A 30-year History of Excellence and Opportunity

UH-Downtown celebrates its 30th anniversary this year! 

The site of UH-Downtown (UHD) is steeped in history. The "M&M" Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It opened for tenants in 1930 - at the time the largest building in Houston. The building was perfect for a self-contained university - with 600,000 square feet of space.

When comparing the UHD of then and UHD today, look for a "new and improved" on the label. Here's an overview of historical highlights.

1974 - 1979:

• The University of Houston acquires the assets of South Texas Junior College for its Downtown College and establishes the University of Houston Downtown College (UHDC); by the end of the '70's, the Texas Legislature approves UHDC as a freestanding university within the UH System.
• Tuition is $4 per credit hour for residents, $40 per hour for non-residents.
• The first UHDC four-year degree is the Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice.
• New majors are implemented in accounting, office management, process and piping design, purchasing and materials management, real estate, general studies, business management technology, business services technology, and engineering technology.
• UHDC's first major fundraising drive gets under way, with a goal of $350,000 to fund library expansion and career-oriented degree programs.
• UHDC receives full accreditation as a four-year institution.
• Enrollment reaches the 5,000 mark as a major building renovation begins.
• UHD leadership: Dr. W.I. Dykes (transition president ), Dr. J. Don Boney (president until his death) and Dr. Allen Commander (interim president).

1980 - 1984:

• Dr. Alexander F. Schilt is named chancellor of UHDC.
• UHDC is renamed the University of Houston-Downtown (UHD).
• The University Center provides co-ed student housing and food service.
• UHD's site, the former Merchants and Manufacturers Building, is placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
• New majors are added: applied mathematics, data processing, financial institutions, petroleum land management, computer information systems, general business, structural analysis and design, computer science, electrical and electronics design, quantitative methods, and professional writing.
• A favorite campus hangout - The Pits - is born when an old warehouse area is renovated into a student lounge by students, faculty and staff.
• The Red Rose Ball becomes an annual event to raise scholarship funds for the university, after being initiated by the Latin American Student Services Organization.
• The student newspaper, Dateline, begins publication.
• Tuition rises for the first time in 10 years, tripling to $12 per credit hour for residents and $120 per hour for non-residents.

1985 - 1989:

• External renovation of the building is completed and the One Main Building is rededicated, with the unveiling of the official Texas Historical Commission medallion.
• A KUHT-TV documentary, "40,000 Window Panes," features the history of the M&M Building and interviews with faculty and staff.
• Houston PREP is inaugurated as part of the Texas Prefreshman Engineering Program for high-ability middle and high school minority students.
• The first issue of Bayou Review literacy and arts magazine is published (Bayou Review had been the name of the student newspaper in the 70's).
• Majors in industrial chemistry and applied microbiology are available.
• The nationally recognized Jefferson Davis Educational Collaborative gets its start when UHD enters into a partnership with Tenneco and the Houston Independent School District (and later, the Houston Endowment and El Paso Energy) to prepare students at Jefferson Davis High School for higher education.
• UHD now occupies all 600,000 square feet of the One Main Building.
• UHD leadership: Dr. Eugene McNeil (interim president), Dr. Alexander F. Schilt (chancellor) and Dr. Manuel Pacheco (president).

1990 - 1994:

• UHD is recognized as the third fastest growing public university in Texas during the decade of the '80s.
• UHD leadership: Dr. George Magner (interim president); current president Dr. Max Castillo is named in 1992.
• UHD restructures from two divisions to four colleges - University College; Humanities and Social Sciences; Business; and Math, Science and Technology (now Sciences and Technology).
• UHD is designated an Hispanic-serving institution by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities.
• The University Center residential site is razed.
• Telephone registration is instituted, to reduce the long lines of students waiting to register every semester.
• Articulation agreements are finalized with several area community colleges to ease the transition from two-year community college curricula to baccalaureate work.
• UHD's new Urban Education Program - a teacher education and certification program that emphasizes the special needs of urban schools - begins in partnership with HISD.
• The Weekend College is initiated, to make earning a degree easier for full-time workers.
• Honors and recognition pile up: the Computer Information Systems program is recognized as one of the best in the nation by the Data Processing Management Association; the Applied Business and Technology Center is recognized as the largest university-based Intergraph/Microstation training facility in the world; the College of Business is accredited by the American Assembly of College Schools of Business; the electrical and electronics design program and the structural analysis and design program are accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.
• After two years of construction, groundbreaking ceremonies are held for the long-awaited Academic/Student Services Building and the Jesse H. Jones Student Life Center - reducing UHD's severe shortage of classroom and student service space.

1995 - 1999:

• UHD begins offering classes in collaboration with other UH System campuses and locations in Ft. Bend County.
• The first telecourse, "Growing Old in a New Age," is offered in the spring with more to follow.
• More honors: UHD's Small Business Institute program wins the Showcase Award as one of the best in the nation, according to the SBI Directors Association; students in UHD's urban teacher education program are ranked third highest in Texas on a new statewide test of teaching competency.
• A major, six-year fundraising drive - the Creative Partnerships Campaign - formally ends, with more than $20 million in gifts and pledges received.
• New majors include English, marketing, management, chemistry, biology, psychology and international business.
• The Weekend College is expanded to include Friday evening classes.
• The Science Learning Center opens, providing computer tutoring and multimedia instruction.
• UHD begins offering bachelor's degree courses at the University Center at Montgomery College in The Woodlands, as a partner with other area institutions of higher learning.
• It's out with the "Pits" and in with the "Gameroom".
• The Texas Legislature and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board give approval to a new mission statement, allowing UHD to add pertinent graduate programs; subsequently, plans for UHD's first graduate-level degree - the M.S. in criminal justice - are approved by the UH System Board of Regents.
• UHD begins offering selected classes in criminal justice and elementary education at San Jacinto College North.
• The Mimimester is initiated.
• A second commencement - in December for winter graduates - is added to the annual schedule, because of continuing growth in enrollment.
• Enrollment for the fall 1998 semester is the highest in UHD history, with nearly 8,300 full- and part-time students; spring 1999 enrollment also sets a record.
• UHD receives an IBM RS/6000 SP supercomputer from IBM Corporation.
• Renovation of the One Main Building begins to consolidate student services on one floor; the North and South Decks are spruced up as part of a campus master plan project.
• UHD enters into a cooperative agreement with the Institute of Advanced Studies of Tamaulipas in Tampico, Mexico.
• UHD is rated as one of the most diverse universities in the nation and also as one of the best for minority students, with top rankings in U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges guidebook for two straight years, Black Enterprise magazine, and Hispanic magazine.
• The President's Advisory Council is formed.
• The UHD Experts Guide goes online for the first time, on UHD's web site.
• UHD's 25th anniversary observance begins with celebrations for the community, faculty and staff, and students.

2000:

• The Gordon and Mary Cain Foundation pledges $3.9 million for scholarships for UHD urban teacher education students; the gift will allow UHD to develop a new graduate degree - the Master of Arts in Teaching.
• Red Rose Ball 2000 raises a record amount of scholarship dollars for deserving students.
• The new One Stop Student Service Center opens on the renovated third floor of the One Main building, bringing all student services to one central area.
• UHD completes its 25th anniversary observance with its first-ever alumni reunion, inviting graduates from all 25 years of graduating classes.
• Two significant federal grants are awarded to UHD: $1.9 million for a "Learner's Community" for entering college freshmen, and $1.1 million for student scholarships in bilingual education.
• UHD's first master's degree begins: the Master of Science in Criminal Justice.
• The Department of Criminal Justice opens the world's first center devoted to criminal analysis using geographic profiling.

2001:

• UH-Downtown continues to attract students seeking excellence, opportunity and diversity. Fall 2000 enrollment set a record: 8950 students.
• Off-campus opportunities attracts more students: total semester credit hours from distance education grew by 50%.
• More students are learning virtually, as online semester credit hours increase by 85%.
• UHD's emphasis on excellence in teaching and student success is most evident in the number of graduates in the academic year: a record 1239, a 52% increase over five years.
• The university's second master's degree, the Master of Arts in Teaching, is launched in Summer 2001.
• The 77th Session of the Texas Legislature approves $18.3 million in tuition revenue bonds that will enable UHD to expand its campus with the construction of a new building.
• Texas Governor Rick Perry chooses UHD as the site for his Houston-based news conference outlining results of the legislative session.
• Flooding from Tropical Storm Alison damages the first floor of the One Main building, but the university reopens after losing only one day of class time.
• To help more students succeed, University College begins work on the Learners Community, a comprehensive program for at-risk freshmen.
• The Red Rose Ball celebrates its 20th year, while raising a record $270,000 total, to provide scholarships for even more deserving students.

2002:

• Houston Endowment awards $1.1 million to the university for two innovative programs designed to cultivate student success: the Learners Community for freshmen, and the Jesse H. Jones Academic Institute, a summer pre-collegiate program.
• The Jesse H. Jones Academic Institute receives the Star Award from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, one of only four universities honored with the award statewide.
• UHD’s premiere scholarship fundraising gala, the Red Rose Ball, generates a total of $328,000.
• The Cullen Foundation pledges $50,000 annually over the next three years to fund the new Teaching and Learning Initiative for UHD’s Learners Community.
• UHD receives approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for a new 90,000 square foot building at the corner of Commerce and Main streets on the south side of the Main Street bridge.
• The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board also approves the purchase of a tract of land directly to the southwest of campus – 1.252 acres of vacant land that is bounded by Louisiana, Milam and Washington streets and the railroad.
• Max Castillo, president of UH-Downtown, celebrates his tenth anniversary at the institution.
• UH-Downtown’s enrollment passes the 10,000 mark, with a total of 10,528 students, a nine percent increase over Fall ’01.
  

2003:

• Construction begins on UHD’s new classroom building that will house the criminal justice and urban teacher education departments, the two academic units that comprise UHD’s proposed College of Public Service.
• UHD is the first university to hold its commencement ceremony at Minute Maid Park. A record number of 866 graduates receive degrees in August and December, including the first graduates from the university’s first master’s program – the Master of Science in Criminal Justice.
• The university restructures its alumni program to be more inclusive and welcoming to UH-Downtown graduates. The UHD Alumni Society grants automatic membership to all alumni. The new President’s Alumni Society Council is formed.
• Red Rose Ball 2003 raises an unprecedented $500,450, a 51% increase over last year. Proceeds provide scholarships for as many as 90 students, including the 25 Red Rose Scholars who were presented at the ball.
• UHD and North Harris Montgomery Community College District launch a joint admissions program. Students enroll simultaneously in both institutions.
• UHD’s College Bowl team places fourth in the region in a recent regional tournament. Their record at the event places them second among universities in the state of Texas and first in Houston.
• UH-Downtown receives grants totaling $6.2 million from the Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation for the Scholars Academy and outreach programs targeting primarily minority students and women to promote careers and graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering and math.
• NASA awards $824,998 in grants for a space science outreach program, a collaboration with the Houston Museum of Natural Science and Texas Southern University.
• The U.S. Department of Education awards $750,000 for a faculty leadership program in partnership with Houston Community College intended to help close the gaps to higher education.
• UHD’s Bachelor of Business Administration in General Business is UHD's first degree program offered online.

And there's more good news to come!!!

Back to Top