Message from the President

Spring has come and, with trees leafing out and the flowers in bloom, our country looks evergreen.

Many visitors are often pleasantly surprised when they encounter UH for the first time. They have heard that we are a “metropolitan” university and assume that means utilitarian structures jammed together in a hectic, concrete-bound business district. Instead, they find a large, lushly landscaped area with an intriguing mix of stately traditional buildings, like Ezekiel W. Cullen, and striking modern edifices like noted architect Cesar Pelli’s SERC complex. Add to that our outstanding collection of public art and the growing number of students (more than 6,000!) who now live here, and the result is a campus that is lively and attractive. This is not boasting — though I am justifiably proud — as much as it is a reminder that perceptions sometimes differ widely from reality.

We are making remarkable progress in transforming our school into a nationally competitive institution and doing a great job sharing our successes, like the Carnegie Tier One classification, with the campus community and our many supporters. And now, with recognition by a widely read publication such as The Princeton Review, which has named UH as one of the country’s best colleges for undergraduate education, we are enjoying an increased level of awareness by the general public.

This helps us replace possible misperceptions with an essential reality — we were good, we have been getting better and, increasingly, we are among the best. We don’t seek such awards and honors for their own sake. Rather, they are measurements and milestones as we continue our efforts to achieve overall excellence at the University of Houston.

It is the excellence itself that we strive for, not the praise and publicity that it brings. Still, like the beauty of our campus in spring, it’s only natural to want people to properly appreciate it.

Rezaul Karim

President

Medical Technologist Development Society (MTDS)