University of Houston People

544 Items
Last Updated: 2021-09-08

This historical photograph collection features past UH Presidents and Chancellors, members of the Board of Regents, faculty and department chairs, accomplished athletes, famous campus visitors, and distinguished alumni. Most of the photographs date from the 1980s or earlier. Alphabetized by the subjects’ first names, the collection comprises more than 250 people, many represented by more than one image.

Each person’s photograph is accompanied by her or his UH title or a descriptive paragraph. In addition to notable University figures, the collection contains several photographs of Shasta, the live cougar mascot, in different incarnations through the years (Shasta, Shasta III, and Shasta V).

Visiting dignitaries over the decades include U.S. Presidents Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, and George H.W. Bush; U.S. Representatives and Senators Barbara Jordan, Sheila Jackson Lee, George McGovern, and Phil Gramm; and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. State and regional politicians include Texas Governors Price Daniel, Preston Smith, and Ann Richards; Houston Mayors Oscar Holcombe, Louie Welch, Kathy Whitmire, Bob Lanier, and Lee Brown; and San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros.

Some of the people representing UH’s rich athletic tradition include football coaches Bill Yeoman and Jack Pardee; Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware; track stars Jolanda Jones and Carl Lewis; and Hall of Fame basketball players Elvin Hayes, Clyde Drexler, and Hakeem Olajuwon.

Other famous campus visitors highlighted in this collection include actors Olympia Dukakis, Hal Holbrook, and Lynn Redgrave; local philanthropists Carolyn Farb and Dominique de Menil; playwrights Edward Albee, Ntozake Shange, and Tennessee Williams; author John Irving; hotel magnate Conrad N. Hilton; country singer Kenny Rogers; television reporters and personalities Geraldo Rivera and Marvin Zindler; groundbreaking heart surgeon Michael DeBakey; consumer advocate Ralph Nader; and longtime president of the Motion Picture Association of America (and UH alum) Jack Valenti.

The original materials are available in UH Libraries’ Special Collections in the UH Photographs Collection.

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