The Weekend Before Spring Semester Begins at the University of Houston
On Sunday morning, January 12, 2025, after a hearty breakfast, I found myself strolling alone through the University of Houston’s campus—a place both familiar and foreign after 15 years.😅 So much has changed here since I first arrived in March 2008. 😢 Back then, I witnessed Dr. Renu Khator, an Indian-American scholar, being inaugurated as the 8th Chancellor of the UH System and 13th President of UH. Fast forward 15 years, and she’s not only beloved by students and faculty but has also led UH to achieve one milestone after another. 🌟 UH boasts 16 colleges and 260 degree programs, spanning fields like business, architecture, law, optometry, and pharmacy. 🏟😅 Every year, the university invests $201 million in research across diverse disciplines, operating 35 research centers and institutes on campus. Interdisciplinary research here covers superconductivity, space commercialization and exploration, biomedical sciences and engineering, energy and natural resources, and artificial intelligence (AI). 🚀 In 2018, UH broke ground on its 16th professional academic college—the College of Medicine on the main campus—thanks to a $450 million endowment from corporate donors like U.S.-listed H-E-B. 😅 The college now enrolls Ph.D. students, offers scholarships, and collaborates closely with the HCA Healthcare Gulf Coast Division to advance medical research in Texas. 🏥 In 2019, the HCA Foundation (Houston Healthcare) donated $3.5 million to UH’s College of Nursing to support faculty and student development in healthcare and nursing. 👩⚕️ In 2022, Tilman Fertitta, CEO of a major hospitality group and owner of the Houston Rockets, gifted $50 million to UH’s College of Medicine, bolstering its growth and research capabilities. 💸 As I wandered past familiar landmarks like the M.D. Anderson Library and the Roy G. Cullen Building, I noticed the U.S. and Texas flags flying at half-mast in memory of someone’s passing (Carter? The context is unclear here, but it added a somber note 😢). Near the fountain—a spot I once loved to relax by—I paused to reminisce. Inside SCIENCE AND RESEARCH 1, memories flooded back: in 2008, I conducted experiments using biochips to screen for tumor-specific miRNAs, and a beautiful grad student explained Illumina NGS library construction to me for the first time… 🧬 In 2010, I even wrote three chapters of a Genetic Engineering textbook here… 📚 #UniversityOfHouston #ResearchLife #PhDJourney 🔬🚀
