a roaring gift

University of Houston nets $4.5 million gift from local family estate

University of Houston central campus exterior Ezekiel Cullen building

University of Houston is the recipient of a generous donation from a local family.

Photo courtesy of University of Houston

The University of Houston Cougars are no doubt licking their wounds after a sound dismissal by Baylor University at the NCAA Men’s Final Four Tournament on April 3. But now, the Coogs have a reason to again roar.

UH has received a $4.5 million gift to establish an endowed chair in the Cullen College of Engineering; a scholarship endowment available to students throughout the University; and an endowed lecture series focused on equity and social justice, which will reside in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

This new gift comes courtesy of the Thomas Michael Panos family estate per, a press release.

Meanwhile, an additional $2 million has been matched by the University’s new “$100 Million Challenge” Aspire Fund — which makes the total impact of the Panos Family Estate gift at least $6.5 million. This is the first matched gift since the fund was established, the school notes.

Breaking down the numbers, $2 million creates a Panos Family endowed chair in mechanical engineering. Another $2 million establishes a scholarship endowment to support need-and-merit-based scholarships for all full-time undergraduate or graduate students. And $500,000 supports “The Panos Family Endowed Lecture in Equity and Social Justice” in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. It’s meant to bring awareness and ideas from local, national and international thought leaders.

A little about the Panos family: In Houston’s early days, elder statesman Thomas Michael Panos emigrated from Greece to the Bayou City with only a sixth-grade education. Thomas and his wife instilled in their children — Mike, Effie and Gus — a passion for education and the importance of giving back, per press materials.

“They were the kind of people who would help anybody,” said Scott Harbers, friend and trustee of the family’s estate, in a statement. (Harbers who lived next door to the Panos family decades ago in what is now Midtown.) “As a family of immigrants, I know they would appreciate the diversity of the student body at the University of Houston. They had a tremendous interest in education and equal rights. I’m hopeful that this gift will help advance the lives of students who need help to complete their studies.”

charity colleges

Best in class

2 Houston schools lead 2025 rankings for top entrepreneurship programs

Rice University, aerial, campus, buildings

Photo courtesy of Rice University

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Rice University and the University of Houston have topped The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur’s lists of the best graduate and undergraduate schools for entrepreneurship studies for 2025.

Neither school is a stranger to the prestigious national rankings.

Rice ranks first in the graduate category for the sixth consecutive year, and UH ranks first in the undergraduate category for the sixth consecutive year.

“At Rice Business, our students learn both inside and outside the classroom, drawing on our strong industry and community connections in Houston and beyond,” says Peter Rodriguez, dean of Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business, in a release. “With small class sizes and tailored programs, we aim to equip our students with the skills to create new ventures and excel in a fast-changing business landscape.”

UH President Renu Khator praises the ranking as recognition for the impact of the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship at the C.T. Bauer College of Business.

“This program is a tremendous asset not only to the University of Houston and the Bauer College of Business, but also to the city of Houston, where entrepreneurship fuels both socioeconomic mobility and economic growth,” Khator says in a release. “We are proud to see the impact of this program reverberate throughout our community.”

Rankings for The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur’s 2025 lists were based on a survey of administrators at nearly 300 schools in the U.S., Canada, and Europe that offer entrepreneurship studies. Among the more than 40 factors used for the rankings were academic programs, faculty credentials, mentorship opportunities, and alumni entrepreneurship ventures.

The only other school in Texas that made either top-10 was the University of Texas at Austin.

The top 10 schools on the list of 50 best graduate schools for entrepreneurship studies in 2025 are:

1. Rice University
2. University of California-Los Angeles
3. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
4. Washington University in St. Louis
5. Babson College
6. University of Washington
7. University of Texas at Austin
8. University of Virginia
9. Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands
10. University of South Florida

The top 10 schools on the list of 50 best undergraduate schools for entrepreneurship studies in 2025 are:

1. University of Houston
2. University of Texas at Austin
3. Babson College
4. University of Washington
5. Washington University in St. Louis
6. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
7. University of Maryland-College Park
8. Miami University of Ohio
9. Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico
10. Northeastern University

The spirit of entrepreneurship is strong in Houston. The city recently ranked No. 7 on a list of the of the 10 best U.S. cities for entrepreneurs to live.

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The story originally was published on our sister site, InnovationMap.

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