The University of Houston–Downtown (UHD) is a

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. It is part of the

University of Houston System The University of Houston System is a public university system in Texas, comprising four separate and distinct universities. It also owns and holds broadcasting licenses to a public television station (KUHT) and a public radio station (KUHF). Th ...

and has a campus that spans in

Downtown Houston Downtown is the largest central business district in the city of Houston and the largest in the state of Texas, located near the geographic center of the metropolitan area at the confluence of Interstate 10 in Texas, Interstate 10, Interstate 45, ...

with a satellite location, UHD-Northwest in Harris County. Founded in 1974, UHD is the second-largest university in Houston. The university serves students in four academic colleges and offers 56 degree programs—46 bachelors and 10 masters. UHD also offers 15 undergraduate-completion programs and 3 fully online master's programs. Awarding more than 3,600 degrees annually, the UHD boasts more than 64,000 alumni.

History

Merchants and Manufacturers Building (bayou view) Houston

UHD's expansion and physical growth continued in the late 1990s. The Willow Street Pump Station (listed among U.S. National Register of Historic Places) was renovated, and the Commerce Street Building opened, providing a new home for the College of Public Service. In the early 2000s, the Shea Street Building opened as the new home for the College of Business. UHD celebrated a milestone when it enrolled the first class of MBA students in the College of Business. In 2016, a 26,000-square-foot Welcome Center opened its doors, and the O'Kane Gallery landed a new home featuring exhibitions for student, faculty, and local and national artists. Dedicated to the health and wellness of the Campus Community, the Wellness & Success Center opens its doors in January 2023.

Institutional structure

The University of Houston–Downtown (UHD) is one of four institutions in the

. The institution is separately accredited, offers its own academic programs and confers its own degrees, and has its own administration. The organization and control of the University of Houston–Downtown is vested in the Board of Regents of the University of Houston System. The board has all the rights, powers, and duties that it has with respect to the organization and control of other institutions in the system; however, UHD is maintained as a separate and distinct institution.

Administration

The president is the chief executive officer of the University of Houston–Downtown, and the position reports to the chancellor of the University of Houston System. The president is appointed by the UHS chancellor and confirmed by the Board of Regents of the University of Houston System. Since March 2021, the president of the university is Loren J. Blanchard. The UHD administration is located on the ninth floor in the One Main Building. * William I. Dykes (interim), 1974–1975 * J. Don Boney, 1975–1979 * Alexander F. Schilt, 1980–1987 * Manuel T. Pacheco, 1987–1991 * George W. Magner (interim), 1991–1992 * Max Castillo, 1992–2009 * William V. Flores, 2009–2016 * Michael A. Olivas (interim), 2016–2017 * Juan Sánchez Muñoz, 2017–2020 * Antonio D. Tillis (interim), 2020–March 2021 * Loren J. Blanchard, March 2021 – present

Academics

The University of Houston–Downtown is primarily an undergraduate institution. It offers 46 undergraduate and 10 graduate degree programs in the four following academic colleges: * Marilyn Davies College of Business *College of Humanities & Social Sciences *College of Public Service * College of Sciences & Technology

Admissions

The University of Houston–Downtown was the final state university in Texas that had not yet abolished open admissions.Rhor, Monica.
Open admissions may end at UH-Downtown
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

''. Friday February 10, 2012. Retrieved on February 11, 2012. The

Board of Regents unanimously approved new admissions standards in February 2012, with closed admissions for UHD in the Fall of 2013.Rhor, Monica.
UH-Downtown ends open admissions
" ''

''. Wednesday February 15, 2012. Retrieved on September 18, 2012.

Campus

The UHD campus consists of eight buildings at the north end of

and the south end of

Northside Northside or North Side may refer to: Music * Northside (band), a musical group from Manchester, England * NorthSide, an American record label * NorthSide Festival (Denmark), a music festival in Aarhus, Denmark * "Norf Norf", a 2015 song by Vinc ...

, next to the crossing of

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...

and Main Street. The university is located near the site where Houston was founded,

Allen's Landing Allen's Landing is the officially recognized birthplace of the city of Houston, Texas, United States, the largest city in Texas and the fourth largest in the United States. Located in Downtown Houston between the Main Street and Fannin Street viadu ...

. Two of the university's buildings—One Main Building (formerly the

Merchants and Manufacturers Building The One Main Building, formerly the Merchants and Manufacturers Building (commonly referred to as the M&M Building), is a building on the campus of the University of Houston–Downtown. The building is recognized as part of the National Registe ...

) and the Willow Street Pump Station—are listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. UHD also offers classes online at three campuses: UHD-Northwest, Lone Star College Kingwood, and Lone Star College CyFair. University of Houston-Downtown Commerce Building

University of Houston-Downtown Commerce Building

UHD's student current ethnic demographics are: 53% Hispanic, 20% Black, 13% White, 8% Asian, 2% International (regardless of race and/or ethnic origins), and 3% multi-racial. 63% of the student body identified as female, 37% identified as male. In 2020, UHD opened the College of Sciences of Technology Building. The new Wellness & Success Center will opens its doors in January 2023. The university is home to the Harry W
O'Kane Gallery
(commonly known as the O'Kane Gallery, which was established in 1970by gifts from Harry W. O'Kane, Mary W. Bingman, and the Humphreys Foundation. The O’Kane Gallery presents five to six exhibitions that meet the diverse interests of UHD students, faculty, staff, alumni, and campus visitors. Exhibitions in all media provide educational support to various university courses and to nearby schools. The Gallery also functions as a site for university forums, meetings and receptions. Exhibitions are free and open to the public. Although UHD does not have an intercollegiate varsity athletics program, it does offer its students a number of club sports and intramural sports in addition to numerous fitness programs. UHD's club sports teams are known as the Gators. The UHD mascot is known as Ed-U-Gator. The university and its community offer additional activities for students such as clubs, organizations, fraternities, and sororities. The UHD campus is served by

METRORail METRORail is the light rail system in Houston, Texas (United States). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the 12th ...

's UH–Downtown station on the Red Line.

Notable people and alumni

Ghulam Bombaywala Ghulam Mohammed "Bombay" Bombaywala is a Pakistani-American restaurateur in Houston.Bombaywala, Ghulam Bombaywala transcript, 2 of 2
(Oral Histories from the Houston History Project)
Archive
.

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

Libraries. (Interview of Ghulam Mohammed Bombaywala, HHA #00570, July 19, 2007, Interviewer: Uzma Quraishi, Transcribed by Suzanne Mascola) p. 1. "I started out going to school - University of Houston downtown campus. It used to be South Texas Junior College."Bombaywala, Ghulam Bombaywala transcript, 2 of 2
(Oral Histories from the Houston History Project)
Archive
.

Libraries. (Interview of Ghulam Mohammed Bombaywala, HHA #00570, July 19, 2007, Interviewer: Uzma Quraishi, Transcribed by Suzanne Mascola) p. 3. "GB: Karachi. I went to school there. Unique English School. Then, from there, you know, in Karachi, of course, called CMS. Then, the college was National College. I did my Inter s in, intermediate school diplomafrom there and then came here. Then got my associate degree from the University of Houston." * Juan Díaz, professional boxer and former Lightweight World Champion * Mario Gallegos Jr., member of the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per cons ...

* Ed Gonzalez, Harris County Sheriff * Ananth Prabhu Gurpur, cyberlaw expert, Professor in Computer Engineering at the Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management, author * Diana López, taekwondo practitioner (2008 Olympic bronze medalist) *

Charles McClelland Charles A. McClelland Jr. was the police chief of the Houston Police Department (HPD) from 2010 through 2016. Joining the department in May 1977, McClelland worked his way up through the ranks, from rookie to assistant chief in 1998,Phil Montgomery Phil Montgomery (born July 7, 1957) is an American politician who served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly for the District 4. He then served on the as a member of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin from 2011 to 2017. Early ...

, member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

Devon Still Devon Joshua Still (born July 11, 1989) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He played college football at Penn State Nittany Lions football, Penn State, ...

, professional football player, founder of the Still Strong Foundation *

Lorenzo Thomas Lorenzo Thomas (October 26, 1804 – March 2, 1875) was a career United States Army officer who was Adjutant General of the Army at the beginning of the American Civil War. After the war, he was appointed temporary Secretary of War by U.S. ...

, poet and former faculty member

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:University of Houston-Downtown

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

University of Houston-Downtown Houston-Downtown Houston-Downtown Education in Harris County, Texas Houston-Downtown National Register of Historic Places in Houston 1974 establishments in Texas Downtown Houston