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GETTING ENGAGED FALL 2011 VOL.5 NO.2

PUBLISHER Karen Clarke Associate Vice President for University Relations

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF UNIVERSITY MARKETING & BRANDING John Schwartz (J.D. ’95) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS Eric Gerber (’72, M.A. ’78) DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Liz Stephens GRAPHIC DESIGNER Watson Riddle CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Marsha J. Carter Mike Emery Shawn Lindsey Lisa K. Merkl (’92, M.A. ’97) Marisa Ramirez (’00) Laura Tolley Toby Weber PHOTOGRAPHERS Thomas Campbell Shawn Lindsey Andy Rich

CHANCELLOR AND PRESIDENT Renu Khator UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM BOARD OF REGENTS Nelda Luce Blair (J.D. ’82), Chair Mica Mosbacher, Vice Chair Jarvis V. Hollingsworth (J.D. ’93), Secretary Spencer D. Armour, III (’77) Nandita V. Berry (J.D. ’95) Tilman J. Fertitta Tamecia Glover Harris (Student Regent) Jacob M. Monty (J.D. ’93) Roger F. Welder Welcome W. Wilson, Jr.

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www.uh.edu/magazine Send feedback to: [email protected] The University of Houston Magazine is published by the Office of University Relations. Printed on recycled paper. The University of Houson is an EEO/AA institution. 144398 | 10.2011 | 75,000 Copyright © 2011 by the University of Houston.

www.uh.edu/magazine INSIDE

4 Cougar Comment Her grandfather, Hugh Roy Cullen, would be proud of UH – and Houston, says benefactor and former regent Beth Robertson. 10 Fall Address 2011 UH President Renu Khator says it was “A Great Year!” And it’s going to get better. 12 Q&A: Margaret Spellings The onetime Secretary of Education, and UH graduate, speaks up…and out. 18 Getting Engaged To help students take big steps toward success, UH has been thinking “small.” 24 Mindset An annual list helps (older) professors and (younger) students have a meeting of the minds. 26 From Houston to Hollywood Books by two UH professors are being filmed. And we test your own UH movie I.Q. 30 Red Initiatives UH is undertaking a variety of colorful projects to raise school spirit and public awareness. 32 A Sporting Chance UH grad Robert Flores parlayed an RTV degree into an ESPN anchor chair. 34 Building a Better Community An innovative architecture program gives students hands-on experience as Houston parks, schools and nonprofits benefit … by design. 36 Branching Out A Hobby Center for Public Policy study confirms the need for a Northwest Campus.

IN EVERY ISSUE

2 Message from the Regents 3 Message from the President 5 Making an Impact 9 Bonus Online 14 New Faculty Profiles 28 Professors Emeriti: Spotlight on Richard Evans

Photo, left: Quarterback Case Keenum, Shasta the UH mascot and President Khator during the taping of the “COUGAR RED FRIDAYS” promotional video. t is no secret that I’m a very I believe in UH alumni. Former students and proud fifth generation Texan. faculty have more reason than ever to boast I My ancestors held strong of their educational heritage, and they are doing beliefs that Texas is the greatest just that on all fronts. Alumni are like the place on earth to live, and that it continual cheering squad, the experienced offered the highest in opportunities mentors, and a growing groundswell for UH. for their descendants. That heritage With every graduation, we expand the influence has instilled in me yet another set of and power and clout of our alumni groups. strongly held beliefs. As chairman What an exciting time to be a Cougar alum! of the Board of Regents for the I believe the future is bright. And, I mean

MESSAGE FROM THE REGENTS University of Houston System, I will rely on many of those beliefs. glowing! UH sits in a position of opportunity like never before. UH is rocketing upward in a style I believe in the advantages of an only a university in a great city like Houston education. Like many UH students, can do. Believe it! I was the first in my family to attend college. My parents implanted in me the notion that the college education neither of them had attained was the key to Nelda Luce Blair becoming whatever I wanted to Chairman, UH System Board of Regents be in life. Their influence stoked in me a passion for education as the main tool to success. My role is to escort UH on its rise to world-class, Tier One status. The UH fire is already ignited, and I am here to add fuel, making it burn “My role is to even brighter. escort UH on its I believe that UH is a jewel in the crown of the City of Houston. With its well-rounded variety of offerings, from athletics to architecture, from rise to world-class restaurants to research, from management to mathematics, UH has what it takes to carry the Tier One status.” torch for the fourth largest city in the United States. City officials and business leaders realize the vital role UH plays in building the economy, the workforce, the opportunities and even the reputation of Houston. I know that UH will continue to make Houston proud.

I believe in partnerships. Partnering with new teammates allows UH to open doors sooner, to collaborate on levels outside of the usual educational arena. UH already has a host of great partners in its portfolio. The upside is that there are so many more potential partners in our international city, our big state and all over the world. With them, that UH potential is multiplied exponentially.

2 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON magazine | November 2011 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

“Traditions are a vital part of a university’s character and spirit.”

rom my office on the second floor, I can for our university. I’m delighted to see that this is see the two majestic bronze cougar really growing in popularity. sculptures that grace the entrance to F But the tradition I’m most excited about is one the Ezekiel Cullen Building. Several times a day, people on our campus – students, faculty, alums that began just this year. Our efforts to achieve and visitors – pass by those stately creatures Tier One status were realized with the Carnegie and pause briefly to rub the outsized paws. Foundation designation as one of the country’s Maybe it’s for good luck. Maybe it’s a show of premier public research universities. Looking respect. Maybe it’s just an irresistible attraction back from the vantage point of UH’s centennial, to the cool, polished surface. in 2027, I hope that we will say that’s when a rich tradition of being recognized nationally for But one thing is certain – it’s becoming a tradition. research excellence and student success began. And that makes me glad. Traditions are a vital part of a university’s character and spirit.

Even though it is a young school, relatively speaking, the University of Houston is no stranger to tradition, of course. Our choice of a cougar mascot goes back to this institution’s formative days in the 1920s. Naming it Shasta Renu Khator and originating our “Go, Coogs!” hand sign have UH System Chancellor and UH President been with us since the early 1950s. The annual Frontier Fiesta celebration, which began in the 1940s, faded away after a couple of decades, only to be revived in 1992 by a new generation who recognized the importance of maintaining that connection to our university’s – and our region’s – vibrant western heritage.

In another nod to tradition, this year’s Homecoming game saw our football players sporting “throwback” uniforms, circa 1960s, paying tribute to the student athletes who preceded them nearly a half century ago and reminding us all of our impressive legacy in athletics.

Not as prominent, perhaps, but just as notable is the Cougar First Impressions program, in which our faculty and staff man outdoor information tables at the start of each fall semester to provide warm welcomes and cool water to befuddled students. Is that a tradition? When you do it for 14 years running, with 500 UH employees currently volunteering and countless students getting their careers at UH off to a great start, I would say that definitely qualifies.

Since my arrival at UH, I have been urging our campus community to participate in Cougar Red Fridays, wearing red clothes to show visible support

November 2011 | magazine UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON 3 Improving UH Improves Houston by Beth Robertson

n 1938, my granddad, Hugh Roy I feel – and it is substantial – I must say it is city hinges on UH’s growth and its journey to

COUGAR COMMENT Cullen, was introduced to a fledgling eclipsed by the knowledge that our community excellence. When you improve UH, you improve university, the University of Houston, by understands the connection between the the city of Houston. its first president Dr. E.E. Oberholtzer. economic health of our city and UH. It has ‘Gampa’I was captivated by the idea that the tangibly embraced UH and is financially Our alumni certainly understand that. The “working men and women” of Houston would supporting UH at a level beyond our sister number of alumni donors making gifts in direct have a university to attend. “emerging research institutions” in Texas. support of UH students and programs has steadily grown each year since FY2007, from Even though he himself had not made it Despite the economically difficult times, total 8,000 to more than 10,000 in FY2011. And past the 6th grade, he believed strongly in private support for UH for the past three years that doesn’t include countless champions who education, so he invested and adopted UH as (FY2009 through FY2011) has been about $250 contribute through their annual membership in the UH Alumni Association.

But support isn’t limited just to those who have worn the Cougar colors of red and white. Numerous civic and business organizations have stepped forward to contribute toward UH’s improvement. The Houston Endowment, for example, recently provided $5 million specifically to augment the number of Ph.D. graduates at UH, an important factor in determining Tier One status. In a similar vein, we have received nearly $50 million in new endowment gifts in the past three years compared to $30 million the previous three-year period. Our overall endowment for UH is now approaching $600 million, an enviable figure to be sure. This growing endowment reflects our maturation as an institution, and this fiscal stability helps UH honor President Khator’s commitment to student success even in the face of economic challenges.

Beth Robertson Left: Beth Robertson, today. Right: A very young Robertson and her brother Corbin “Corby” Yes, my granddad would be proud “his” Robertson Jr. display their Cougar Spirit prior to a Homecoming game. university is doing so well – and even prouder that it has become all of Houston’s. H his own. He wanted his fellow Houstonians, million compared to a total of $147 million whatever their circumstances, to have the during the previous three-year period. None benefits and skill set of a college graduation. of the other “emerging research universities” And he relished the skills and achievements – Texas Tech, UT Dallas, UT San Antonio, UT of its graduates! How proud he would be Arlington, UT El Paso and North Texas – has now of UH – its growth, its complexity, the approached an increase of that magnitude. breadth of its offerings, its Tier One status. And it STILL serves the “working men That’s evidence, I believe, that our community and women” of Houston: as their needs clearly agrees with my granddad’s belief in expanded, so did Houston’s university! the importance of higher education in general and, even more clearly, the need to support My family has been fortunate to have a UH in particular. Call it generous, but also call Robertson served as chair of the UH System Board of Regents from front row seat to help UH on its journey to it enlightened self-interest. Like Gampa, they 1993-96. She was awarded an honorary doctor of letters degree from excellence. Whatever personal satisfaction understand that the economic health of the UH in 1998 and received a UH Alumni President Award in 2003.

4 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON magazine | November 2011 MAKING AN IMPACT

NCAA based on medical hardship, the 6-foot-2 No Passing Fancy: Keenum quickly made a case for Heisman Trophy consideration, as the team embarked on the best Case Sets Records start in its history.

The aerial assault came from 57 and 21 yards, 64, The Abilene, Texas, native’s efforts are far 18 and 41, too. There was another from 20, a 37, a from limited to the playing field. He received 22 and a 47 – NINE touchdown passes against Rice a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology-sports University that extended UH’s unbeaten streak. administration in December 2010, and is pursuing a master’s degree in physical education In a senior season that saw Super Cougar Case with a concentration in sports administration. Keenum shatter NCAA career marks for TD throws, total offense, passing yardage and TDs accounted Keenum is actively involved in the Fellowship of for, among others, the amazing performance in the Christian Athletes, and has been since he was rain Oct. 27 against its crosstown rival created a a boy. He also makes frequent visits to Texas sensation as his exploits seemingly rewrote college Children’s Hospital and Star of Hope, which is blast,” Keenum says. “That was probably the most football history every week. dedicated to meeting the needs of homeless fun I’ve ever had playing football.” men, women and their children. Appearances on the Jim Rome show, ESPN and a The chance that Keenum’s prolific passing would host of other national media outlets followed. A Facebook fan page of “Case Keenumisms” lead the stat-stuffing superstar to set one riveting offers further evidence of his impact. Consider this He had so many touchdown passes against the career record after another seemed remote after he posting: “Case Keenum once captured lightning Owls, he couldn’t remember all of them when suffered a season-ending knee injury in September in a bottle, then threw it for a touchdown.” H asked to recount them after the game. “It was a 2010. But, granted a sixth year of eligibility by the — Richard Bonnin

Blair succeeds Carroll Robertson Ray as the board’s financial aid; and increases the facilities budget UHS Board Gets chair. Blair was appointed to the board in 2008 and by $8.4 million to address infrastructure issues is serving through 2013. During FY2011, Blair served and maintain new facilities, such as the Energy 3 New Regents, as the board’s vice chair. She also contributed her Research Park. expertise to positions on several board committees, New Leadership including chair of the Academic and Student Success UH’s budget is part of UHS’ $1.36 billion budget Committee; vice chair of the Facilities, Construction that reflects a 5 percent decrease in operating ith new leadership and new members, and Master Planning Committee; board liaison for expense costs per semester credit hour. The the University of Houston System Board W Governmental Relations; and as a member of the reduction was made possible through enhanced of Regents is ready to steer UH toward new Executive and Compensation Committee. productivity and increased efficiencies that the realms of success. UHS universities achieved through program Joining Blair and her fellow officers are recently consolidations and personnel cuts. Nelda Luce Blair (J.D. ’82) is the board’s new appointed regents Spencer D. Armour III (’77), chair, Michelle (Mica) McCutchen Mosbacher is Roger F. Welder and Welcome W. Wilson Jr., and UH President and UHS Chancellor Renu Khator serving as vice chair and Jarvis Hollingsworth new student regent Tamecia Glover Harris. The pledged to focus resources toward student (J.D. ’93) is the board’s secretary. full board also includes Jacob M. Monty (J.D. ’93), success initiatives. She also set four principles on which to shape the budget. These principles “Being selected as the chair for the UHS Board Nandita V. Berry (J.D. ’95) and Tilman J. Fertitta. H included protecting instruction and financial aid, of Regents is an amazing honor, especially as a reshaping the workforce, prioritizing positions that native Houstonian and UH graduate,” Blair says. directly serve students, reducing operational costs “It’s a particularly rewarding time to be a UH UHS Board Sets and offering no salary increases. regent, with the system’s unprecedented growth and endless opportunities. Of course, I am most $1B Budget for UH In keeping with the Khator’s vision, UHS committed excited to accept this leadership role in the wake $66 million toward student financial aid, a $9.9 of the University of Houston being recognized as he University of Houston’s budget for fiscal million increase from the previous fiscal year. Also, a Tier One institution by the Carnegie Foundation T year (FY) 2012 has been set at $1 billion. the instructional workforce was bolstered through for the Advancement of Teaching. I look forward Approved by the UH System (UHS) Board of $257 million for faculty in priority academic to working with the board in assisting each of the Regents, the university’s budget provides an programs. This is an increase of $5 million from system universities as we continue to serve our additional $3.3 million for the recruitment and FY 2011. H students and communities within the state retention of faculty, particularly in key priority of Texas.” areas that support high-growth academic programs; adds $8.2 million for student

November 2011 | magazine UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON 5 Venkat “Selva” Selvamanickam, M.D. Anderson UH Energy Research Park Gets Chair Professor of Mechanical Engineering, director of the Applied Research Hub of the Texas Funding Boost from ConocoPhillips Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston (TcSUH) and chief technology advisor program, along with the existing master’s degree for SuperPower, will lead the research project. f you visit the University of Houston’s Energy program, is designed to fill gaps in the industry’s Research Park, you’ll notice a new name This is the second ARPA-E grant awarded to I aging workforce and give graduates the skills they in town. projects involving superconducting research need in the evolving energy world. at UH in partnership with SuperPower, the first Once known only as Building 9, the facility that houses In recent years, UH has identified energy as a key member of the UH Applied Research Hub. Last UH’s popular petroleum engineering program is September, UH, SuperPower and two other MAKING AN IMPACT strategic focus for faculty research and teaching. now named the Top UH researchers from engineering, law, business, institutions received a $4.2 million grant to ConocoPhillips geosciences, technology and research have develop an affordable, large-scale superconducting Petroleum gathered under the ERP umbrella to provide a unique magnet energy storage (SMES) system device. Engineering environment for students and faculty to exchange Building. The “These projects combine all the elements needed to ideas and work in partnership with industry, building, which get a new technology to the market – the technology researchers, organizations and the community. opened to students R&D, the development of a high-tech work force, the this spring “This is a vote of confidence in the ERP’s plans to manufacturing capability, the sub-components and, semester, houses transform itself into a pioneering research facility finally, the path to the marketplace,” said Rathindra three teaching where the best minds will help shape energy policy N. Bose, UH vice chancellor/vice president of laboratories, three and forge new business approaches to the way research and technology transfer. H classrooms, a energy is created, delivered, used and shared,” said computer lab, Ryan Lance, senior vice president of international faculty offices and exploration and production for ConocoPhillips and Weighing the Benefits: a student lounge. a member of the UH Energy Advisory Board. H Researchers to Partner The petroleum with CDC to Evaluate engineering program is the DOE Awards $3.1 Child Obesity Projects first academic Million to Develop program to be he epidemic of childhood obesity has sparked located on the Superconducting Wire T a number of programs that have made great emerging Energy Research Park (ERP), a collection of strides, but the problem persists. Now, the UH the university’s preeminent energy research and for Wind Turbines department of health and human performance (HHP) education programs. will partner with the Centers for Disease Control and H will lead a public-private research team that Prevention (CDC) to combat obesity in adolescents. This summer, ConocoPhillips gave $1 million to the U has been awarded $3.1 million by the U.S. ERP, and it intends to follow up with proposed future Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a low-cost The CDC has awarded HHP $4.25 million over four gifts of $1 million each year in 2012 and 2013. superconducting wire that could be used to power years to create an innovative evaluation method future wind turbines. that will examine three comprehensive childhood “We are extremely proud to make this gift obesity programs. The goal is to provide evidence- in support of UH’s new home for petroleum This support is part of the DOE’s Advanced Research based recommendations to policymakers as part engineering study and research. We are excited to Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program, which of the Affordable Care Act: Childhood Obesity be able to contribute to the university’s vision for a recently announced it has awarded $156 million to Research Demonstration Initiative. world-class petroleum engineering department as 60 pioneering research projects across the country a cornerstone in its focus on energy,” says Carin designed to improve how the U.S. produces and “Resolving this critical issue will require efforts that S. Knickel, vice president of human resources for uses energy. target multiple sectors and layers of society, as well ConocoPhillips. “We view the new undergraduate as changes in public policy,” says Daniel P. O’Connor, engineering program as an excellent opportunity UH, in conjunction with SuperPower Inc., the associate professor and principal investigator. to expand the pool of top quality and diverse DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory “Intervention efforts mean more than encouraging engineering graduates in support of our industry’s (NREL), Tai-Yang Research and TECO- children to ‘eat less and exercise more.’ Our evaluation needs for the future.” Westinghouse Motor, will develop an efficient, of these multifaceted programs must reflect the low-cost high-temperature superconducting wire complexities of the problem and interventions if we The petroleum engineering program, part of the to use in future advanced wind turbine generators. are to gain valid and useful information.” H UH Cullen College of Engineering, launched a This breakthrough technology is a key enabling bachelor’s degree option in fall 2009 and has technology for other electromagnetic devices already grown to more than 200 students. The as well.

6 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON magazine | November 2011 MAKING AN IMPACT UH Engineers Finding UH Seeing Stars New Ways to Fight Malaria with DOD Grant niversity of Houston faculty, staff and students Asking the audience to repeat after him, Kalam offered U have been seeing stars as of late. In recent some words of wisdom. alaria has been one of the world’s biggest months, leaders in international politics and popular M killers for as long as records have been kept. music have visited Cougar Country. “When there is beauty in the character, there is peace With resistance to existing antimalarial drugs on the in the world,” he says. “When there is rise, there is a renewed push to find different ways to harmony in the home, there is peace in fight it. Two University of Houston (UH) engineers have the world.” stepped up to the plate to answer the call.

One of the biggest buzzes on campus was Jeffery Rimer and Peter Vekilov, both with the created by a surprise appearance from pop department of chemical and biomolecular engineering, superstar Beyoncé in October. The award- recently were awarded a grant from the U.S. winning singer attended the 15th annual Department of Defense (DOD) to create an entirely UH “Living Archives” interview series in new platform for developing antimalarial drugs. Like M.D. Anderson Library’s Rockwell Pavilion. existing antimalarial drugs, this new platform will target This year’s event honored her mother, plasmodium, which is the parasite that causes malaria, fashion designer Tina Knowles and activist by using a quirk in the infection process. and businesswoman Joanne King Herring. Typically introduced into hosts through a mosquito It was not long before word got out and bite, plasmodium enters a host’s red blood cells where hundreds of students assembled in the it consumes the hemoglobin by breaking it down. library’s foyer to get a glimpse of her. However, one subunit of hemoglobin the parasite cannot use is heme, which is the part of the blood that Following the event, she met UH helps transport oxygen to the other parts of the body. President Renu Khator and waved to Left alone, heme is highly toxic – toxic enough, in fact, cheering students. to kill the parasite and prevent an infection from While her presence certainly generated taking hold. excitement, “Living Archives” continues Unfortunately, as the parasite has evolved, it segregates to showcase the oral histories of Texas UH President Renu Khator and Beyoncé met when the popular singer the heme into little crystals. If the heme is sequestered attended a campus event honoring her mother. women who have made history. in crystals, it can’t kill the parasite. Existing antimalarial medications presumably work by preventing the In May, former President of Mexico Vicente Fox “This fall’s stellar ‘Living Archives’ lineup formation and growth of heme crystals. As a result, delivered the speech “Leadership and Spirituality demonstrates again that Houston is full of amazing heme molecules released by hemoglobin consumption in America” at UH’s Agnes Arnold Auditorium. women,” says Elizabeth Gregory, professor and director usually are able to kill the parasite. However, the The university’s Graduate College of Social Work of the UH Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies effectiveness of these drugs has begun to wane. (UHGCSW) and the Gülen Institute presented his program, which hosts the interview. “We are proud to document their stories for Houstonians of today and of appearance on campus. Since the precise nature of how these drugs prevent the future to draw upon.” crystal formation is unknown, Vekilov and Rimer will “Mexico is an important international neighbor work to uncover the process of heme crystal formation and friend to the United States,” says UHGSW dean Bringing further star power to campus was former and then determine what kind of molecules could Ira Colby. “Both during and after his presidency, Astronaut Bernard Harris, a UH alumnus and the first inhibit crystallization. Vekilov believes that heme Vicente Fox has been a staunch advocate to African American to walk in space, who visited UH in molecules attach to crystals at kinks that are sites on eradicate poverty and promote public education late September. He presented a lecture in support of the crystal surface favorable for the addition of new for all people. His perspectives on immigration are his book titled “Dream Walker: A Journey of heme molecules. If this is, in fact, how heme crystals important, in particular, as Texas and the United Achievement and Inspiration.” grow, the team will design “tailored inhibitors” that States continue to struggle with undocumented These days, Harris’ focus is more toward Earth- prevent the growth from occurring. people and their place in our economy.” bound pursuits, as he invests his time and “A tailored inhibitor mimics the crystal building unit or A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was the next former president to effort in community-based initiatives to support units, which in this case is heme,” Rimer says. “You visit UH. Kalam served as India’s 11th president and education and health through his organization, want to design inhibitors with an affinity for binding was known as the “president of the people.” He The Harris Foundation. H to crystal surfaces. Certain parts of the inhibitor addressed students and faculty in August at UH’s molecule then block adjacent binding sites. So, the Hilton University of Houston. Kalam’s presentation inhibitors we plan to design will physically block the was sponsored by UH’s Indian Student Association kinks and disrupt heme addition.” H and Graduate Indian Student Organization.

November 2011 | magazine UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON 7 programming. She also will serve as the primary for different cancers and new catalysts for fuel cells. This Just In: Texas liaison for Houston Public Media in the UH and Houston area community. “As a Tier One research institution, UH offers an Television Veteran enormous opportunity to fulfill my dream due its She will report to UH Provost and Senior Vice depth and breadth of faculty expertise, outstanding to Lead Houston President for Academic Affairs John Antel. academic programs across the disciplines, state-of- Public Media the-art research infrastructures, its location, and more “We are so pleased to have an individual of importantly, its strategic plan to expand the research Lisa’s caliber in this important new role,” he he fresh face at Houston Public Media is and economic development enterprise,” Bose says. says. “Her passion, experience, vision and a veteran of the television industry. After T determination to lead Houston Public Media to He received his Ph.D. in chemistry from Georgetown an extensive search, Lisa Trapani Shumate has financial health and greater stature make her University in 1982 as well as master’s and bachelor’s

MAKING AN beenIMPACT named executive director and general an exceptional choice for the position.” H degrees in chemistry from Rajshahi University in Bangladesh in 1973 and 1975. Bose and Walker Walker is the new vice president and UHS vice chancellor for student affairs. He brings with him a Named as New wealth of student-centered experiences from three decades in both public and private institutions. At UH, Vice Presidents the Division of Student Affairs includes residential life and housing, the dean of students office, the center wo new vice presidents have been for student involvement, the health center, campus T appointed at UH – Rathindra N. Bose and recreation and career services. J. Richard Walker. “To me, it’s about enhancing the student learning Bose, a distinguished scholar and professor, experience through curricular and co-curricular an experienced administrator and a prolific opportunities that support the academic mission of the researcher at institution,” he says. “Much of Ohio University, my success as a student affairs is serving as the educator and leader new vice president can be attributed to my ability to develop strong Lisa Shumate and UH System vice chancellor collaborative working manager of Houston Public Media, which for research and relationships with students, encompasses KUHT-TV and KUHF radio. technology transfer. faculty, staff and alumni.”

“The newly merged entity is poised for growth Previously, he served Walker worked at the University of Miami since and the ability to contribute more to the as vice president for Rathindra N. Bose J. Richard Walker University of Houston, as well as the Houston research and dean of 1987, where he engaged community,” she says. the Graduate College students in campus life, at Ohio University and also managed an active coordinated students and community leaders in Located in the Melcher Center for Public research laboratory. His major responsibilities learning and service opportunities, and promoted Broadcasting, Houston Public Media has 165 at Ohio included overseeing the Graduate a student culture in which diversity is encouraged, staff members, 65,000 contributors and a College, Research and Sponsored Programs, the understood and embraced. budget of $25 million. Technology Transfer Office, the Innovation Center, the Edison Biotechnology Institute and three “He understands the importance of multiculturalism Shumate comes to UH from KHOU-TV, where she other multidisciplinary research institutes. He and has interacted effectively with a diverse population was director of programming and marketing. She worked collaboratively with colleges to create two of students, faculty, staff, alumni and community also has been executive director of Belo Marketing multidisciplinary centers of excellence in Energy members on many issues,” says Khator. “His student- Solutions in Dallas. Additionally, she spent 11 and Environment and Health and Wellness. centered and team-oriented approach is a key attribute years at KTRK-TV, where she moved from being that set him apart.” an anchor, host and producer, to become manager “Dr. Bose has an exemplary record in of marketing and special projects. administrative and academic roles, but his Walker received his Ed.D. in higher education achievements as a researcher are particularly leadership from the University of Miami in 2009. As executive director and general manager, noteworthy,” UH President Renu Khator says. He earned a master of education degree in education Shumate will be responsible for managing, administration and supervision from Memphis State directly or indirectly, all aspects of operation for His research interests and activities cover a wide University in 1982 and a bachelor of science degree Houston Public Media, from strategic visioning range of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary in history from Middle Tennessee State University and financial planning to fund development and areas, including metals in medicine, gene markers in 1981. H

8 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON magazine | November 2011 MAKING AN IMPACT BONUS ONLINE a live audition, hoping to score and earn a coveted UH Bauer College spot in the Wolff Center. INDUSTRIAL DESIGN STUDENTS, PROFESSOR EARN HONORS AT NATIONAL SAFETY Leads Nation “Steve Jobs is an encouragement to in Entrepreneurship entrepreneurs worldwide, so we thought this CONFERENCE Three UH projects took top honors tribute was the least we could do to thank a during the National Institute for Occupational man who inspires us,” says Melgar. Education Safety and Health’s “Prevention Through Design”

ome might find one particular college Melgar is an experienced young artist who conference. Architecture professor Eun Sook decided to pursue business school in lieu of art S assignment at UH a bit “out of the box,” but Kwon received the conference’s “Excellence in that’s the idea behind an entrepreneurship class school so she can one day open a studio for the Teaching” award. that tests students’ creativity and marketing skills arts. The young business owner is hoping her by requiring small class groups to record a viral next accomplishment is to be among the 30-35 YouTube video or organize a successful flash mob. students admitted to the Wolff Center each year. UH RESEARCH STUDY EXPLORES THE TEENAGE MIND Psychology professor Carla “The education you receive at the Wolff Center focuses on creating an entrepreneurial mindset Sharp is leading a two-year study to investigate the and process that is applicable to any major at relationship between adolescent “hypermentalizing” Bauer and students across the university,” says Latha Ramchand, dean of the Bauer College. “It’s and borderline personality disorder. Sharp, director amazing how many student-applicants we get of the Developmental Psychopathology Lab, will that are outside of what you technically define work with 111 teenagers. as business. Brenda is a great example. Artists need to know to how to convert their work into a NEW DRUG STRATEGIES FOR ALZHEIMER’S, business model and monetize that.” MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS UH researchers are Making the program all-encompassing is part of While unorthodox, it is the first step for many recommending a new strategy for developing drugs what has made the Wolff Center so successful. students vying for admission into the Bauer College to treat cancer, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and of Business’ undergraduate entrepreneurship “We are honored to be named the No. 1 cardiovascular diseases. In the October issue of program, named the nation’s best by The Princeton undergraduate entrepreneurship program in Review for Entrepreneurship magazine. It is the the nation. Faculty teaching in the program are Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, Center for Nuclear third time in five years the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff experienced entrepreneurs, all of whom have Receptors and Cell Signaling (CNRCS) scientists Center at UH Bauer has earned the distinction. The landed, bought or successfully run their own outline research results following the team’s 1996 program was ranked No. 1 in 2008 and 2010, and businesses. About 40 percent of students involved No. 2 in 2007 and 2009. in the entrepreneurship program are not business discovery of the estrogen receptor beta (ERβ). majors, and 53 percent of undergraduate students Entry into the program is select. The visionary at Bauer participate in the program,” she adds. TISSUE ANALYSIS GETS BOOST FROM UH, teaching starts with a basic entrepreneurship class that attracts more than 1,000 students each year. The Kauffman Foundation ranked Houston as DUKE COLLABORATION A cross-disciplinary one of the nation’s leading cities in terms of collaboration between the Cullen College of Students from all majors have the freedom to entrepreneurial activity in 2010, out of the 15 determine how the project is carried out. The Engineering and Duke University has opened largest U.S. cities. Despite an economic downturn class teaches them to develop an idea, produce and record unemployment, entrepreneurial activity up new avenues for cancer research using the a product, organize participants and manage nationwide has risen in the past year, according FARSIGHT software suite. it on an ongoing basis, much like starting up a to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, new business. with 565,000 new businesses created each 2011 DOS PASSOS PRIZE AWARDED TO month in the United States in 2010. Brenda Melgar, a junior at UH Bauer, and her team MAT JOHNSON The Dos Passos Prize for of fellow students in Professor Carlos Ortega’s Bauer College has been educating business Literature, whose previous recipients include Introduction to Entrepreneurship class, recently leaders for decades, with the Wolff Center for honored the late Steve Jobs by painting a tribute Graham Greene and Tom Wolfe, has been awarded Entrepreneurship cementing the school’s status as to the Apple co-founder. Starting with a blank a leader in entrepreneurship when it was created to Mat Johnson, a creative writing professor. 50-inch canvas, Melgar completed the painting in 1993. The Commission for Higher Education from start to finish in fewer than 25 minutes approved entrepreneurship as a major in 1995. H in front of onlookers outside of the UH M.D. MORE ONLINE Anderson Library. For Melgar, it was somewhat of www.uh.edu/magazine/bonus

November 2011 | magazine UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON 9 FALL ADDRESS 2011

n early October, President Renu Khator delivered her third annual Fall Address before an enthusiastic crowd in the Moores Opera House.

She took the opportunity to acknowledge the University of Houston’s many accomplishments during 2011 – which, as the photo illustrates,

she characterized as “A Great Year!” – and to chart an ambitious course for the future. Excerpts from her presentation are offered to the right. I A video of the full address, with a transcript and supporting slides, can be viewed at: www.uh.edu/president/communications/university-community/fall-address-highlights/index

10 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON magazine | November 2011 • The Honors College has the largest class ever, News & World Report’s ranking. And let’s be “In 2027, the with the average freshmen SAT of 1303, an honest, this 7% gap is not because of who we all-time high! admit, but because of what happens to them University of Houston after we admit them. If we want to be credible • 31% of freshmen rank in the top 10% of their as a Tier One university, we must increase our high school class... and 55% rank in the top graduation rate to 53% as soon as possible… will celebrate its 20%. Again, an all-time high! Going forward, I ask that student success, particularly increasing the graduation rate, • 46 National Merit Scholars and 80 Tier One continue to be our “no-excuse priority.” 100th birthday. A history scholars are among our students. of the university will be written that year – a In research, I have three new items to share – • 81% of the freshmen returned as sophomores, great, promising and surprising: chronicle of the University’s growth and an all-time high! successes through the decades. Without a • The great news: we are not just a • Nearly $200 million has been distributed to Carnegie-ranked Tier One university, but that doubt, there will be a chapter dedicated to one students as financial aid, more help than ever! we are comfortably in that group! particular year – 2011 – the year when UH Today, we have 6,000 beds on campus, and planted its red-and-white banner on the national • The promising news: we did equally well the Board of Regents has approved an additional in the report published by TARU…Going academic scene…It was in January of this bed capacity of 2,000, bringing our total to 8,000 forward, our goal is to place 5 of year that, for the first time, we received the top the 9 measures in the Top 50, with at least by 2013. Today, we are the 4th largest public recognition for the university as a whole from 1 of them in the top 25! That will give us the residential university in Texas and with the sustained excellence that we seek. the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement additional capacity, we will surpass every school of Teaching. This recognition made us the • The surprising news: this comes from but one. the least talked about area – technology 3rd nationally competitive tier one public transfer…In 2008, UH received $1.1 million Our admissions standards will change research university in the state in royalty and licensing income. This amount next year and then again in 2014, making of Texas… increased to approximately $9 million in 2011. UH consistent with other tier one universities Our general revenue appropriation from the state Just two months after Carnegie, we received across the state and the nation. Will this another spectacular endorsement – this time was slashed by almost $70 million. Even limit access? Will this adversely impact from the Princeton Review – when it added though tuition was increased, it was not enough the University of Houston to its list of 376 our commitment to closing the education to make up for the reduction. We balanced the “Best Colleges in America.” gap in the state? …To guide students, we budget by creating operational efficiencies, generating additional revenues, reducing the have placed our Fast forward to May, when we received more advisors in community workforce and freezing faculty/staff raises. good news – this time from the Top American colleges. To reduce cost and time to earn a Unfortunately, budget difficulties are not Research Universities (TARU). This ranking degree, we have identified courses that offer over. Even the most optimistic predict that the measures the level of research strength and state budget will see another serious shortfall in college credits to high school students. productivity in universities, and UH made the 2013… The only way to succeed is to embrace top 50 list on 3 measures! If it sounds easy, To ensure that money is not an issue, we are a new business model that awards performance, consider this – only 57 public universities have offering free education to students from promotes excellence, encourages innovation, 3 or more qualifying measures on the TARU list low-income families. The result is that we and diversifies revenue. – quite an accomplishment! Yet another national are the second most diverse research recognition came in July, from The Chronicle of Despite challenges, I remain optimistic for the Higher Education, when they declared UH one university in the nation, and we rank #12 future of UH because our momentum is strong and our assets are tremendous… Our twin goals of the nation’s “Great Colleges to Work For”… in the nation for graduating students of Tier One and Student Success are non- Student Access and Success is the most with the least amount of debt. negotiable. We will find creative ways to keep critical area of performance, and we continue to the momentum. We will make hard decisions make huge strides. This year: Retention and graduation rates have and tough choices. We will make them together increased, but still lag behind the national and ...The greatest asset is our people – our • The enrollment is 39,825, an all-time high! state averages. Our graduation rate should be world class faculty, dedicated staff, passionate 53%, but it is only 46%. This 7% gap is sufficient core of alumni, and our ever-energetic students. • The freshmen average SAT is 1114, an to keep us from getting into the Tier One of U.S. You are our most valuable assets.” H all-time high!

November 2011 | magazine UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON 11 Q & A: M argaret Spellings by Laura Tolley PROFILE

argaret Spellings, who earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science from UH in M1979, served in the Bush administration as U.S. Secretary of Education from 2005 to 2009 and as White House Domestic Policy Advisor from 2001 to 2005. She led the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and launched a national policy debate and action plan to improve accessibility, affordability and accountability in U.S. colleges and universities.

Spellings also served as senior adviser to then-Gov. George W. Bush, led governmental and external relations for the Texas Association of School Boards and served in key positions at Austin Community College and with the Texas Legislature. She now has her own firm, Margaret Spellings & Company, and serves as a strategic adviser to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and President of its U.S. Forum for Policy Innovation. Spellings lives in Washington D.C. but frequently visits Houston, where her mother still lives.

Q: What have you been doing since you left public office in January 2009?

A: There’s life after public service for sure. I’m still very involved in public policy things, only this time I’m on the outside not the inside, but there’s Margaret Spellings plenty of room for everybody. I’m doing a lot of work for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce … It’s basically with the three non- profit parts of the Chamber of Commerce that I oversee. I kind of split my time between that and

12 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON magazine | November 2011 photos by Shawn Lindsey M argaret Spellings

my own stuff. I have my own little company, with that has matured. UH is now considered to be a number of people working for me. We do work an integral part of the vitality, of the economic for a number of philanthropies … It’s a little of prosperity in Houston. this, a little of that. Q: You’re still very much involved in educational Q: What is life like for you in Washington, D.C? issues. How would you describe the public education landscape today in the U.S.? A: Busy. I’m working as hard as I ever have. The thing about education is it’s obviously a A: It’s sort of a good news, bad news kind of perennial issue and I think people are more and scenario. The good news is accountability and more understanding of the connection between transparency and a commitment to every kid a quality workforce and economic prosperity is something that parents have come to expect and job growth. It’s certainly one of the major and, God willing, it’s here to stay. The worrisome aspects of the biggest public policy debate going thing is that the adult interests are carrying the on in our country right now. It’s fun. It’s interesting. day at the moment, and there’s sadly a lot of I get around the country and the world a lot. I’m bipartisan support for going back to the good on a couple of boards. It’s just a really rich and old days of just putting the money out there and interesting life and I’m loving it. Which is not to hoping for the best on the kids’ behalf. … It’s take one thing from my public service time, I important the coalition we had so successfully loved it too. But there’s plenty to do. with enactment of No Child Left Behind — that being the business community and civil Q: What are some of your memories of col- rights community — really stays strong for lege life here at UH? the work ahead. A: It was and is, I guess, a commuter school. … Frankly, No Child Left Behind is a pretty modest I don’t say that as a negative in any way. I like requirement. It says get kids to read on grade to say UH was country before country was cool level. And we’re woefully, woefully short of doing in the sense that it was convenient for people that. Fifty percent of our poor and minority kids and it was serving non-traditional students long don’t get out of high school on time. That’s just before that was fashionable. You know, people shameful. It’s a recipe for disaster in places were working, people had to go to school at like Texas, for our state and for them. I hope to night. What I didn’t realize at the time was how continue reminding people that going back to the unique of an experience that was in as much kind of excuse making for why we can’t educate as we had people who worked all day and then kids is wrong-headed. went to school at night. And that’s the way of the world going forward. UH was doing that Q: Have you ever considered being a college 30 years ago. or university president?

Q: Has UH changed much since you attended A: (Laughs) Oh I don’t know. I like having a lot classes here? of variety, not that you don’t have variety at a university. But it’s fun to get out of the mother A: I think people are more understanding and ship of government and see all the various neat more appreciative of what a gem UH is and what things that are going in the world, both in the an important research institution and academic nonprofit sector and the for-profit sector. But institution it is in a giant city. That’s a real asset. I certainly wouldn’t rule it out. I’m not ruling I think the business community understands the anything out. Are you? H asset that it is. There’s a level of seriousness about the role UH plays in the city of Houston

November 2011 | magazine UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON 13 NEW FACULTY profiles

Spectrum, an international journal reaching 50,000 eye care practitioners worldwide.

The Nichols’ move to Houston during a historical drought brought out the best in UH faculty, staff and the community. “People here are so nice. When they heard we were from Ohio, they kept apologizing for the heat, “Kelly laughs. “I thought people in Ohio were nice, but people here are even more open and friendly.”

Jason agrees. “We have only been here a month, and people in the college have been incredibly welcoming.” The Nichols have spent most of their spare time exploring Houston neighborhoods and restaurants with their two sons. Because the boys love to fish, the Nichols ventured to La Porte and fished off the pier. Kelly’s to-do list includes visiting other Texas cities and “finding the best barbecue in Houston,” a point of major debate even among people who grew up here.

Jason and Kelly Nichols summarize their Top Three reasons to live in Houston: the people, the food and the fact that “we don’t have to shovel sunshine” in the winter.

Kelly and Jason Nichols

arried professionals Doctors children (Brady, age nine and Cullan, age seven) Jason and Kelly Nichols have is not a challenging balance for the Nichols. They joined the University of Houston officed next door to each other during their years College of Optometry (UHCO) at Ohio State. “We like being in close proximity to Mfrom Ohio State University, where both graduated each other,” says Kelly. “Some days, I rarely see and were tenured faculty as ocular surface special- Jason, but other days we see each other a lot, ists teaching in the classroom and leading a re- working with our team of staff and students. Also, search team. Both accepted named professorships we both have an ‘insider’ to bounce ideas off of at UH in August. At UHCO, the Nichols will work and get inspired.” Shayne Lee with current faculty, scientists, fellows and graduate students to develop ocular surface translational Kelly is currently leading an NIH-funded study on avia Karner, chair of the sociology research within the new Vision Institute. “The Vision dry eye disease in post-menopausal women. She department, lured me back, reminding Institute is an amazing project. Dean Smith is, in recently chaired the International Workshop on “X me of all the great things I missed about my opinion, the world’s most visionary Dean at Meibomian Gland Dysfunction (MGD), a frequent UH and Houston,” said Shayne Lee on his return as an optometric institution. His passion for UH and cause of dry eye. Jason focuses on contact associate professor in the department of sociology. optometry is inspiring, “ says Jason. lens’ impact on the eye, from the tears used “The department followed her lead and welcomed for moisture to the polymer chemistry of the me back with open arms. Houston is also a big Working and living together while raising two material. He is also editor of Contact Lens draw for me because it has great culture and arts.”

14 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON magazine | November 2011 NEW FACULTY profiles by Melissa Carroll and Marsha J. Carter

After receiving his Ph.D. in sociology from “I spend many hours every week preparing Northwestern University, Lee started his career lessons based on consensus (if there is any) at UH in 2002 as an assistant professor and mainstream scholarship.” What satisfies him left in 2005 to teach at Tulane University where most about teaching? “My approach to teaching he received tenure and established a national is to promote dialogue and interaction,” he says, reputation. “both at UH and in church school.”

He is the author of three books. His first book, When he’s not teaching, he grabs his euphonium “T.D. Jakes: America’s New Preacher,” analyzes and joins the band, “virtually any group that will the rise of a prominent African American let me play – German/Czech h bands, community spiritual leader as a microcosm of cultural bands, groups of friends.” Lee fell in love with the changes in contemporary American Religion. sweet, tenor-voiced horn in high school, dropped His second book, “Holy Mavericks: Evangelical it for decades and picked it back up 10 years ago Innovators and the Spiritual Marketplace,” Michael Zvolensky when his church organized a brass ensemble. co-authored with Phillip Sinitiere, uses theory of religious economy to add complexity and research in the form of theoretically driven nuance to our understanding of spiritual appeal psychosocial intervention strategies. He is and the postmodern cultural turn in American especially involved in better understanding the Protestantism. Lee’s third book, “Erotic role of cigarette smoking in terms of the etiology Revolutionaries: Black Women, Sexuality, and and maintenance of panic psychopathology, and Popular Culture,” navigates the uncharted at the same time, the role panic vulnerability spaces where social constructionism, third-wave factors may play in smoking cessation. feminism, and black popular culture collide. Zvolensky has published over 300 scientific articles As an expert on contemporary American religion and received a variety of early contribution to the and culture, he appears on CNN, ABC, Fox and field awards from professional organizations. His is frequently quoted in the New York Times, research has been continuously funded by the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Huffington National Institute of Health since receiving his Post, USA Today, Christian Science Monitor and doctoral degree from West Virginia University in John Lee numerous other media outlets. 2001. Prior to coming to UH, he held a distinguished professorship at the University of Vermont. During Lee is internationally acclaimed for his work in oil his free time, he enjoys running, swimming, cycling and gas reserves regulations, as well as production decided to come to UH because I viewed and competing in triathlons. forecasting for unconventional gas reservoirs, i.e., Houston as a great resource for expand- gas trapped in sandstone or carbonate, shale or “I ing my scholarly work,” said Michael under the ocean and permafrost. He will inspire J. Zvolensky, the Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz r. John Lee, member of the National and educate tomorrow’s petroleum engineers in Cullen Distinguished University Professor in the Academy of Engineering and former the first academic program to be housed in department of psychology and director of the D Engineering Fellow with the U. S. the ConocoPhillips Building at the UH Energy Anxiety and Health Research Laboratory. “I also Securities & Exchange Commission, is the first Research Park. was impressed by David Francis’s leadership tenured faculty member in the UH Petroleum and organizational plan for the department of Engineering program. Lee joined the college psychology.” from Texas A&M University, where he has served since 1977. “I was motivated by the chance to he prestige of the department of An expert on anxiety disorders, Zvolensky has help build a department,” he says of his move. Hispanic Studies and the Recovering focused much of his research on the relationship “I look forward to teaching undergraduates and “T the Hispanic Literary Heritage project between anxiety and addiction. His research cuts maybe a good portion of the graduate students.” that Nicolás Kanellos directs at UH were my across basic and applied work in the area of anxi- most important motivators to come,” said Mabel ety and substance use disorders. He utilizes two Teaching is his lifestyle, as well as his career. Cuesta, Assistant Professor in the department interrelated and convergent research approaches: Lee has been teaching an adult Sunday school of Hispanic Studies, University of Houston. “I did one is basic research on emotional vulnerability class for the last 30 years – with the same some research on both the University and the and the second is clinical extensions of that basic students. “We’re still together,” he says. city and it was a great pleasure to discover that

November 2011 | magazine UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON 15 COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS & SOCIAL SCIENCES Asst. Professor Jennifer Sorkin Art Asst. Professor Katrina Moorhead Art Asst. Professor Temple Northup Communications Asst. Professor Lindita Camaj Communications Assoc. Professor Stephanie Daniels Communication Sciences & Disorders Asst. Professor Vikram Maheshri Economics Asst. Professor Jee-Yeon Lehmann Economics Asst. Professor C. Andrew Zuppann Economics Asst. Professor Kate Anderson English Asst. Professor Stacey Gorniak Health & Human Performance NEW FACULTY Asst. Professor Mabel Cuesta Hispanic Studies Asst. Professor Jose Ruisanchez Serra Hispanic Studies Assoc. Professor Matthew Clavin History Asst. Professor Mark Goldberg History Asst. Professor Emran El-Badawi Modern & Classical Languages Assoc. Professor Kirsten Yon Moores School of Music Asst. Professor Troy Bennefield Moores School of Music Asst. Professor Christopher Mag Uidhir Philosophy Asst. Professor Ling Zhu Political Science Asst. Professor Elizabeth Simas Political Science Assoc. Professor Candice Alfanoe Psychology Mabel Cuesta Professor Michael Zvolensky Psychology Assoc. Professor Shayne Lee Sociology were places full of diverse communities and its COLLEGE OF EDUCATION respective cultural events.” Asst. Professor Rayyan Amine Curriculum & Instruction Cuesta received her Ph.D. in Latin American CULLEN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING Literature from City University in New York in 2011 and previously taught at Baruch Assoc. Professor Ravi Birla Bioengineering Asst. Professor Hyongki Lee Civil & Environmental Engineering College (CUNY) and Barnard College. She is a Asst. Professor Kaylana Babu Nakshatrala Civil & Environmental Engineering graduate of the University of Havana (1999) Asst. Professor Mo Li Civil & Environmental Engineering and University Complutense of Madrid (2001) Asst. Professor Bora Gencturk Civil & Environmental Engineering and has published several articles and three Professor W. John Lee Chemical Engineering collections of short stories, “Confesiones on Assoc. Professor William Epling Jr. Chemical Engineering line” (Aldabón, 2003), “Cuaderno de la fiancée” Asst. Professor Lars Grabow Chemical Engineering (Vigía, 2005) and “Inscrita bajo sospecha” Asst. Professor Ashutosh Agrawal Mechanical Engineering (Betania, 2010). Her current research focuses CONRAD N. HILTON COLLEGE OF HOTEL & RESTAURANT MANAGEMENT on Spanish Caribbean female authors, both in Asst. Professor Yoon Koh their homeland and abroad. Her field of expertise Asst. Professor Nan Hua is in Latin American and U.S. Hispanic literature, Caribbean studies and literary theory. She COLLEGE OF LAW teaches writing & composition and introduction Asst. Professor Douglas Wells to Spanish literature at UH. H COLLEGE OF NATURAL SCIENCES & MATHEMATICS Asst. Professor Elizabeth Ostrowski Biology Asst. Professor Omprakash Gnawali Computer Science Professor Paul Mann Geology New Faculty Showcase Asst. Professor Guoquan Wang Geology Asst. Professor Daniel Onofrei Mathematics Asst. Professor Jingmei Qiu Mathmatics GERALD D. HINES COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE Asst. Professor Annalisa Quaini Mathematics Asst. Professor Gregory Marinic Asst. Professor Wendy Fok COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRY Professor Kelly Nichols Ocular Surface/Contact Lens C.T. BAUER COLLEGE OF BUSINESS Professor Jason Nichols Ocular Surface/Contact Lens Asst. Professor Michael Neel Accounting Asst. Professor Yun Fan Accounting COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY Associate Professor Funda Sahin Decision and Information Science Asst. Professor Lu Gao Energy Technology Professor Powell Ersell Robinson Decision and Information Science Asst. Professor Hitesh Doshi Finance Asst. Professor Giorgo Sertsios Finance Asst. Professor Seshadri Tirunillai Marketing

16 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON magazine | November 2011 WHAT A DIFFERENCE

70 YEARS MAKES by Toby Weber | photo by Andy Rich

Meet David Levy, age 16.

Meet George Hall, age 86.

David gets rides from his mom.

George gets rides from his daughter.

When David was born, the Internet was just taking off.

When George was born,

Charles Lindbergh was still taking off.

David can’t vote.

George voted for Truman.

David is still covered by child labor laws.

George is retired.

David is a 2011 Cullen College Graduate.

George is a 2011 Cullen College Graduate.

A version of this originally appeared in the Cullen College of Engineering’s The Cougar Engineer. November 2011 | magazine UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON 17

ENGAGEDGETTING

18 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON magazine | November 2011 GETTING

ENGAGED t the University of Houston, students run more engaging, “high-impact” classes or as UH is are always encouraged to dream casual as asking everybody to wear red on big. But the university has been Cougar Fridays. thinking ‘small’ making “small” adjustments to help them realize those dreams. “There is not a single, university-wide blueprint A for this,” explains Agnes DeFranco, associate vice to help students When it comes to achieving student success, president for undergraduate studies. “The Master sometimes it’s the little things that count. Plan follows President Khator’s vision for Student Success as UH’s top priority. We always have to “We are realizing how important it is to find ways take some ask – does this help make sure our students are for students to get engaged and interact with set up to succeed?” smaller groups within the university community big steps to avoid the feeling of being a small cog in a big For her part, President Khator can’t over-emphasize machine,” says John Antel, provost and senior the need for the university to do a better job meeting vice president for academic affairs. “Increasingly, the students’ needs. toward success. we are looking at ways to psychologically shrink the university.” “Our retention and graduation rates are increasing, but they still lag behind the national and state With a 700-acre campus and 40,000 students, averages,” she said, during her fall address. “There by Eric Gerber (’72, M.A. ’78) UH is definitely a big machine – Texas’ third is an 7 percent gap between what our graduation rate largest university, in fact – so making it even is (46 percent) and what it should be (53 percent). more accessible and accommodating to students, And let’s be honest, this gap is not because of who especially freshmen, can be a tall order. we admit, but because of what happens to them However, the benefits can be invaluable in terms while they are here. We must continue to focus on of improved retention – students staying in school student success inside and outside the classroom, – and higher graduation rates. and we must do so wholeheartedly.”

But how, exactly, do you cultivate something as Khator’s instructions are being implemented inexact as “student engagement”? across several fronts.

There is no one way to do it. In fact, the key “Much of this is happening on a college-by- appears to be using a variety of approaches, in college level, where they are focused on making the classroom and out. They can range from sure their freshmen majors are plugged in and managing class sizes and offering a wide array of on the right track from the outset,” DeFranco tutoring and advising services to urging students points out, referring to such support initiatives to join organizations and enrolling the same as the Bauer College of Business’ Emerging groups of students in the same basic courses to Leaders Academic Success Program (ELASP), encourage social interaction. It can be as sweeping the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics’ as increasing the overall number of students who Scholar Enrichment Program (SEP) and the Cullen reside on campus and as individualized as the College of Engineering’s Program for Mastery in personal, spirit-lifting e-mails faculty and staff Engineering Studies (PROMES). members send to selected freshmen as part of the PALs (Personal Access Liaison) program. It Of course, since many freshmen haven’t decided can be as academically rigorous as creating the on an academic specialty yet, they don’t receive Center for Teaching Excellence to help professors the colleges’ initial guidance. To ensure that

November 2011 | magazine UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON 19 GETTING Engaged

these undeclared majors aren’t left in limbo, they are enrolled in CORE 1101, a “college success” course that teaches them time management, motivation and classroom competency. While such skills remain essential, this course has been dramatically changed recently, reflecting the university’s commitment to fostering engagement whenever possible. Previously, CORE 1101 was taught in four sections of 300 students each. Now, there is a 40-student maximum per class, requiring significantly more sections, but creating considerably more opportunities for personal interaction among the students and facilitators.

A similar philosophy is being followed in the student residence halls, particularly Cougar Village, the designated freshmen domicile. Students can opt to become part of Living/Learning Communities, a program in which students with the same or similar majors (or personal interests) are grouped together on the same floors or areas of the dorms. This allows them to establish smaller study groups and begin networking with students in many of the same classes and with whom they have similar academic and professional interests. Choices, for example, include business, engineering & technology, communication and honors communities.

“One of the best indicators of academic success is student to student interaction in and outside the classroom. We can play an important role in that,” says Don Yackley, the executive director of residential life and housing at UH. “Anyone can provide a roof, walls and a bed. What makes living on campus special is that we help the university achieve its mission. We can assist our students not just with educational attainment but also with personal growth and emotional development.” Catherine Horn, education professor; Carroll liking, Yackley is quick to point out this approach For example, there’s been a shift in the way RAs Parrot Blue, research professor; and Guillermo generates clear benefits. (resident assistants) in the Residence Halls approach De Los Reyes Heredia, Latin American Literature their jobs, moving toward a focus on relationship- and Cultural Studies professor. “It’s a matter of increased efficiency and improved building, student to student interaction, and more productivity. We know these measures keep more interaction and involvement with faculty and staff. “Having faculty and students living together is a of our students on track and making progress. You can see this in play with our recently perfect example of promoting a stronger connection They stay in school, they graduate. That’s a solid implemented a Faculty in Residence (FIR) initiative, between the students and the university,” he says. return on the public’s investment in our school,” with teachers living alongside students on campus Yackley said. (or Residence Halls). Still in its early stages, While this concern with relationships, connections FIR currently has four faculty members and engagement may strike educational In the past three years, for example, UH’s participating – Raul Ramos, history professor; traditionalists as far too warm-and-fuzzy for their retention rate has increased to 81 percent (from

20 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON magazine | November 2011 GETTING Engaged

77 percent) – and UH has just begun many of these pro-engagement policies.

Randrea Singleton, a Dallas-area student who began at UH just a few months ago, offers a first-hand endorsement of this approach, singling out the Freshman Year Residential Experience (FYRE) program for particular praise.

“Participating in FYRE was the best thing that I could have done to jumpstart my college life,” she said of the voluntary program that offers increased faculty and staff involvement, advice relating to transition issues, involvement in community service and a peer mentor option. “For me, it was the best way to quickly get acquainted with so many friends. It prepared me for what to expect in college life and allowed me to establish really good relationships with many of the RAs. It has definitely given me an advantage.”

The university strives to create that same spirit of affiliation outside the dorms by strongly urging new students to participate in one of nearly 500 campus organizations, ranging from leadership, service and Greek groups to purely cultural and recreational enterprises like the Chinese Student Association, the chess club and Student Video Network.

“Research suggests that students engaged in their classroom environment or in the campus community in general are more likely to persist and graduate,” explained Dean of Students William Munson. “So it’s critical for us to provide multiple opportunities for students to make those connections. Taking part in this amazing array of organizations promotes our students’ feeling of “One of the best indicators of academic belonging and allows them to better take charge of their overall educational experience.” success is student to student interaction in and Boosting a student’s sense of individual interaction with an institution as large and, at times, unavoidably impersonal as UH continues outside the classroom.” to be a challenge, but social media is proving to be an increasingly effective tool. UH-specific Facebook pages and Twitter accounts now allow students to communicate more directly with the – Don Yackley university – and each other.

November 2011 | magazine UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON 21 GETTING Engaged

“It gives the students a voice. When they encounter a road block, they now have one more place to go to ask for help,” says Jessica Brand, who administers the school’s social media efforts for the office of University Relations. “Social media can also bring students together online before they ever meet in person, which is just one more way for them to make friends and build a support network.”

Although all this support, interaction and engagement in the dorms and dining halls, on Facebook, at football games and Frontier Fiesta is indisputably worthwhile, it is no substitute for the fundamental teaching-and-learning process. Students still have to apply themselves. However, the university does recognize the special chal- lenges that await many freshmen, where an early academic stumble or two may start a chain of unfortunate circumstances.

“If students do well in their first semester, their confidence increases and so does their future success rate,” says DeFranco. “If they earn a 3.0 (Bs) for 15 hours, even if they somehow made a bad grade (D) in their second semester, in spring, the overall effect would not be tragic. But if someone makes a D in the very first semester, it will seriously damage the GPA. The student may start questioning whether he belongs here and that can affect his entire attitude. Everything is magnified that first semester.”

To offset that, UH has begun paying special at- tention to core classes that those students take, such as Math 1310 (college algebra) and required history and political science courses. Instead of being viewed as part of a Darwinian process to winnow out the weak, such classes are being presented in a more student-friendly manner, with a commitment on improving the DWIF (Dropped, Withdraw, Incomplete, and Fail) rate.

One good example of that is mathematics instruc- tor Leigh Hollyer’s handling of her pre-calculus course, which can run as high as 500 students, most of them freshmen. While assigned teaching assistants help with the course (as is the case with all such large classes), Hollyer took an ad- ditional step: enlisting the help of a number of

22 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON magazine | November 2011 GETTING Engaged

science and math teaching majors in the teach- Houston program. Result? The pre-calculus students have access to more personalized instruction in class and the teachHouston recruits get to sharpen their teaching skills.

“Listening to a lecture isn’t always the most effective way to learn math. DOING math is the way to learn it,” Hollyer says. The expanded peer tutoring she provides in her class allows her students to do just that. Previously, she provided the teach- Houston extras for just some of class days. But that approach is so promising, she has them on hand for every class this semester.

She discovered what the entire university is beginning to realize – “big” doesn’t have to be synonymous with indifferent. The university wants students to embrace it, so UH is becoming something they can put their arms around – and that’s no small accomplishment. H

November 2011 | magazine UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON 23 by Marsha J. Carter MIND SET

his year’s freshman class at the The first Mindset List was aimed at teachers University of Houston lives in a world of first-year students at Beloit, the future in which music has always been graduating class of 2002. Those young people available via free downloads, women had never feared a nuclear war, never had have always commanded U.S. Navy a polio shot and the expression “you sound shipsT and people “swipe” cards, not merchandise. like a broken record” meant nothing to them. Dad, by the way, could be Ferris Bueller. The However, their lives had always included AIDS, social/cultural experiences of the Class of 2015 MTV and microwave popcorn. The List became are indexed on the Mindset List, created as a a panacea for what McBride calls “hardening of bridge to communication between generations the references,” by helping teachers adapt their and a practical tool in the classroom. communication skills to fit the very different worldview of students. “I teach a problem-solving technique that has an ‘A’ side and a ‘B’ side,” says Simon Bott, Lawrence Williams, associate professor and instructional professor and director of under- director of undergraduate research for the graduate affairs and advising for UH’s chemistry department of biology and biochemistry, adapts department. “In the 80’s, I used the analogy of a the Mindset List concept to his own style. (vinyl) record, with a side ‘A’ and a side ‘B.’ Today, “I often have to refer to the decades from the my students’ faces would be blank. The records ‘50’s to the ‘90’s to address the context of the they know are scratched on turntables at the biological principles we cover,” he explains. clubs.” Professor Bott has followed the annually- “This matters, because often what we know updated Mindset List for 10 years. “I absorb it. now wasn’t so before my students were born.” Because it changes every year, I use it to Williams’ heads-up for a blast from the make sure my applications are effective and past is dry humor. “I will say ‘Ask your parents. I communicate with my students using examples No, I mean ask your grandparents’ and that and analogies they understand.” gets their attention.”

The Mindset List was developed at Beloit College Today, the Mindset List is being used on in 1998 by Ron Nief, emeritus director of public college campuses worldwide. The Texas affairs and Tom McBride, professor of English Highway Patrol has used the List to help and Keefer Professor of the Humanities. “What officers understand young drivers, and pastors we saw in the early stages of the worldwide web and rabbis have included parts of the current were more lists circulating online, suggesting List in their services. Nief and McBride also that students graduating from high school didn’t work with the non-profit Jumpstart Coalition, have anywhere near the knowledge of their which promotes financial literacy in schools parents,” Nief tells UH Magazine. Nief and across the nation. co-author McBride admit they were suspicious Professor Bott offers examples from his that the negative online lists were retaliation own classroom. from Baby Boomers frustrated by the younger generation’s technical savvy. “Given our This year’s freshmen, he says, consider backgrounds, we realized that these students “Seinfeld” a television show their parents used had their own life experiences that shaped their to watch, and have never heard of the Soup view of the world and that their college years Nazi. “I can’t reference Arnold Palmer either,” would broaden their horizons greatly.” he laughs. “I can, however, use the List to make

24 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON magazine | November 2011 MIND SET

sure I’m offering applications that make sense to them. You cannot get stuck in a rut. In order to develop them as thinkers and scholars, we’ve got to reach them on a couple of different levels. The Mindset List is a tool for that.”

Their newest book, “The Mindset Lists of American History,” is inspiring parents and teachers to bring young people into a broader historical context. Two teachers in Wisconsin asked their students to interview parents and grandparents, write their generations’ Mindset Lists and then weave that personal history into national history. “This way, students who are 17 can begin to think of themselves as historical persons,” says McBride. “They begin to see that history is also them, and they are taking their places in a long and complex historical parade.”

Monica McHenry, associate professor with the communication sciences and disorders department and UH Faculty Senate president, believes the Mindset List is a powerful translator between generations. “This year’s entering class seems to present the most dramatic differences in attitude and expectations in recent memory. The Mindset List, while humorous, is a useful touchstone to remind faculty of an ever-growing cultural gap.”

The Mindset List is adaptable and applicable. Nief and McBride offer a daily quiz on their Facebook site, The Mindset List, as well as an “Ask ROM” advice column at www.mindset- moment.com.

Find out more about the Mind Set List at www.beloit,edy/mindset. H

November 2011 | magazine UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON 25 FROM HOUSTON TO HOLLYWOOD: UH PROFESSORS HELPING ADAPT WRITTEN WORKS

FOR SILVER SCREEN Paul Dano (“Little Miss Sunshine,” “There Will Be Blood”) stars as Flynn while Oscar winner Robert De Niro portrays his father.

“The cast is amazing. I don’t think we could have done better,” said Flynn, who is credited as one of the film’s executive producers. ougar Country is a long way from Hollywood. “Everything kind of fell into place. De Niro was the first actor to sign on to this project. Once, C Still, the writings of University of Houston professors you mentioned his name, then other actors are finding their way into the hands of experienced wanted to be involved.” film producers, who are ready to share these works on the silver screen. Flynn was actively involved in the film’s production, reviewing scripts and submitting notes Among the faculty members whose books are for the filmmakers. Collaborating with different being transformed into motion pictures are professionals (directors, producers, actors) was Nick Flynn, assistant professor in UH’s Creative a familiar process for Flynn, who teaches the Writing Program, and James Kirby Martin, Hugh interdisciplinary arts course “Collaboration Among Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen University Professor the Arts” among other courses at UH. of History. While filmmaking per se is not part of his usual For both professors, the film adaptions of their course load, the experience of “Being Flynn” will works present an opportunity to share their work likely impact his teaching of poetry and other with new and larger audiences. subjects, he said.

“Sometimes, those in academics don’t “Collaborating with other people is part of my communicate very broadly,” Martin said. “We creative process, and making films involves a lot talk among ourselves, go to conferences and of collaboration,” he said. “I’m an artist at UH, exchange papers. Our audiences, however, can and anything I do in the realm of art and how art be very small. Films offer a new is created makes its way into the classroom.” opportunity to get our work into a much larger public eye.” For Flynn, the seven-year process of getting his book transferred to the big screen is almost over. Flynn’s 2004 dark and brooding For Martin, however, the creative journey has memoir, “Another Bullshit Night in just begun. Suck City,” has been adapted into a major motion picture tentatively titled Martin and Joseph T. Glatthaar’s 2006 book “Being Flynn.” Filming wrapped this “Forgotten Allies: The Oneida Indians and the year and the movie is scheduled to American Revolution” is being transformed into a be released in 2012. Directed by motion picture from Four Directions Productions. Paul Weitz, the film captures Flynn’s Retitled “First Allies,” the film explores the experiences working in homeless Oneida Indians, who assisted colonial rebel shelters in Boston. Among the frequent residents forces in their battles with the British army. A at these shelters is Flynn’s troubled father. release date has not been set for this film yet.

26 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON magazine | November 2011 TEST YOUR UH MOVIE I.Q. Lights! Camera! Answers? Cougars have played an important role in a number of major motion pictures. Can you explain the FROM HOUSTON TO HOLLYWOOD: connection between these films and UH? 1 All the President’s Men UH PROFESSORS HELPING ADAPT 2 The Great Gatsby 3 The Diving Bell and the Butterfly WRITTEN WORKS 4 Batman 5 Far From Heaven

FOR SILVER SCREEN 6 Crazy Heart

7 Raising Arizona

8 Waiting to Exhale

9 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

comedies “Big Daddy,” 10 All Hollywood movies produced between “Mr. Deeds” and “Deuce 1966 and 2004 Bigalow: Male Gigolo.” Some of the film’s funding ANSWERS: is from the Oneida Indian Nation. 1 Walter Coblenz, a 1950s UH graduate, was the producer of the celebrated political docudrama. Also produced The Candidate. Martin expects “First 2 Houston-born model and actress Lois Chiles, who was cast Allies” to begin shooting as Jordan Baker, was member of the UH faculty in 2002-3. in spring or summer of For updates on the film’s production, visit Also appeared in the James Bond filmMoonraker . 2012. The cast is not finalized, but Martin said http://firstalliesmovie.com/. he will work with actors to provide insight on 3 The French film, nominated for four Academy Awards, was directed by Julian Schnabel, the noted artist who earned While the book offers a non-fictional perspective of the characters and help them understand the a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from UH in the early 1970s. the Oneida Indians, the film will remain histori- historical setting. cally accurate while providing a dramatic plot. 4 Robert Wuhl, who attended UH in the 1970s, plays reporter “I’ll be on the set as much as possible to help Alexander Knox in the Tim Burton film about the Caped Crusader. “We have taken some actors understand what it was like to be an Also appeared in Good Morning, Vietnam and Bull Durham. characters who are Oneida warrior or the military liaison to the 5 Dennis Quaid, who attended UH in the 1970s, starred in Onedias,” he said. “I also am working with featured in the book and the Oscar-nominated tearjerker. Also appeared with brother built the story around the script writers to help them understand the (and UH alum) Randy in The Long Riders. them,” said Martin, who historical context of this story.” is serving as a consultant 6 Thomas Cobb, who earned a Ph.D. in creative writing at UH, For Martin, the process of transforming wrote the book on which the country western romance is based. and executive producer. his book into a film is an extension of his “It’s the kind of a story 7 Trey Wilson, who played the father of the stolen infant in the academic career. Although he has participated where individuals are Coen Brothers comedy, was a UH English and theater major. He in documentaries, “First Allies” is providing faced with difficult choices. and fellow Cougar Randy Quaid briefly performed as a stand-up him with a unique learning experience. It’s comedy duo in Houston before both ended up in movies. None of which is very also providing him with a new venue for desirable. The Oneidas ask 8 Loretta Devine, who costarred in the 1995 romantic comedy, sharing his research. themselves whether they graduated from UH in 1971. Also appeared in For Colored Girls, an adaptation of former UH professor Ntozake Shange’s play. should support the rebels or the British and “I’m concerned with reaching broader audi- whether they can survive as a nation.” ences to get more people in history and the 9 Edward Albee, whose famous stage play was the source story of the American experience,” he said. material, is a member of the UH faculty since 1989. Among the producers who are working with “We’re looking at reaching potentially millions Martin are Sid Ganis (former president of the 10 Jack J. Valenti, who earned a B.B.A. at UH in 1946 and served of people with a film like this, and as a scholar, Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences) on the UH System Board of Regents, was president of the Motion I find that is a wonderful opportunity.”H and Alex Siskin. Ganis and Siskin produced hit Picture Association of America (MPAA) for 38 years. The powerful group serves as the film industry’s chief administrative body and oversees the motion picture rating system. — Eric Gerber PROFESSORS EMERITI :

SPOTLIGHT ONRichard Evans by Lisa K. Merkl (’92, M.A. ’97)

e developed the DeBakey and Baylor College strategy behind the of Medicine. Funded by H“Just Say No” anti- a grant from the National drug campaign, created the word Institutes of Health (NIH), “workaholic,” interviewed Carl Evans developed several Jung and appeared regularly on strategies to get the the Johnny Carson show. message through to young people, with just one of the Recently bestowed the title of various resistance skills Professor Emeritus, Richard I. being “just say no.” He Evans has been with UH for six never imagined that this decades and shows no signs of one phrase would become slowing down in his new role. a powerful campaign Recognized as one of the earliest promoted by First Lady social psychologists in the field of Nancy Reagan to discourage behavioral medicine, Evans joined children from using UH’s psychology faculty after recreational drugs. receiving his Ph.D. in 1950 from Michigan State. He developed Another “household word” the university’s social psychology that has been attributed to program and ascended the ranks Evans is the use of the term to become a Hugh Roy and “workaholic,” which he Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished serendipitously coined in University Professor. the 1960s.

Before completing his “While employed as a undergraduate degree, Evans consultant with Esso, now enlisted in the U.S. Army, was ExxonMobil, I’d been asked assigned to General George S. to discuss the problem of Patton’s Third Army and was how to handle employees wounded in the Battle of the who had a tendency Richard Evans Bulge, earning a Purple Heart. of overworking to the While recovering, Evans decided point of becoming less and his colleagues gained insight as to how to pursue psychology as a result productive,” Evans said. “I explained that it was peer pressure influenced them. Ultimately, of encouragement from those who cared for him a phenomenon similar to other addictions of they came up with ways to “inoculate” these in the hospital. excess, such as alcoholism, and basically made youngsters with skills to resist certain pressures. an off-the-cuff comment that perhaps we should Evans found a home in social psychology and He authored a U.S. Surgeon General’s Report refer to those employees as ‘workaholics.’ My developed the social inoculation prevention on Smoking in Children and Adolescents, and comments were included in the company’s model that addressed the problems of why what began as research targeting tobacco use magazine, which was widely distributed through children and adolescents began smoking, expanded to address other addictions such as the world, and a notable syndicated columnist – despite obvious dangers to their health. drug abuse, alcoholism and gambling. James Kilpatrick – picked up on it. He included After conducting interviews with hundreds the word in one of his columns, describing it as a of junior high school students and studying The initial research was done in collaboration useful new term.” how they resisted pressures to smoke, he with renowned heart surgeon Dr. Michael E.

28 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON magazine | November 2011 PROFESSORS EMERITI (During President Khator’s Tenure.)

2008 W. P. Buckner Jr. Education 2008 Lynn S. Bliss Liberal Arts & Social Sciences “ 2008 Suzanne Bloom Liberal Arts & Social Sciences It was my dream to expose students to 2008 James Cleghorn Liberal Arts & Social Sciences 2008 Fredell Lack Liberal Arts & Social Sciences historically eminent figures in psychology and 2008 Jeffrey Lerner Liberal Arts & Social Sciences 2008 Roger Sherman Liberal Arts & Social Sciences encourage them to read their work.” 2008 John Sloan Liberal Arts & Social Sciences 2008 Ruth Tomfohrde Liberal Arts & Social Sciences 2008 Joseph Eichberg Natural Sciences & Mathematics 2008 Willis King Natural Sciences & Mathematics 2008 Randall Jose Optometry Fueled by an avid interest in theater, Evans “Dick has been a fine and upstanding member 2008 Jerome Rosner Optometry achieved another milestone, both personally of our department for so long and literally helped 2009 Juanita V. Copley Education 2009 Dale Pease Education and professionally, when he interviewed to place us on the national scene through his 2009 Edwin P. Willems Education playwright Arthur Miller to discuss the inherent pioneering efforts in behavioral medicine and his 2009 Wallace L. Anderson Engineering psychological insights in Miller’s plays. The inroads into NIH,” says department chair David 2009 William R. Chernish Hotel & Restaurant Management resulting 1969 video and book, funded by the Francis. “I have been very grateful to have Dick’s 2009 Stephen K. Huber Law Center National Science Foundation, inspired Evans support as chairman of the department and have 2009 Irene Rosenberg Law Center to explore the psychology of humor with such appreciated having him serve on the executive 2009 James L. Austin Liberal Arts & Social Sciences notables as Joan Rivers, Buddy Hackett and committee of the department for many years.” 2009 Sidney Berger Liberal Arts & Social Sciences many others. 2009 Valentini Brady Liberal Arts & Social Sciences In addition to publishing 20 books and more 2009 Michael Horvit Liberal Arts & Social Sciences One of the most fulfilling aspects of his career, than 300 research papers and professional 2009 Robert Nelson Liberal Arts & Social Sciences he says, was his series of videotaped interviews articles, Evans’ extensive funding history 2009 Robert Phillips Liberal Arts & Social Sciences with legendary figures of psychology, such as Carl includes being among the upper 5 percent of 2009 Roy Weinstein Natural Sciences & Mathematics Jung, B.F. Skinner, Jean Piaget, Nobel Laureate total grant amounts funded by the NIH during 2009 Karen Holmes Social Work Konrad Lorenz and Erik Erikson. What became a the last 25 years. 2009 Jean Katambu Latting Social Work series of DVDs, still used in psychology classes 2009 Karen Stout (posthumous) Social Work Among the numerous awards Evans received around the world today, started as a once-in-a- 2009 David Wahlstrom Technology during the course of his lifetime, he says he lifetime opportunity. Evans traveled to Switzerland 2010 Eugene L. Chiappetta Education is particularly proud of being recognized as a in 1957 with a Ford Foundation grant to complete 2010 Dennis A. Clifford Engineering Phi Kappa Phi Distinguished Scholar and for the only filmed interview with Jung. Evans turned 2010 James Richardson Engineering the treasured four hours spent with the father of receiving the Esther Farfel Award, which is the 2010 Rodolfo Cortina Liberal Arts & Social Sciences analytical psychology into a book and video series. highest distinction bestowed upon faculty by UH. 2010 Thomas Mayor Liberal Arts & Social Sciences 2010 Paul Michael Ryan Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Clayton Neighbors, a former student of “It was my dream to expose students to these 2010 Barton Smith Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Evans’, as well as the current director of the historically eminent figures in psychology and 2010 Roger Nett (retired in 1980’s) Liberal Arts & Social Sciences social psychology program at UH, echoes the encourage them to read their work,” Evans said. 2010 Thomas Albright Natural Sciences & Mathematics sentiments of many that Evans has been quite “The videos are still being shown on PBS and 2010 Glenn Aumann Natural Sciences & Mathematics used in classrooms in about 300 universities the a tribute to the psychology department, to the 2011 Betty J. Barr Engineering world over. Not only was it personally gratifying university and to his field. 2011 Charles Dalton Engineering to me, but also as a scholarly pursuit in the 2011 Leang-San Shieh Engineering “Dick has been an ever-present figure here, name of student education.” 2011 Ronald A. Nykiel Hotel & Restaurant Management helping to shape our department into what it is 2011 John Jay Douglass Law Center today,” Neighbors said. “There are none of us As word spread about his book on Jung, Evans 2011 Ira B. Shepard Law Center here who can remember what it was like before was invited to appear as a guest on The Tonight 2011 Richard Bean Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Show several times. Those interviews led to Dick was here. He gave his heart and soul to 2011 Richard Evans Liberal Arts & Social Sciences appearances on The Today Show, Dick Cavett the programs he initiated, and his influence will 2011 Roy Lachman Liberal Arts & Social Sciences and Merv Griffin. Evans later became the first continue to be felt far into the future.” H 2011 Victor Mote Liberal Arts & Social Sciences professor in the nation to teach a university 2011 Gordon Paul Liberal Arts & Social Sciences course on public television – KUHT. 2011 Alan Stone Liberal Arts & Social Sciences 2011 Marc Zimmerman Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Bringing psychology to both academic and 2011 Joseph McCauley Natural Sciences & Mathematics mainstream audiences, Evans is a pioneer in 2011 Billy W. Mayes, II Natural Sciences & Mathematics behavioral medicine and health psychology. 2011 James Benbrook Natural Sciences & Mathematics 2011 Ellen S. Stevens-Roseman Social Work 2011 Paul Raffoul Social Work Very Well RED

• COUGAR RED FRIDAYS – Students, faculty and staff – and anyone else in Houston – are encouraged to wear their finest shades of scarlet every Friday to demonstrate their support for UH. Recently, a video was shot to document this growing phenomenon, with hundreds of robust, red-shirted Cougars gathering on the steps of the Ezekiel Cullen Building. To see the results, go to: http:// uh.edu/crf.

30 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON magazine | November 2011 As part of its ongoing KEEP HOUSTON RED campaign, UH has been undertaking a number of colorful initiatives aimed at raising school spirit on the campus and in the community. The projects have included such projects as:

• BILLBOARDS – To remind Houston of the university that bears its name, UH has taken to the air … above the city’s most highly traveled thoroughfares. The latest celebrate the football team’s nationally ranked success.

• TOSS (Trade Other Schools’ Shirts) – Folks are encouraged to swap their old T-shirts from other institutions for vibrant new UH togs.

• CRANK IT UP COOGS! – Participating area businesses and • UH SUPERMAN – Student-athlete Kelvin King trades his football uniform for somewhat more organizations are supplied with large UH flags to proudly fly over their heroic garb in these series of promotional placards posted around the Welcome Center. establishments on game days. A Sporting CHANCE by Heather Staible UH Grad Robert Flores Parlayed His RTV Degree into Co-anchoring ESPN’s SportsCenter

SPN anchor Robert Flores (’92) is one of those people who, within moments of meeting, you’re pretty sure you’ve known E the guy forever. Affable, smart and just a tad self-deprecating, the Houston native and University of Houston graduate is a local boy done good, and Flores never forgets where he came from or what it took to get where he is.

Like most sports guys, Flores knows his stuff, but he’s quick to tell you about his unabashed love for wrestling. Steeped in family tradition, Flores first fell for the theatrical sport as a kid, watching Ch. 39 and Paul Boesch.

“My grandpa and I would go around the corner and get Shipley Donuts and watch Gino Hernandez and all the other Houston wrestlers,” Flores says. “It’s my guilty pleasure. It might be an illness, but it’s like a soap opera.” Flores favors the WWE and still revels in his childhood tradition, passing it along to his sons.

His sports knowledge isn’t limited to just the dramatic flair in the ring of course. Flores co- hosts SportsCenter, covering everything from the National Basketball Association to boxing and his ESPN resume includes hosting ESPN Friday Night Fights and NBA Fastbreak. Flores says ESPN affords staffers many opportunities to try new things, so during college football, he will be on CBS covering games.

Flores half-jokingly says he got to this point in his career by “failing upward” but in reality, he got to where he is the old-fashioned way - internships, hard work and focus. Although accepted to the University of Texas, Flores chose UH after graduating from Dobie High School. Awarded an academic scholarship, Flores briefly entertained pursuing business, but quickly realized that wasn’t for him. Robert Flores “I was in there for 10 minutes and ran to my counselor,” he says. After growing up transfixed by

32 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON magazine | November 2011 A version of this article originally appeared in UH Alumni Quarterly, the magazine of the Houston Alumni Association. A Sporting CHANCE

UH Grad Robert Flores Parlayed His RTV Degree into Co-anchoring ESPN’s SportsCenter

local sportscaster Bob Allen, Flores quickly became Remember that whole “failing upward” thing? A He’s also got a soft spot for the Cougars and immersed in the School of Communication where quick Google search reveals an unfortunate on-air raves about head football coach Kevin Sumlin, he graduated with a Radio and Television degree in slip that cost him his job, but it also gave him calling him “one of the brightest young coaches” 1992. Before long, Flores was working in television new direction. out there. as an intern at Channel 11. “I was fired in August of 2004 and didn’t have As an alumnus, Flores is excited about the “I was like a kid working in a candy shop. I worked a job for six months, and then my agent called. direction UH is headed and praises the boosters, with Giff Nielsen and Matt Musil. Those were the ESPN wanted to hire me,” Flores says. “How it administrators and fans for taking the critical stars in my eyes,” Flores says. “I got valuable real all worked out, I can’t even believe it. To go from steps to improving the school’s facilities. life experience and I wouldn’t trade it for anything that situation to a place where I always wanted because I wouldn’t be where I am now.” The time to work, it’s the absolute best.” “I’m sorry Robertson wasn’t used when I was spent paying his dues left little time for play, but a student. All the games were in the Astrodome Flores did watch a lot of Cougar sports. For most sports fans, Flores’ work days are a and when I watch games now, it looks like dream. He starts his days at a meeting to discuss Robertson has potential. It’s pretty special. “My freshman year the Cougars (football) were the day’s news, he watches games and writes UH is committed to excellence and has so still enjoying success with Andre Ware and David scripts. When the red light goes on, Flores may be much potential.” Klingler. Now Andre is an analyst and we work on air for 30 minutes to three hours, depending together at ESPN. It’s neat to see that come on the day. One of the refreshing things about Flores is his full circle,” he says. When he wasn’t watching accessibility. He holds online live chats with fans, wrestling as a kid, Flores and his family were in “We have fun. That’s the great thing about sports. invites people to friend him on his ESPN Facebook the stands at Hofheinz Pavilion during the golden I can poke fun and have a good time,” Flores page and Tweets regularly at @RoFloESPN, where Phi Slama Jama days. says. “Our fans are extremely smart and if you are he responds to those who follow him. “I like faking it, they will call you on it, so you have to social media,” Flores says. “I’m intrigued at how His road to ESPN was paved the way most know your stuff.” we can take advantage of it.” television jobs are. Start at a small market and work your way up. Flores landed at KNOE-TV in Impartial on the desk, Flores is open about his Flores admits he was never meant for an office Monroe, La., as the weekend news anchor after affection for his hometown teams, and is true blue job, so it’s a good thing his career is anything graduating and moved on to KWTX-TV in Waco regardless of the win/loss column. The Houston but boring. Looks like “failing upward” is a pretty and then to KEYE-TV in Austin, where he was Texans are his favorite professional football team good direction after all. H sports director. and he closely follows the Astros and the Rockets.

A version of this article originally appeared in UH Alumni Quarterly, the magazine of the Houston Alumni Association. November 2011 | magazine UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON 33 BUILDING

Innovative Architecture Program Gives Students by Shawn Lindsey Hands-On Experience as Houston Parks, Schools

A and Nonprofits Benefit … by Design unique program at the University of Houston (UH) Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture is not only preparing A its students for success, it’s literally changing the landscape of the community – and in doing so, impacting lives.

BETTER Established in 1990, the Graduate Design/ Build Studio (GDBS) gives students hands-on experience. They don’t just sketch and build models in a classroom; students design, build and install a sustainable outdoor structure to benefit the community. Their clients include local COMMUNITY nonprofits, parks and Houston-area schools. When GDBS students Allison van Heugten and Michael Viviano arrived at McReynolds Middle School in Houston’s Fifth Ward last March, they had no idea what the next four months would have in store.

“It’s more comprehensive and intense than any of us would have ever imagined,” said Viviano. “I think some of the best work we produced was the result of constraints like the incredibly short timeline. Many late night and weekend breakthroughs happen when they have to as a matter of survival.”

Patrick Peters, the director of GDBS, has seen this program – one of the most comprehensive of its kind in the country – change his students and their community. When Peters took the reigns of GDBS in 1996, only 10 or so similar programs existed nationwide. Since then, GDBS has become a model for other architecture schools and an attraction to students wishing to take a hands-on approach that may otherwise be lost in today’s world of technology and specialization.

“On our first day of each project, we go straight to the build site. Students take their tape measures, cameras and notebooks and get to work,” said Peters, who taught the spring course with Cord Bowen and Mark Dillon. “They meet with the clients to understand their needs as well as the challenges of the environment.”

34 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON magazine | November 2011 “The beauty of this program is it offers experience that may not come in a professional setting until many years into a young designer’s career.”

— Michael Viviano

McReynolds Solar Diagram

In this case, the client, McReynolds Middle School, asked the group to build a Solar Shade Tree. The project would need self-sufficient power for lights and a fan, the materials would need to be highly sustainable. It needed to be on budget, and the 14 GDBS students would do just about everything down to the last bolt to complete it in just a few months’ time.

“From this experience, I have learned that design is a malleable process that takes dedication, hard work and patience,” said van Heugten.

According to Viviano, the collaborative nature of the process offered plenty of surprises.

“It is a much less predictable exercise from designing alone at your desk,” he said.

All told, it took 15 weeks to bring the structure to life. The GDBS students worked in teams to surrounding Fifth Ward and Denver Harbor It provides a shady place for families to gather, submit drafts to the client, collaborated as a class neighborhoods,” said Peters. whether watching a game on the soccer field or on a final design, fabricated materials, measured, enjoying a picnic,” said Moreno. “The benefits UH alum and former McReynolds Middle surveyed, worked with engineering consultants, are innumerable, and the school and community School principal Joe Arrendondo facilitated the applied for permits and worked tirelessly will enjoy these benefits for countless years collaboration with GDBS with the intention that throughout Houston’s hottest summer on record to come.” the structure would become an extension of the to install the project. school’s curriculum. In addition to the applause from the school’s “The beauty of this program is it offers experience community, the “Solar Shade Tree” recently “Through its design, students are learning about that may not come in a professional setting until earned the Mayor’s Proud Partner Award. different science concepts such as solar energy many years into a young designer’s career. We Presented annually through Keep Houston through the four recycled panels, and they can got to see the trajectory from concept to physical Beautiful, the award honors projects that view them first-hand by coming to the Solar production and every step in between, and any enhance and beautify the city Shade Tree,” said Arrendondo, who now serves of us would be lucky to encounter that again in a as principal at nearby Austin High School. “They In all, nearly a dozen structures have been job,” said Viviano. can learn about using recycled and locally- completed by hundreds of GDBS students. The end result is a 400-square-foot sustainable sourced materials in green building, such as In 2012, GDBS will head north to develop a pavilion, complete with a rain garden to control the Texas eastern red cedar used that was shade structure for a community garden in water flow, capable of withstanding hurricane- harvested nearby.” Alief. It will provide another opportunity for force winds. The structure not only provides a new class of budding young architects at Maria Moreno became the principal at shade for students and the community who use UH to sprout a new, sustainable space for McReynolds mid-project and saw it through to the adjacent soccer fields, it also serves as an the Houston community to enjoy. H completion. She says the Solar Shade Tree is outdoor classroom. much more than a place to find relief from “The Solar Shade Tree demonstrates alternative the sun. energy technologies and green building practices “Science and technology teachers bring McReynolds Seating and Shade Diagram not commonly found in the buildings in the students outside to the interactive environment.

November 2011 | magazine UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON 35 UH Looks to the Northwest

by Marisa Ramirez (’00)

O klahoma City, Texas? Not quite, but Harris County’s northwest corridor is experiencing such explosive population growth that it’s on track to become roughly the size of Oklahoma City over the next decade, according to data analyzed by the University of Houston’s Hobby Center for Public Policy (HCPP).

Housing prices and income levels also are on the rise in the northwest corridor, one of the fastest- growing communities in Texas. College students are an important part of this growth.

“Analyzing the years since 1990 and forecasting up to the year 2020, we anticipate the northwest corridor population will double to near half a million people, roughly the size of Oklahoma City or Tucson, Arizona,” said Jim Granato, UH professor and HCPP director. “Much of that growth will be students seeking higher education opportunities, which are flourishing in the northwest corridor.”

Established in 1981, the HCPP serves the Houston community as an impartial research organization within UH’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS). The HCPP worked with the economic development forum of the Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce to analyze data from 11 zip code regions in the corridor.

“Our data indicates that between now and the next census, household incomes--now in the $100,000 to $150,000 range--will jump 27 percent,” he said. “Additionally, housing prices can expect a similar jump, buoyed by the expected growth in population and income.”

Jim Granato

36 UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON magazine | November 2011 UH Looks to the Northwest

Represented in the population growth are college students looking for a quality education and for alternatives to the long construction- choked drive into Houston. Among the options for them is the UH Northwest Campus located at Lone Star College-University Park.

Located at State Highway 249 and Louetta Road, the campus offers courses for UH, UH-Downtown and Lone Star College. The location also includes campus centers for Texas Southern University and Sam Houston State University. More than 2,000 UH and UH-Downtown students attend classes.

“For students living in the northwest corridor, they should really look into attending here,” said UH communications student Maegan Clemens. “I have saved time, gas money and stress all while earning a quality education from the University of Houston. The campus is located in a beautiful area surrounded by many trees. It’s tranquil and gives off a relaxing feeling because it is so quiet.”

The University of Houston has six resident faculty members at the NW campus and hopes to add more to their ranks. Additionally, in the fall 2012, UH will expand its degree offerings to include an MBA program. Enrollment is expected to double over the next two years.

“All of our data points to very positive news for that growing part of our area,” Granato said. H

November 2011 | magazine UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON 37 0073040572 NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 5910 UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT HOUSTON, TEXAS 306 McELHINNEY HALL HOUSTON, TEXAS 77204-5035

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LASTLOOK

GETTING ENGAGED, circa 1942: Several students work feverishly on an issue of The Cougar, the campus newspaper. On the right is JACK VALENTI, whose illustrious career in communications and politics began at UH.