story has been told many times over, and it just keeps getting better. It began and remains to be a university for "the working men and women and their sons and daughters."
A Wildcatter's Vision
He was ahead of his time. A man known as "king of the wildcatters." Hugh Roy Cullen knew there was enormous potential for something great, something special.
Cullen's vision and donations over twenty years took the fledging university from one
building to thirteen colleges with 550 acres.
Universities across this country can claim individuals such as Cullen, visionaries who can see the possibilities. Each university is special in its own way, and all share some of the obvious special attributes.
Okay, so what makes UH so special?
Cougar’s New Coat
The University of Houston is Houston, literally and figuratively. The university and the city are inextricably connected.
Just take a stroll on campus. Our on-campus population would put us somewhere around the seventieth largest city in Texas—comprising everything one expects in a city including traffic and parking, police, places to sleep, a religion center, theaters, recreation venues, sports teams, schools, museums, gardens, libraries, healthcare facility, restaurants, arcades, social and political organizations, even fat squirrels who come right up to your feet and unabashedly beg for the food you were enjoying in one of our campus parks.
The Houston area boasts a population of around 4 million. And every day UH researchers diligently work to improve the conditions found outside our front door—housing, immigration, energy, healthcare, transportation, aging, the environment, technology, and education.
For instance, students in Houston's public schools benefit directly from teachers and administrators who are UH alumni as well as from those experienced teachers who return to the university to explore fresh teaching ideas and concepts. Research teams across campus work with industry partners to educate the new generation of energy and environmental professionals and to find new solutions to meet the energy and environmental needs of the city and the world. Other researchers expose the secrets of superconductivity to fuel innovative technologies with applications ranging from power generation to biomedicine. Medical research is the next great frontier of knowledge for UH researchers in every college and myriad disciplines—from biology and business to social work and law.
"The University of Houston is a service institution for the metropolitan area... (It) desires to grow in service and (to) become the center of culture, as well as the center of practical learning in professional, business, and industrial pursuits. This university will become great if the citizenship of this area desires to make it great. The university is dedicated to community service, to the development of that kind of education, which will
render each individual to perform some definite service and to receive from such service a lasting satisfaction in his life pursuit.."
E.E. Oberholtzer, First President, University of Houston
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Cougar Connection
"We have and continue to educate leaders for Houston, for Texas, and for the nation" says UH System Regent Leroy L. Hermes ('66).
"We are determined to make this university a world-class asset."
In addition to our great faculty, staff, and students, our long list of alumni—those who raise families, open small businesses, lead international corporations, serve their communities, or represent their constituents as elected officials—all give back to their alma mater so that future Cougars will have a chance at success, such as a donation to
the Rebecca and John J. Moores School of Music for a program to provide music lessons at the UH Child Care Center, the Third Ward Head Start Program, and the Houston Challenge Early College High School.
What's more, close to 1 million community service hours are provided by our students, faculty, and staff every year.
And our indispensable community and corporate partners work with us every day to help our students and our community neighbors achieve their hopes and dreams.
UH, Year 2087
Throughout our rich and brief history, we've never been comfortable resting on our past and current achievements. That's exactly why we continue to play an integral role in the world of tomorrow—always making significant contributions to the communities and lives of future generations and Cougars.
This is evident in our efforts to increase our status as one of the nation's premier urban research universities—continuing to attract faculty who are highly respected in their fields internationally. And let's not forget our students—representing one of the most ethnically diverse student populations in the country. And, there's no argument that we're already among leaders in our approach to research, the arts, business, and so many other fields.
Great. So what about the next 80 years?
Let's paint a picture ... Hugh Roy Cullen style. A fourth-generation master plan will be completed to accommodate a burgeoning student body population. Perhaps the headaches associated with campus parking will be a thing of the past, just maybe. Classes from every discipline imaginable will be offered to students around the world studying at UH in their home countries. Our world-renowned faculty will teach via satellite from different parts of the globe to offer our students a truly diverse education.
Cullen once said that the trouble with the oil business was that people expected to find oil on the surface. He discovered millions of barrels of oil in fields that his competitors abandoned—Cullen was willing to dig deeper. And for the next 20, 60 or 80 years, that's just what the University of Houston will continue to do—dig deeper.
Never-Ending Story
With any great institution, it's an ongoing process—a never-ending story. UH's vision is
clear and will remain steadfast in its mission to educate and make a difference in the world
around us.
So, when it comes down to it, one cannot easily say "this is what makes UH special" or
"that's what makes us special." It's really about how we contribute to the city, state, and
nation so that future generations of Cougars will look back and say, "That's what makes
UH special." |
