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Giving Locally, Thinking Globally

Posted on: May 14th, 2015

barrett-sides

By Joelle Jameson

Houston Public Media Foundation’s three main concentrations, or “pillars,” are arts and culture, education, and news and information. Talking to Barrett Sides about his priorities and activities, it’s easy to see why he’s a board member there: each of those areas play a huge part in his life and giving. Education, news and information, and arts and culture? “Those are headstone things,” he laughs.

“You can go through life paying as much attention as you want: that’s what we say about media these days,” he says from his home near Memorial Park in Houston. “You tend to choose what you want to hear and stick with it, because there’s so much out there, you can’t take it all in.” Sides’ choice is clear; he advocates for all three Houston Public Media (HPM) platforms — KUHT Channel 8, News 88.7 FM and Classical 91.7 FM — as often as possible. “The information is broad, credible, thorough and unbiased. It’s like a coffee table full of great magazines.”

Sides has been a consistent supporter throughout the years and a fan of weekend and evening radio and television programming, but increased his involvement after leaving his long finance career in international investments at Invesco in Houston. “My relationship with the news at that point was all about information, whether it was the market, geo-politics or economics,” he explains. “It was very academic. But the natural curiosity of wanting to learn persisted, and HPM filled that void.” The platform nearest and dearest to his heart is News 88.7. “When I started to take in more of the daytime news radio and realized what was there, I saw how much it enriched my life,” he says. “During one of the station’s pledge campaigns, I realized that I was the person they were talking to. Giving to HPM, for me, is almost a matter of fairness.”

Born in New Orleans, Sides lived in Chicago before moving to Houston during his high school years. He attended college at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, but soon made his way back to Houston to begin his career at Invesco, and also earned his M.B.A. from the University of St. Thomas. His philanthropic focus is on the city and its residents, whether it’s cleaning up litter in Memorial Park, supporting Houston’s artistic institutions or helping to found an innovative new middle school. He has also created a scholarship at Bucknell University, and served on their alumni board. His first experience with philanthropy goes back to childhood: “My weekly allowance was 50 cents; in the interest of instilling good values, my parents encouraged us to save ten cents, and give another ten cents to a charity or church,” he recalls. “Both saving and giving were imprinted on me at an early age.”

Currently, Sides also serves on the board of Healthcare for the Homeless – Houston. “It’s a nice bookend, in a sense, to HPM involvement,” he says. The organization operates a series of clinics, mostly in downtown Houston, serving homeless men, women and children with basic and advanced healthcare, including mental health and dental. “It serves many purposes, not least that it is a more personal and patient-centric environment than the emergency room, and it also unburdens that system,” he explains. Sides is excited about their current expansion to a new building, which they just purchased and will now begin to renovate. “It’s a different way of giving back to the Houston community to contribute to the quality of life here.”

Caring for residents most in need is only one measure of quality of life in a city, in Sides’ view. Besides green public spaces, libraries, parks and other standards, “I think that one of the measures of quality of life in a city is often what kind of public radio and television they offer. HPM is a jewel for Houston.” He also names the University of Houston — which is the license holder and home to Houston Public Media — as a point of pride. “The University of Houston is ascendant,” he says. “It’s a short list of cities that have great city universities, and Houston is on it.” Although he earned his degrees elsewhere, Sides has appeared in Dr. Charles Guez’s classroom at the C.T. Bauer College of Business to lecture on international finance in evening classes, and also mentored one of their undergraduate business students.

He tries whenever possible to take an active approach to philanthropy and community involvement, and that activeness is reflected in his love of travel. With family in Colorado, California and Costa Rica, great destinations are never too far away, but Sides also recently fulfilled a childhood dream of traveling to Antarctica. “My fascination as a kid reached a point that I wanted to be a scientist, because back then they were the only people who got to go!” he laughs. Their modest boat held about 100 passengers and included scientists and experts who explained the various aspects of the ecosystem, wildlife and history of Antarctica. “I call it my Antarctic Safari,” he says. “It was about the wildlife and adventure of it.” Adventure was certainly a promise, especially since, the year before, a similar ship had gotten packed into the ice while docking overnight. Thankfully, no such complications arose during Sides’ 25-day journey; just pristine wildness to be explored in hiking, penguin and albatross rookeries, and even a polar plunge when they reached the Antarctic Circle. “I purposefully didn’t try to imagine too much of what it would be like,” he recalls. “I wanted it to unfold as a surprise.”

That high level of involvement — and sense of adventure — is something he appreciates in his role as a board member at Houston Public Media Foundation. “We get to hear about some of the station’s plans as they’re being formed, strategies, and decisions as they’re being made,” he says. “It’s not a huge time commitment, but I consider it a privilege to be mixed into such an interesting group — not only the other board members, but the management and on-air staff.” Sides is especially passionate about Houston Public Media’s unique local programming, such as Houston Matters. “Life is local,” he says. “Life is global, but on a day to day basis, you have to be in touch with your community.” He may have literally traveled to the ends of the earth, but Barrett Sides’ reality is planted in Houston — and probably has 88.7 playing in the background.

Growing Up Together

Posted on: May 11th, 2015

ouida-jo-hembree

The early 1950s were a transformative time for native Houstonian Ouida Jo Hembree (’49). She had recently graduated from the University of Houston, started her first job and moved into her own apartment. That was the same time that KUHT, Channel 8 — now operating under the name Houston Public Media and TV 8 — became the nation’s first public television station in 1953. “I was just getting started into my big life. I started when it started,” she recalls. TV 8 has been her preferred channel ever since. “I didn’t even care about cable. I did finally get it, but I still watch TV 8 most of the time.” Hembree, in addition to her annual gifts to TV 8, has further solidified her bond with the station by establishing a charitable gift annuity to support Houston Public Media and its public broadcasting service that has grown with her over the years.

Owning a television in 1953 made her especially popular among friends. “I was the first one in my group of friends to get a TV; I got a TV before I got a car,” she says, describing the 12-inch screen on the black and white set. “I was in a one-room efficiency apartment and about seven or eight people would come over — some of them would have to sit on the floor. It was a social thing.” Now, she enjoys TV 8’s documentaries, the annual Fourth of July broadcast and Rick Steves’ travel commentaries on Europe. Her favorite shows, however, are the classic British comedies that play on TV 8 on Saturday nights, such as “As Time Goes By” and “Keeping Up Appearances.” “You can’t find those anywhere else,” she says. “English humor can be a kick.”

Hembree remarks on the educational value of the station, as well as her viewing choices when she first bought her TV, which may be perceived as odd to some: “I’d watch the school board meetings with my mother — people must have thought we were crazy!” she laughs. “But they were comical to us because our company did a lot of construction on schools.” Hembree’s first job after graduating from the University of Houston was as the receptionist and errand runner at Marshall Construction Company, Inc. — still in business today — where her mother was the office manager. One of her jobs was to drive to construction sites to distribute payroll, and she also chose to get her commercial license so she could transport construction materials.

It was her mother who paved a path for Hembree to attend the University of Houston, in addition to leading her to that first job. “I hadn’t given any thought to going to college when I was in high school,” she says, although she did have many extracurricular activities, such as working on the yearbook and assisting athletic coaches. Her mother learned about a full scholarship from her doctor’s wife, who was a member of the Houston Assembly of Delphian Chapter, and Hembree was granted a scholarship from the Delphians after applying. But she found that she had not taken the right courses in high school to qualify for most college entrance standards, since college hadn’t been in her plans. “I hadn’t had any foreign language, and I had bookkeeping instead of algebra and geometry,” she explains. “But back then, UH didn’t have the same requirements.” UH had not even been operating for 20 years yet and was dedicated to providing training to Houston’s workforce, many of whom were recently-returned WWII veterans.

That type of student body made “the college experience” very different from what the phrase typically means today. When Hembree attended UH, the Science Building and Roy G. Cullen Building were the only permanent structures on campus at that time, and most of her classmates were veterans who were working to provide for their families. Students like Hembree, however, enjoyed Cougar mainstays like Frontier Fiesta and basketball games. The classroom environment was very different, too. “We had to team up with a partner in our statistics class because they didn’t have enough machines to go around,” she recalls. Given her lack of algebra training at the time, she lucked out with her partner assignment: “He was one of the math teachers who was taking the course because he was going to teach that course in the fall. So, I was good on the calculator — these big, 1940’s machines — and he could do the more involved algebra. We were a good team.” Hembree graduated with her bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1949, with her tuition, books and campus activity fees covered by the Delphian chapter for her entire tenure. “I felt obligated to them to study hard and get good grades, and I’m still in touch with the chapter,” she says.

Hembree stayed at her first job for five years — “the only advancement would have been to my mother’s job, and I couldn’t do that!” — before starting at Exxon Mobil (then Humble Oil) in 1955. Her aunt had married a manager there, so it was almost a family institution at that point, but Hembree applied independently to the company and began her career as a statistician in the geology department. “But statistics requires so much estimating,” she says, “and having been trained in accounting, where you have to account for every penny and keep everything in balance, it bugged me to work only in estimations.” She ended up moving to the marketing department at Exxon’s headquarters, where she could work with hard numbers on pricing oil products, such as gasoline and heavy fuel oil to power factories and plants. She retired in 1983, after 28 years of service, citing traffic as one motivator, a sentiment all Houstonians can understand.

Exxon matches Hembree’s gifts to Houston Public Media, as well as the Tier One Scholarship Endowment she established to provide scholarships for incoming freshman students at the University of Houston. “Since I got my education on a scholarship, I wanted to help someone else do the same thing,” she says. She encourages her friends at Exxon and at other companies to take advantage of matching programs. Her dedication to Houston Public Media echoes that desire to keep the programs she loves on the screen, and continue the tradition of excellence: “We’ve got to keep them going!”

Putting Student Success “Over the Top”: Clara (’02) and Christopher (’00) Hough

Posted on: May 5th, 2015

Clara (’02) and Christopher (’00) HoughThe Heights office and showroom for Over the Top Linen may look nondescript from the outside — few windows, tan walls, carved into a residential street — but a vibrant array of fabrics in myriad textures and hues waits inside, topped by a rainbow-ribbon chandelier and helmed by strong Cougar leadership. “We don’t explicitly try to hire people from UH, but there are so many talented graduates in the community, it often works out that way,” said CEO Clara Hough (’02) with a smile.

Clara founded the specialty linen service in 2005 with her husband, managing partner Christopher Hough (’00), whom she met when they were both students at the Honors College and Bauer College of Business. Christopher is also Director of Finance and Accounting at Ascent Automotive Group, using evenings and weekends to strategize accounting and finance operations and help organize events for the family’s business. Their work hasn’t gone unnoticed: Over the Top has received numerous accolades over the years, including, in 2014, ranking as one of the Cougar 100 list of fastest-growing Cougar-owned or led businesses and the Houston Business Journal naming Clara as one of their 40 Under 40 honorees. Additionally, Clara was named an honorary alumna of the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management in April 2015. Besides investing in the Houston community with their business and through several charities, the Houghs have also established the Christopher and Clara Hough Annual Scholarship at the Hilton College to afford exceptional students the same opportunities they received at UH.

For Clara, attending the University is synonymous with her experience of becoming an American. She lived in Venezuela until the age of 17, but her grandfather owned an oil and gas business is Venezuela and lived in Houston for a long time. “My parents always wanted us to receive our education here,” Clara said. “It meant so much to me to come to UH. Being here prepared me for life in a different country.” Her three sisters, Cristal Ordonez (’03), Alba Villegas (’04) and Aurora Pisana (’10) all hold UH degrees. When they arrived, however, the first challenge was to learn English. After completing a course at the UH Language and Cultural Center, Clara intended to pursue a degree in chemical engineering, it being one of Venezuela’s core industries and an expected concentration for students, but was drawn to business and marketing. “I wasn’t familiar with the concept of business as an area of study, but when my sister Cristal began studying at Bauer, it inspired me to change my course.”

Christopher moved from Colorado to attend UH and had a similar unfamiliarity with what a business major entailed. He had intended to study computer science, but changed his mind after a lecture in his introductory accounting course by Dr. Gary Schugart. “Something just clicked. I’m not sure what exactly did it, but that course put everything in perspective,” he recalled. Both Christopher and Clara made an effort to form strong relationships with professors and other students, seizing as many opportunities as possible. “There are so many organizations and ways to get involved,” said Christopher. “The connections and relationships – you can’t put a value on that.”

Clara worked as a catering manager after graduating in 2002, building her customer service skills and gaining an insider view of the hospitality industry. “I’ve always loved the design aspect of an event, the colors and textures. The right linens can transform the entire feeling of a room,” she said. “As a catering manager, I saw what people wanted for their special events, as well as aspects that could be improved. Having the right linens can make a significant difference for any event.” She estimates that around 70 percent of their events are weddings, but the scope spans all social occasions, including galas and fundraisers — they have even provided linens for a baby shower. Christopher noted that even though events require careful planning and execution, the events are typically happy ones, which makes the effort less arduous and more rewarding. Clara agreed, which is not surprising, given the quote displayed above her desk: “Find a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” Hard work is important, but the Houghs know that passion is equally important. “When starting your own business, you have to combine passion and opportunity,” Clara said.

The opportunity was certainly there – Over the Top is one of few companies of its kind in the Houston area, and their business has steadily grown over the years. The success hasn’t come without challenges, though: “People have said that I get more emergency calls at odd hours than a heart surgeon,” Clara laughed. “But it’s important for us to recognize that even though we work events all the time, it’s a special day for our clients — a once-in-a-lifetime moment. We want to make everything memorable and as stress-free as possible for them.” Not to mention, founding the company fell in the same time frame as the birth of their daughter, Mia. Their son Christian was born a few years later, and the Hough family now resides in Katy. Christopher attributes the continued success of Over the Top to Clara’s building strong relationships with their partnering venues, using their individual public relations and accounting skills cooperatively and planning smart growth. “It’s important for businesses to decide at what rate they want to grow. We often see businesses that grow too quickly, and then the process is unsustainable,” he said. Accordingly, Over the Top started small — out of the couple’s house — and graduated to larger facilities and clientele over the years.

The Houghs decided to establish the Christopher and Clara Hough Annual Scholarship at the Hilton College because they believe in the talents and potential of UH students. Besides working with UH alumni on a daily basis, Clara also works closely with the Houston chapter of National Association of Catering and Events (NACE) and the NACE student chapter on campus. “I’m constantly impressed by the students that I work with. We’ve formed great relationships over the years,” she said. Christopher agreed: “I don’t think there’s anything as important as educating young people. We want to contribute to them — we know that will make us better off as a society.” The most compelling reason to give, however, may be that scholarships made a tremendous impact for them both as out-of-state and international students. “We’ve been blessed,” said Christopher, “and we feel that we have the responsibility to share that with others.”

Culture, Comfort and Class: Jackson Hicks and Houston Public Media

Posted on: April 23rd, 2015

Jackson-Hicks

“’Prince of Parties’ is fun,” Jackson Hicks says of his press-given moniker, “but may be a bit of an overstatement.”

By Joelle Jameson

“’Prince of Parties’ is fun,” Jackson Hicks says of his press-given moniker, “but may be a bit of an overstatement.” The title is understandable, however, in light of the some 15,000 events his catering and event-planning outfit, Jackson and Company, has gracefully executed since its formation in 1981 — especially since it isn’t uncommon to spot a current or former U.S. president in attendance.

After 35 years, Jackson and Company is still going strong under Mr. Hicks’ watchful eye, and is preparing for several events, including“A Celebration of Reading” to benefit The Barbara Bush Literacy Foundation. Past events include lavish galas and receptions such as the opening of the Menil Collection, the Wortham Center and the George Bush Presidential Library, as well as the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada. “When you have the history we have of serving distinguished guests, you learn to take care of people in a more refined way,” he explains. “We learn in the present tense.”The result? All guests feeling like royalty.

Hicks’ own “palace,” so to speak, is located in a historic district of Houstonand shared with two English Cocker Spaniels, Montgomery and Winston. Built in 1905 and listed on both the National and Texas Lists of Historic Places, the house embodies an eclectic combination of period antiques and contemporary design elements to achieve a sense of balance and comfort.This appreciation for design and history spreads to the full service event venue Hicks operates in downtown Houston, The Corinthian. Formerly a grand bank, the reimagining of the space has preserved all its neoclassical glory.

One can easily picture these venues as a setting for a Houston Public Media (HPM) TV 8 program. HPM, a community service of the University of Houston, is home to KUHT, which was established in 1953 as the nation’s first public television. The PBS network is considered essential “appointment” viewing in the Hicks household. After years of supporting Houston Public Media Foundation with smaller gifts, Jackson Hicks has made a major gift to support the Foundation and HPM’s TV 8, as well as a legacy gift, which will support the Foundation’s focus areas of arts and culture, education, news and public safety for the Houston community and southeast Texas for many years to come.

Hicks has been serving Houston in many different capacities since he arrived in 1969, founding Jackson and Company as a later response to the gap he witnessed during his years of working in the field. “Most all events were limited to event halls, country clubs, hotels and smaller parties in people’s homes,” he says, describing hosts’ efforts to rally neighborhood household staff to assist with whatever occasion arose. Working in the gourmet food and wine department at the then newly-opened Neiman Marcus in the Galleria granted him the knowledge of what its high-end clientele was seeking: individualized, upscale and flexible entertainment options. “Catering until then was mostly barbecue — good barbecue, but it was much more casual,” he recalls. “We envisioned a full-service catering and event planning service to provide a higher standard of service, and I knew it would be well-received because I was talking to people who were giving parties all the time. Even in our first month, we did a residential party for 500 people. ”

Houston was only intended to be a brief stop for Hicks on his way to graduate school, but after spending the summer in the city, he decided to stay. “I found Houston’s energy and vitality particularly appealing,” he says. He also respected and benefited from a Houstonian way of life, which he describes as more of a “meritocracy” than other large cities. “I was only about 21 when I started working at Neiman Marcus, which at the time had a very large wine operation. But I had some knowledge of wine, and our sophisticated clients respected that,” he says. “In other cities, I don’t think they would have been able to get past my age.” He credits that meritocracy as part of the reason Jackson and Company has thrived. “If you’ve got a good idea and are working hard to put that idea forward, generally I think you receive a very positive response in this community,” he says. “The city has been so generous and supportive of us; it’s really quite gratifying.”

Originally from Oklahoma, Hicks drew inspiration from the hospitality displayed by his mother and both his grandmothers from a very young age. “They focused on making their family and friends comfortable, and paid attention to details,” he says. Those are the tenets of his business, and are the backbone of Jackson and Company’s commitment to hospitality. “It’s not just taking care of people, it’s pampering people, and anticipating their needs before they even realize them,” he explains. “It’s a commitment to making people feel comfortable in their environment.” Hicks also remembers lessons in “thoughtfulness” in regard to service learned at Neiman Marcus from Mr. Stanley Marcus himself, as well as his supervisor at the store whom he eventually joined at a new business, Henry Kucharzyk. “I learned the appropriateness of how one entertains.”

Music is another of Hicks’ passions; throughout earning his bachelor’s degree in social sciencesfrom Baylor University, he studied voice and participated in the Baylor A Cappella Choir as a soloist. Although his professional path changed, his appreciation for great performances has not. “We are so lucky in Houston to have a first class opera, symphony and ballet,” he remarks, also naming the Menil Collection and the Museum of Fine Arts as some of his favorite Houston arts institutions. “We have such a high quality of leadership in the arts, as well as performers.” In addition to Houston Public Media, Hicks also provides support to the Houston Grand Opera Studio and the Young Artists Program at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, as well as Rice’s Graduate Opera Program.

But the study of music has been beneficial in other ways. “You learn in musical training, among other things, to always be prepared — if one walks into the studio unprepared, your teacher might throw you out,” he says with a smile. “You learn discipline, and techniques to control your nerves and stay centered, or else it will show in your performance.” This demeanor shines through while running what can often be challenging events. “People are always surprised that I stay so calm,” he says. “But they have to understand, the preparation happened a long time ago. It’s important; if they see that I am relaxed, the guests will be more relaxed.”

Hicks sees his passions of entertaining and the arts reflected in HPM’s local, national and international television programming, such as “Masterpiece” and “Great Performances.” He has a penchant for British culture and history, which is often the subject of “Masterpiece” programs. “I certainly have an interest in the traditions of British etiquette and style of entertaining, especially in the Edwardian era,” he says. “I appreciate the ritual of dining, the precision and formality, and its structure. There’s very little of that in our society.” He also harbors an interest in exploring the historical context of those traditions. In that vein, the locally produced and nationally syndicated “Manor of Speaking,” a “Downton Abbey” talk show that often discusses the history and traditions its characters employ, is a new favorite for Hicks. But, that is to be expected of a man who reads etiquette books “as if they were novels.”

Hicks decided to increase his giving to Houston Public Media Foundation after “an epiphany” regarding his priorities. “I felt I was now in a place to give more significant support, and I wanted to support something I really care about. I think HPM programming is a great asset to our community, and has been for a long time.” Additionally, Hicks appreciates having the opportunity to include the Foundation in his estate planning. “Testamentary gifts are a great way to give to organizations you care about.” The present is certainly staying busy for Jackson and Company, with the “organized chaos” of catering and event planning running strong. Hicks’ partnership with Houston, no matter what the capacity, is certainly one made to last.

Navigating New Generations of Success: Randy Pike

Posted on: April 23rd, 2015

Randy-Pike

Randy Pike is passionate about helping those engaged in energy education at the University of Houston

For Randy Pike (M.B.A. ’93), there’s nothing quite like the peacefulness and tranquility of sailing beneath a full moon. That’s one of the reasons he named his sailboat the Moondance. That, and because the moniker is a nod to the famous Van Morrison song of the same name. Pike is somewhat of a music aficionado. He spent his high school days as a drummer in garage bands and his college years at Vanderbilt University playing gigs at fraternity parties and Nashville bars. “The Eldorados, my fraternity band, played our very own version of the James Brown song, ‘Cold Sweat,’” he remembers, “which I chose as the name of my first offshore sailboat.” Upon moving to Houston, he was captivated by Rockefeller Hall where he saw many live shows, eclectic in their range– from Gregg Allman to Dizzy Gillespie. One of his favorite bands, he recalls, was the Houston rhythm and blues band, Luther and the Healers. “I lived in a Montrose bungalow at the time, close to all the clubs—and I would just see everything I could!” he said.

His passion for education, however, led him to define a considerably larger legacy at the University of Houston – one that honors his roots and inspires future generations to succeed. While music has been an integral part of Pike’s life, so has sailing. Pike has been sailing since he was a 6-year-old in Venezuela, where he spent his childhood. Sailing will play a big part in his early retirement—he plans to embark on a year-long trip along the coast of the southern United States, rounding the tip of southern Florida and then up the coast as far as Massachusetts later this fall. He will then spend the winter exploring the islands of the Caribbean. He enjoys the ports, the many characters he encounters and the local wildlife in the places he visits, and he always finds a friendly place to “drop anchor.” Pike has discovered that it behooves him to keep his “mind and body busy, as a retiree.”

Pike is fond of his boat and certainly worked hard to obtain it, in both his academic and professional careers. When he casts off this fall, he’ll spend most of his time in front of the helm, guiding his way toward new adventures. If a captain is one who guides, Randy Pike is a captain in the fullest sense of the word. He not only guides his own career and retirement successfully, but also guides young engineers toward their own goals and success by providing them with the means to attend the University of Houston, and he does it with finesse and acumen.

Pike and the University of Houston’s EMBA

His retirement is well-earned after 31 years in the engineering industry at the Shell Oil Company. He ascended through the ranks, thanks in large part to the University of Houston’s Executive Master of Business Administration program from which he received his graduate degree in 1993. The learning environment and the constant weekday studying helped him to hone skills that opened up even more opportunities at Shell. “Receiving my EMBA,” he says, “helped me learn the ‘language of business’ and strategic planning.”

In the final third of his career at Shell, Pike spent six years working within the company’s subsea engineering division. His career always consisted of a good balance of tried and true projects mixed with new experiences and exciting techniques. “In a word, my job has always been challenging,” he states. From working offshore, working on wells as a production engineer and executing a four-year stint in Rio de Janeiro as a Completion Engineering supervisor, he eventually became the Production Engineering business lead on the Enterprise Architecture program for Shell Oil’s Onshore Gas Division. “Enterprise Architecture” is defined as a single integrated architecture that defines how data is collected, stored and reported. “It was a great decision, going to work for Shell,” he concludes. “I’ve always liked people and I got to work with engineers from a lot of different disciplines through my work.”

Philanthropic Spirit

Pike wanted to share his accumulated wealth with the University of Houston. Through a UH Points of Pride mailing he received in 2013, and through the patient counsel of both his attorney and Assistant vice president for gift planning at UH, Lisa Holdeman, he realized just how a scholarship endowment could help financially challenged students become world class engineers. He was surprised to learn that there are only a handful of subsea engineering academic programs in the world. This includes UH’s subsea curricula that, in 2012, became the first and only higher education degree program established in the United States.

Pike recognized immediately how critical funding was, especially considering that Houston is the “energy capital of the world.” If years in a highly specialized niche such as subsea engineering taught Pike anything, it was that subsea protocol was technologically more advanced than the processes used for land wells – and that industry would be well served by specialized training at the university level.

Once Pike decided to focus his gift in engineering, he was certain his legacy would include paying tribute to his father and mother who provided him with an exceptional education. His mother, the first child in her family to attend college, became a teacher and then later a flight attendant. It was on a flight to Caracas, Venezuela that his mother and father, a native Houstonian, met. It was their steadfast belief in the power of education and their adventurous spirit that led Pike to his rewarding career in engineering — and initiated his love of sailing.

Creating an Endowment

Pike directed his sizable bequest to the Allen G. and Cleo V. Pike Scholarship Endowment in the Cullen College of Engineering. This gift, in honor of his supportive parents, is set as a source of scholarship funding for financially challenged students who wish to learn engineering in Houston.

Now, committed to meaningful generosity and supporting his alma mater, Pike is passionate about helping those engaged in energy education at the University of Houston. He is interested in providing funds to a pioneering institution, one in need of resources and one with the demonstrated ability to provide those resources to deserving students. As the Energy University, the University of Houston is at the top of that list.

Remembering A Renowned UH Benefactor

Posted on: March 19th, 2015

Robert E. Sheriff

Robert E. Sheriff, professor emeritus in the University of Houston’s Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and long-time departmental benefactor, left a tremendous legacy to the University of Houston. Through endowments and scholarships, he and his wife ushered in a new generation of geophysicists. He worked with pure passion in his field, of which he was considered by Hua-wei Zhou, chair of the UH Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, “a giant.”

Dr. Sheriff began working for Chevron in California in 1950. Throughout his career at Chevron he traveled the world supervising work in numerous locations and relocating his family to Trinidad and Australia. Dr. Sheriff came to Houston in 1970 and began serving as an adjunct professor of geophysics at UH. In 1980, he became a full tenured professor. Dr. Sheriff was a gifted teacher who cared deeply about his students, sharing his opinions without reluctance, pointing out weaknesses and telling students how to improve. His input and guidance helped his students learn to find issues and solve them later in their careers. He is perhaps best known for having written the “Encyclopedic Dictionary of Applied Geophysics” in 1973. “It is the exploration geophysicist’s bible; people refer to it all the time,” said Zhou.

Over the years, Robert and Margaret Sheriff established four endowments at the University of Houston, giving almost $2 million in support of the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. The endowments are the Margaret S. Sheriff College Professorships in Geophysics, the Robert E. Sheriff College Professorship in Sequence Stratigraphy, the Robert and Margaret Sheriff Faculty Chair in Applied Seismology and the Sheriff Endowment in Applied Geophysics.

The Sheriffs also set up a scholarship through the Society of Exploration Geophysicists for international graduate students coming to UH to study geophysics. More than 100 students have been funded through their generosity. “Bob Sheriff was so unselfish, helping people any way he could,” Zhou said.

In addition to the many scholarships and endowments, his legacy was continued following his recent death with the gift of his retirement plan assets to the Sheriff Endowment in Applied Geophysics. His family also encouraged contributions to a memorial fund in his name after he passed in 2014. Bob Sheriff is still giving back to the University and helping to inspire our students’ success.

The Williams Foundation Supports Future Teachers

Posted on: March 19th, 2015

Jack and Diana Miles

A Gentle Push

Jack Miles (’62) has a file drawer in which he keeps all of the letters he’s received over the years from grateful teachHOUSTON scholarship recipients. He is excited about their future plans, tenacity, and “gumption.” These students don’t necessarily have to have the highest grades or tread the traditional college path, according to Jack and his sister Diana Miles, trustees of the Elizabeth P. and Harold R. Williams Foundation, but they do have to have goals and the resolve to move into a challenging and vital career in education. When asked what makes a perfect teachHOUSTON scholar, Diana quickly answers, “Determination.”

The Williams Foundation’s teachHOUSTON endowment supports University of Houston undergraduate students who are studying to become high school math and science teachers. It places them in real-life classrooms during every undergraduate year, instead of just one year of student teaching, and helps them garner enthusiasm for the challenge of teaching high school math and science.

For Jack and Diana, acknowledging the value of a UH education has always been a family affair. In fact, at one time during the 1950s, five members of their family were attending the University of Houston at the same time! Their aunt and uncle, Harold and Elizabeth Williams, established the Williams Foundation, and Jack and Diana became Trustees when their aunt and uncle passed away. “Uncle Harold pushed us as far as education was concerned, and we want to be there to support the next generation,” says Jack. “Oftentimes, students today don’t have someone pushing them.” And a push in the right direction is sometimes all it takes.

Putting a UH Education to Work

As business majors at the University of Houston, both Jack and Diana learned many valuable lessons. Jack was a nontraditional student who took classes at night. This meant he was taught by many industry professionals whose classes were in the evenings.

After graduating from UH, Diana went on to teach high school business classes in Spring Branch ISD. Her 30-year tenure at the school district brought with it a changing demographic of student and interesting challenges, improving math and science scores being one of them. She also holds a position as a city councilwoman in Rosebud, Texas, a role she hadn’t anticipated playing, but which makes perfect sense after the long time she spent serving the community as a teacher.

Jack, on the other hand, was always aware of what he wanted to do, and that was run a company. However, he had not necessarily seen himself as what he also became — a rancher. Since around 2001, he has been the co-owner of the Brazos River Cattle Company, a working ranch between Temple and Waco. The only regret he has is that he didn’t take an agriculture class while at UH. Above and beyond their careers, both Diana and Jack’s passion is supporting education, and the University of Houston provided them the perfect outlet for the Williams Foundation’s philanthropy.

Keeping Kids On Track

Diana Miles says, “Math is a logical science and hard to teach. It’s not a soft science. The answers are the answers.” Jack Miles muses, “A lot of kids in our society are coddled. Can they balance a checkbook? You don’t have any real life skills if you can’t do math!” Quality math and science teachers are what teachHOUSTON is intent on providing to the community. Houston benefits greatly, as 75 percent of teachHOUSTON graduates go on to teach in high-need high schools in the Greater Houston Area.

Jack balks at the notion that teachers are the only ones responsible for encouraging and helping students succeed, though; he holds the parents responsible, as well. Most teachers are underpaid and this fact, coupled with the lack of engagement on some parents’ ends, results in a lot of students “falling through the cracks.” The Foundation’s endowment – a partnership between the College of Education and the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics – is making sure students have the math and science skills they need to succeed by providing much needed support to the teachers of those subjects.

The Determination to Make a Difference

So, why the University of Houston? “This younger generation will make the decisions for us as we grow older,” Jack says. “I want them to have the best education possible!” They know, firsthand, that teachHouston students’ education will be stellar, and that these future professionals are already shaping Houston’s next generation of decision-makers and innovators. This family of alums is proud and eager to give back to the University that launched their careers and taught them a lot about life, as well. Whether considering teachHouston students, the teachers-in-training at UH or the Miles siblings’ own experiences, Jack perhaps sums it up best: “Life is continuing education.”

Lindsey Brier Named 2013-14 Goldwater Scholar

Posted on: November 6th, 2014

lindsey brier

Lindsey Brier, a junior mathematical biology major and chemistry minor, is one of 271 undergraduates nationwide named a Barry M. Goldwater Scholar.

The Goldwater Scholarship Program fosters and encourages outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering. Considered the premier undergraduate award for these fields, more than 1,100 students were nominated by their universities this year. Scholars receive up to $7,500.

Though Brier started out as a math major at the University of Houston, she soon found mathematical biology would give her a better background for a newfound interest – biology and chemistry research.

Ph.D. Pursuits

“I’m interested in drug design and how drugs interact with physiological pathways,” said Brier, who plans to pursue a Ph.D. in either medicinal chemistry or pharmacology. “So, it was important to me to understand biological systems.”

Brier, who is also interested in clinical applications, says her main reason for doing research in this field is to improve available health care. “I’ve considered entering an M.D./Ph.D. program, but my biggest interest is in doing medical research.”

Undergraduate research has played a significant role in her education. Having worked on research projects at UH and University of California, San Francisco, Brier will travel to University of Pennsylvania this summer.

Research Experience

This semester, Brier is doing research in the lab of James Briggs, associate professor and interim chair of the Department of Biology and Biochemistry. She is focusing on the protein, cholera toxin. “We are writing programs that allow us to look at proteins and determine potential interaction points for drugs,” said Brier, who is participating through the Provost’s Undergraduate Research Scholarship program.

Her research experience at UCSF involved using a computer program to look at specific membrane transporters that are resistant to chemotherapy. “The transporters are pushing out the drugs that doctors are trying to get in,” she said. “We used the program to test and identify drugs that have more of an affinity for the transporter, and therefore, uncovered greater potential for future drug development.”

In Brier’s case, undergraduate research broadened her well-rounded science background by exposing her to computer science. It also gave her real-life applications of topics taught in class. “Research really makes you remember the information, learn it and know it because you have to be able to defend your work and choose future directions for the research. If you don’t understand the concept, you can’t possibly do any of that,” she said.

Group Facilitator

At UH, Brier facilitates a small, organic chemistry workshop for the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics’ Scholar Enrichment Program. Students in the small classes do practice problems and review concepts; the setting encourages discussion and more interaction.

“Many students are afraid of organic chemistry. The workshops help reinforce the concepts covered in the lecture course,” said Brier, who has co-led a workshop for two semesters. “I’ve gotten a deeper understanding of organic chemistry by learning how to explain it to others.”

Brier is a native of Allen, Texas, and attended Allen High School. At UH, she is a Houston-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Scholar and a member of The Honors College.

http://nsm.uh.edu/news-events/stories/2013/0426_goldwaterScholar.php

Giving Back to Education

Posted on: November 6th, 2014

mike and elsa tansey

In the early 1960s, Mike Tansey was working full time and raising four children. Mike’s job at NASA involved biometric data related to the astronaut program, and he realized a math degree would be beneficial.

Night school at the University of Houston was his path to get that degree.

“I’ve always felt I owed something to UH for giving me an opportunity to complete a degree program,” said Tansey, a native Houstonian who received his B.S. in 1965. “Eventually, we started giving to the alumni association and buying season tickets to football.”

Mike’s math background led to seismic data processing and later to computer software package development for oil and gas companies, aerospace, trucking firms and investment companies. “My math degree was instrumental in every aspect of my career,” he said.

After many years of giving annual charitable donations to many organizations, the Tanseys reviewed their pattern of giving.

“We decided to prioritize and give to Mike’s favorite institution,” said Elsa, Mike’s wife.

That decision led them to establish the Tansey Family Scholarship Endowment for undergraduates in UH’s College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. “We decided we could make a greater impact on students by concentrating most of our charitable giving in one area,” she said.

The Tanseys hope their endowment will help NSM attract and keep quality students at the undergraduate level and encourage them to stay at UH for their graduate education. Recently, they started supporting NSM’s Graduate Fellowship Program.

“We firmly believe that every graduate of this great university should open their checkbooks and give regularly to the school that provided them with the opportunity to be successful in their lives,” Mike said. “New graduates should make donating to UH an annual activity, even if the gift is not large.”

For the Tanseys, it’s about giving back to the school that gave Mike his chance at a degree and helping current and future students attain that same foundation in higher education.

http://nsm.uh.edu/features/nsm/giving/giving-back-to-education/index.php

Investing in Students

Posted on: November 6th, 2014

Scholarships helped May Nguyen graduate from University of Houston with a relatively small amount of debt. Now, she and her husband, Greg Bounds, want to give more students the chance to focus on careers rather than worry about the financial burdens of college. They are establishing the Greg Bounds and Bich-May Nguyen Undergraduate Biology Scholarship Endowment.

“Since I wasn’t hampered by debt, I was able to pursue more expensive graduate studies,” said Nguyen, who graduated in 2003 with a B.S. in biology. She went on to receive a medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine and an M.P.H. from Harvard School of Public Health.

“We are interested in education and in making college affordable,” Bounds said. “Through this investment in NSM, we can support the young talent who will contribute to scientific knowledge and innovation.”

For Nguyen, attending UH with its diverse student body helped her to be more comfortable around and to empathize with people from all walks of life. After graduating from medical school, she pursued a specialty in family medicine and chose to work with Houston’s underserved, urban population. “Every day I take care of socially disadvantaged people, the majority of whom do not speak English as their primary language,” she said.

The young couple recognizes that UH is full of hard-working students. “Many students are taking full- or part-time classes and working to support themselves or their families,” Nguyen said. “We want to ease the financial burden for some of them.”

Bounds recently decided to change careers and return to school. Where did he choose to go? University of Houston. “I was so impressed with the changes at UH in the past decade that I wanted to benefit from them,” he said. Bounds will graduate in 2014 with a B.S. in sociology.

Through their scholarship endowment, Bounds and Nguyen know they will impact future UH biology undergrads and give them the opportunity to pursue their dreams.

“We hope more people who have been as lucky as us will support the university in its academic mission and help its most valuable asset – the students,” they said.

http://nsm.uh.edu/features/nsm/giving/investing/index.php