The University of Houston (UH) is a nationally recognized doctoral degree-granting, comprehensive research university located in Houston, Texas and is the third largest university in Texas with a student enrollment of over 35,000. UH is the largest and only doctoral degree-granting university of the University of Houston System. The university was founded 1927 at San Jacinto High School, and moved to its current campus in 1938.

Amongst the most prestigious of the University of Houston's colleges is the University of Houston Law Center, a law school that is frequently ranked in the top 50 law schools by U.S. News and World Report each year. In addition, the Law Center's Institute for Health Law and Policy is the top ranked such program amongst U.S. law schools.

The mascot of the University of Houston is the Cougar. The official student newspaper is The Daily Cougar, the second largest English-language daily newspaper in Houston. The university has an inter-collegiate sports program, which competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, in Division I-A.

The University is home to the Creative Writing Program, which was founded by alumnus Donald Barthelme and offers a BA, MA, and PhD in Fiction Writing. Noted writers who have come out of the program include novelist Robert Clark Young. The University is also home to the Blaffer Gallery , which exhibits both visiting artists and student work from the University of Houston Department of Art.

The university has an on-site Hilton hotel. The full-service hotel is apart of of the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel & Restaurant Management. It regulary competes with Cornell University for the top spot for hospitality management in the U.S. News & World Report rankings. It is known as one of the world's premier hospitality institutions.

The university also ranks as one of the most diverse campuses in the nation. The university has significant Asian-American and Hispanic populations. It also has over 2,800 international students with significant concentration from South Asian and East Asian origins.

• African American 13.0%
• Asian/Pacific Islander 18.7%
• Hispanic 18.1%
• International 8.1%
• Native American 0.4%
• White/Other 39.5%
• Unknown 2.2%

Colleges

• Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture
• C.T. Bauer College of Business
• College of Education
• Cullen College of Engineering
• Honors College
• Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel & Restaurant Management
• UH Law Center
• College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
• College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics
• College of Optometry
• College of Pharmacy
• Graduate School of Social Work
• College of Technology

Famous alumni

• Leroy Burrell, athlete
• Fred Couples, golfer
• Tom DeLay, U.S. Congressman
• Joe DeLoach, athlete
• Doug Drabek, baseball player
• Clyde Drexler, basketball player
• Steve Elkington, golfer
• William Frederick Fisher, astronaut
• Gene Green, U.S. Congressman
• Bernard A. Harris, Jr., astronaut
• Elvin Hayes , basketball player
• Star Jones, host of The View
• Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron
• Carl Lewis, Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter
• Jim Nantz, CBS television broadcaster
• Hakeem Olajuwon, basketball player
• Ted Poe, U.S. Congressman
• Dennis Quaid, actor
• Randy Quaid, actor
• Julian Schnabel, artist
• Margaret Spellings, U.S. Secretary of Education nominee
• Brent Spiner, actor
• Jack Valenti, former MPAA head
• Robert Wuhl, actor
• Fuzzy Zoeller, golfer

External links

• University of Houston System: http://www.uhsa.uh.edu/uhs_info/
• University of Houston: http://www.uh.edu/
• University of Houston Student Government Association: http://www.uh.edu/sga/
• University of Houston Bauer College of Business http://www.bauer.uh.edu/
• University of Houston Law Center: http://www.law.uh.edu/
• University of Houston Department of Art: http://www.art.uh.edu/
• Official Houston athletics site: http://www.uhcougars.com/

Student websites

• The Cougar Web: http://www.thecougarweb.com/
• UH Students Forum: http://www.uhstudents.com/
• Cougar Fan Site: http://www.coogfans.com/