Seen & Heard: Wolff Center #1 Entrepreneurship Ranking Celebration
Bauer College Hosts Campus Leadership, Donors For Ranking Announcement
Published on November 12, 2019
The first floor lobby of Melcher Hall was transformed into a celebratory party ― complete with the Spirit of Houston Cougar Marching Band ― as the C. T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston announced to the campus community that The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur have ranked the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship as No. 1 on the 2020 list of Top 50 Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship Studies.
Wolff Center Director Dave Cook and students from the program celebrated the number one ranking by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur at a Bauer College announcement celebration.
The event included remarks from Bauer College Dean Paul A. Pavlou, UH President Renu Khator and UH Provost Paula Short, along with a special tribute to Wolff Center benefactor and supporter Cyvia Wolff.
Here, we capture some of the moments seen and heard at the ranking celebration.
Dean Paul A. Pavlou
Dean Paul A. Pavlou, who joined Bauer College on July 1, celebrates the ranking with his very own Wolff Center jacket, which students in the program earn after acceptance.
“Here, in Houston, in the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship in the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston: we are #1 in the world!”
“Entrepreneurship is such an important component of the Wolff Center, Bauer College, the University of Houston, the city of Houston and even beyond. Being number one in this space is truly remarkable.”
“Entrepreneurship is a broader concept. We want to collaborate across technology, engineering, medicine, health care, sports, the arts.”
“The ranking is based on 60 data points and a complex formula. It’s real hard data, based on number of businesses started, money raised, how many courses in entrepreneurship, how many faculty and mentors involved. It’s not just opinions but real hard data.”
“We have over 450 mentors helping our students. Thank you to all the mentors over the city and the nation.”
“Special thanks to a great supporter of the Wolff Center, Mrs. Cyvia Wolff! Thank you for all your support. We look forward to making you proud.”
Wolff Center students presented Cyvia Wolff with a flower arrangement as a token of thanks for her support of the program.
“We honor the legacy of two legendary figures in the Wolff Center ― Melvyn Wolff, who named the center with his wife Cyvia in 2008, passed away in 2017, and William ‘Bill’ Sherrill, the founder of the program, passed away in September. They set the vision and foundation for the success of the center, and while they’re not here with us, we appreciate their contributions that made this possible.”
Dean Paul A. Pavlou, Cyvia Wolff and UH President Renu Khator celebrated the ranking news with Bauer College students, faculty and staff.
UH President Renu Khator
“How appropriate it is that an entrepreneurship in the city of Houston should be ranked number one. Where else could you expect to have the number one entrepreneurship program?”
“I have seen you, not just in your class, but around campus with your (Wolff Center) jackets on. The most important thing, I always find you so articulate, so poised and so respectful. You are role models for so many students.”
“January 15, 2008, is an extremely important date for many reasons. This program is very close to my heart, as are Cyvia and Melvyn. It was my very first day on this campus, and on that day, in the afternoon, Melvyn and Cyvia announced their first gift to name our center for entrepreneurship. Cyvia, I know what you said you wanted to see and do on that day, and I hope Melvyn is smiling down on us today. He wanted this to be an opportunity for students like nowhere else, taking students several times to see Warren Buffett and giving them an experience like no other.”
“Once you become number one in the world, what do you do next? We need to take the spirit of entrepreneurship and not limit it to this program. We need to scale it up and spread to all the students at the University of Houston and synergize with the city so that our city continues to become the city for innovation and entrepreneurship.”
“Every time I go in front of any audience now, I’m going to be bragging about our number one program in entrepreneurship!”
UH Provost Paula Short
“The thing that’s impressed me is the fact that it’s so strong academically. You (entrepreneurship students) are the cream of the crop academically. This program challenges you to achieve at levels that are just phenomenal and set an example for the rest of the university.”
“This is a program with experiential learning. It’s so important to have the experience out in the world to tie what you’re learning in the classroom to the real world.”
“You have people out there who care about you. The connections you’re making with all the Wolff Center mentors ― 450, wow. These are very accomplished, busy people who have decided it’s important to spend time with you and help you understand how to navigate the world you’ll enter and become wonderful entrepreneurs yourselves.”
