A brief history of UHCL: Paving the way for a brighter future

The University of Houston-Clear Lake, as we know it, officially began in the fall of 1974. However, the school’s origins date back a bit earlier. The university’s original name was the University of Houston at Clear Lake City (UH/CLC).  

In the mid-1970s, the City of Clear Lake City ceased to exist and UH/CLC shortened its name to the University of Houston-Clear Lake. The area that used to be Clear Lake City was annexed by the cities of Houston and Pasadena. 

UH/CLC sprang from the needs of industries in the area and the Manned Spacecraft Center, now NASA-Johnson Space Center. 

Robert Gilruth, director of NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center, recognized a need for higher education classes in the Clear Lake area to support the requirements of the center. Members of the community also expressed a desire for a facility of higher education closer to home than the commute to the University of Houston (UH).

In response to the requests, Philip Hoffman, then University of Houston president, opened the Graduate Center at NASA in 1964. That fall, with more than 500 students enrolled, it was clear that they had tapped into something with great potential. 

In subsequent years, Hoffman led local business and community leaders in fundraising activities and launched legislative efforts to have UH/CLC officially recognized as an independent university, which happened in 1971.  

Next, Hoffman began searching for quality individuals to bring on board as professors and administrators.  

In 1972, Hoffman appointed Alfred Neumann as UH/CLC’s first chancellor. Neumann sought to differ UH/CLC’s educational structure from UH, with an emphasis on providing a more personal touch to the school.  

Jonathan Zophy, retired professor of history, notes in his book “Building a University: A History of the University of Houston-Clear Lake 1974 to Present,” that school leaders wanted to “arrange space so that administration, faculty, staff and students have maximum contact with each other.” 

“The personal feel of UHCL came first and foremost from our many small classes,” said David Malin, professor of psychology and neuroscience and charter faculty member. “For many of the returning students, this was the first time they were able to really know their professors. For the early faculty, the family feeling came in part from the many social events organized by the UHCL Women’s Association. Faculty from all four schools got to know one another at these parties and receptions.”  

The charter faculty all assumed the risk that accompanied joining an organization at the ground floor, not knowing what the ultimate outcome would be.  

“We loved the challenge of offering a rigorous liberal arts education to all comers, not just to the ‘elite,’” said John Gorman, retired professor of literature and charter faculty member. “I’d had no idea what sort of suburbia was growing up around NASA. There were people of all ages, all backgrounds, many with wide ranges of experience and an admirable intellectual sophistication.”  

Most of the university’s newly hired charter faculty were young.  

“I recall that during the first semester someone calculated that the average age of the students was slightly higher than the average age of the faculty,” Malin said. 

Throughout the years as the university flourished, so too has its family of alumni. 

“One of the amazing and affirming revelations that come from the stories of our alumni is that getting an education at UHCL offers a world of opportunities,” said Dion McInnis, retired associate vice president of university advancement. “From the 56,000-plus alumni, we hear many stories from poets and doctors, artists and lawyers, entrepreneurs and inventors, and so much more. Because of the university’s focus on connections to the community, the UHCL experience is practical and practicable, enabling students to utilize their educational experiences immediately.”  

UHCL continues to grow and thrive. In the fall of 2014, UHCL became a four-year institution, offering freshman- and sophomore-level courses for the first time. UHCL President Ira Blake spoke at her 100th day address on Nov. 15, 2017, about how the university’s past will further shape its future.  

“My review of our history – the purpose of our creation, the quality of our faculty, the integration of classroom theory and real-world problem-solving, the love and commitment of you all to this university and our public’s hope for an even more integral role in our region – tells me that we can become ‘The University of Choice’ within our region and beyond,” Blake said. “We know that the work is hard – that is true of the nature of teaching and learning – both teacher and learner should at sometimes get a headache. But there is no better work to do if one wants to accomplish something better, drive progress and contribute to transformation.”