$5M grant expands entrepreneurship opportunities at UH

coming soon

Known as the Wayne B. Duddlesten Free Enterprise Institute, the new program will operate in association with the UH Bauer College’s Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship and be open to all UH students. Photo via bauerticker.uh.edu

A $5 million gift from the Wayne Duddlesten Foundation will establish expanded opportunities for entrepreneurship at the University of Houston, according to an announcement from the college earlier this month.

Known as the Wayne B. Duddlesten Free Enterprise Institute, the new program will operate in association with the UH Bauer College’s Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship and be open to all UH students. It's expected to launch in 2024.

UH staff from the Duddlesten Institute and the Wolff Center will be able match budding entrepreneurs across campus with mentors, offer website-building resources, provide legal services and other tools.

"Our goal is to empower imaginative thinkers from idea to market," Paul A. Pavlou, dean of the Bauer College of Business and Cullen Distinguished Chair Professor, said in a statement. "We will support the process from a concept to incubation and continue offering necessary resources all the way to launching a successful new business.”

Dave Cook, executive director of the Wolff Center, said the new institute will create a new type of "synergy across campus."

"It will help create a fabric of innovation, talent, financial, legal and technical service along with a commitment to long held values of the importance of character and integrity as businesses are created," Cook said. "We are honored to share this vision through this collaboration.”

Duddlesten has been a longtime supporter of the university. The successful real estate developer, who's credited for bringing the Rockets to Houston in the '70s, was a Houston native and UH graduate.

His foundation donated $5 million to establish an endowed scholarship at Bauer for students studying entrepreneurship or real estate in 2020. It also established an endowed Tier One Scholarship and endowed scholarship in the Graduate College of Social Work, as well as 25 one-time scholarships for Wolff Center students over the years.

Duddlesten also served as a trustee emeritus and advisory board member for the UH Foundation and the UH System Development Board before his death in 2010.


Earlier this academic year, Rice University also unveiled a new facility dedicated to Ralph O'Connor, former president and CEO of the Highland Oil Company and founder of Ralph S. O’Connor & Associates. The $152 million, state-of-the-art facility features five floors of labs, classrooms and seminar rooms, and is Rice's largest core campus research facility. Click here to read more.
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Rice University and the University of Houston each ranked No. 1 on lists on entrepreneurship programs. Photo courtesy of Rice University

Houston schools reign supreme on lists of best universities for entrepreneurship

we're No. 1

Perhaps Houston warrants a new nickname in addition to Space City and Bayou City. How about Entrepreneurship City?

Rice University tops a new list of the top 25 graduate entrepreneurship programs in the U.S., and the University of Houston lands atop a new list of the top 50 undergraduate entrepreneurship programs. Rice and UH repeated their No. 1 rankings from last year. The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine published both lists November 17.

The Princeton Review ranked graduate and undergraduate entrepreneurship programs based on a survey of administrators at more than 300 graduate and undergraduate schools that offer entrepreneurship programs. Schools were rated according to more than 40 metrics, including the percentage of students taking entrepreneurship courses, the number of startups founded by recent alumni, and the cash prizes offered at school-sponsored business plan competitions.

The Princeton Review, a provider of tutoring, test prep, and college admission services, noted that businesses launched by graduates of Rice's program have launched have raised more than $5.5 billion in capital over the past 10 years. Meanwhile, graduates of UH's program have started over 1,300 businesses in the past 10 years.

Entrepreneurship initiatives at Rice's Jones Graduate School of Business include the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, which launched in 2000, and its annual Rice Business Plan Competition; the OwlSpark Accelerator, which began in 2012; and the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Lilie), which started in 2015. In addition, Rice is developing the Midtown innovation district anchored by The Ion, set to open next spring.

"Entrepreneurship and the creation of new businesses and industries are critical to Houston and Texas' future prosperity and quality of life," Rice Business Dean Peter Rodriguez says in a release.

Here are two highlights of Rice's offerings:

  • Lilie equips students, faculty and alumni with entrepreneurial prowess through courses, co-curricular opportunities, and resources for founders such as coworking space, mentorship, and equity-free funding. Lilie hosts the university's new venture competition, the H. Albert Napier Rice Launch Challenge, in which Rice-founded teams compete for $65,000 in equity-free prizes.
  • The Rice Alliance's flagship event is the Rice Business Plan Competition, billed as world's richest and largest student startup competition. Startups from across the globe — including one team from Rice — compete in front of over 300 investor and industry judges. The competition awarded more than $1.3 million in prizes in 2020.

At UH, Paul Pavlou, dean of the C.T. Bauer College of Business, says the spirit of entrepreneurship is woven into the DNA of the Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship and the Bauer College.

"Entrepreneurship is at the heart of American business life," Pavlou says in a release. "The culture and values of the Wolff Center allow our students to found successful new companies and bring new and innovative ideas to established organizations. We believe these skills will be even more crucial in the coming years as we seek to rebuild our economy post-COVID-19."

Between 35 and 40 students are accepted each year into the Wolff Center's entrepreneurship program. However, more than 3,000 UH students from 85 different majors took at least one entrepreneurship course last year.

"The students at the Wolff Center are not just passionate about entrepreneurship. They are eager to take the lessons learned in the classroom and enhance their lives," Dave Cook, executive director of the Wolff Center, says in a release. "Purpose isn't just a class in [the center]. It is a challenge to create the best life possible, with a focus on the student's values and on doing good in the world."

Other than UH, these Texas schools appeared on the list of the top 50 undergraduate entrepreneurship programs:

  • Baylor University, No. 7
  • University of Texas at Dallas, No. 18
  • University of Texas at Austin, No. 24
  • Texas Christian University, No. 27
  • Texas A&M University-College Station, No. 35

Aside from Rice, these Texas schools made the list of the top 25 graduate entrepreneurship programs:

  • University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business, No. 6
  • University of Texas at Dallas, Naveen Jindal School of Management, No. 10
  • Texas A&M University-College Station, Mays School of Business, No. 26

"The schools that made our ranking lists for 2021 all offer exceptional entrepreneurship programs," Rob Franek, The Princeton Review's editor in chief, says in a release. "Their faculties are outstanding. Their courses have robust experiential components, and their students receive outstanding mentoring and networking support."

Beyoncé's dad is teaching a must-attend music business class. Photo courtesy of Mathew Knowles

University of Houston music business course to be taught by Mathew Knowles

DESTINY'S DAD WILL SCHOOL YOU

Ever notice how Beyoncé's hair magically flows as if a fan follows her around everywhere she goes? That's not an accident. That attention to image micro-detail is preached by her father, Mathew Knowles, who created Destiny's Child and Music World Entertainment, the label and production company that boasts two of the top-selling superstars of the previous decade.

Now, music mogul Knowles is sharing his considerable knowledge in a new, 15-week virtual master class at the University of Houston's C.T. Bauer College of Business, running from January 25, 2021 to May 10, 2021. Knowles teases that there will be star-caliber guest instructors and appearances. The $3,000 virtual class is limited to 35 students but open to all who are able to register. (UH students and recent alumni can pay a discounted rate of $1,000.)

"I want to change the way we do things in the music business," Knowles says on a Zoom call. "Unfortunately, we have a very high failure rate [in the music industry]. Part of the reason we have this much failure is the business acumen of the team around the artists. It's not their talent. It's their team."

He hopes to change that with the class, dubbed "The Music Industry and the Digital Age." The class isn't specifically for aspiring artists, but aimed at those "behind the microphone," says Knowles. "Some people will be managers. Others will be independent record labels. Others will be in marketing. Artists will be part of this that would like to know business side of this."

Knowles is one of Houston's great success stories. Once a successful executive at Xerox, he recognized that his daughter, Beyoncé, had extraordinary music talent. He created Destiny's Child, held what he called "music bootcamps" at his home, and took night classes in entertainment management at Houston Community College.

From there, he founded his Music World Entertainment empire in 1992 in a Third Ward house, which mirrored his faraway mentor, Quincy Jones, who ensured every aspect of Motown's operation was all under one roof. Knowles would then become one of the most respected business minds in the music industry; he's taught at Texas Southern University; scored a PhD, and crafted management degrees for other schools. His empire boasts more than 100 award-winning albums and an MTV Video Music Award.

But that success, knowledge, and experience came with trial, error, and considerable money lost. "I wish someone had told me, 'Look, you need to really focus on getting the business acumens of the music industry down,'" he says.

That said, even with Destiny's dad's name attached, students shouldn't expect a get-famous-quick lottery ticket path to success with this class. "They think they can go from zero to a hero," Knowles says of that mindset. "This is not a microwave industry. I always say there is a price of admission to the music industry."

Sign us up. Memo to Professor Knowles: May we request guest lectures by Houston royalty Queen Bey and Lizzo?

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

Dean Paul Pavlou of Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston shares how the school quickly pivoted to online classes and services amid the COVID-19 crisis — and how he's taking that tech into future semesters. Photo courtesy of the University of Houston

University of Houston business school dean says he's seen enrollment increase amid COVID-19

HOUSTON INNOVATORS PODCAST EPISODE 31

About a month ago, the University of Houston announced it's waiving the fees for students during the summer semester. With classes across campus switching to online only in light of the pandemic and the country experiencing historic unemployment, UH made accessibility and affordability a priority.

For the C.T. Bauer College of Business, Dean Paul Pavlou realizes the opportunities that online classes bring — like the ability to serve more students.

"One advantage of online learning is it's very flexible — we aren't confined to the classroom," Pavlou says on this week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast. "We've opened up more sections and seats to make it easier for students to sign up."

Bauer has seen enrollment up 70 percent for the summer, and that could be for a few reasons — the waived fees, for instance. But also, with the mandates, many of students' summer plans have been canceled — like travel and internships — have freed up students' time to get ahead in their degree.

The school had just a week to turn its in-person courses into online programming, but that's not all that had to switch to virtual. Library and career services had to make changes as well.

"Career services was one of the most challenging — not because it's so difficult to move online, but because of the tight labor market," Pavlou says. "We were actually pretty close to 100 percent placement before the pandemic."

Ultimately, as he shares on the podcast, Pavlou sees some positive things coming out of this entire experience for the university. The school has been moving forward on creating online-only degree plans that will be more affordable.

"Even when we go back to the classroom eventually, we'll be able to use this technology to supplement the class and then we'll use the classroom time in a more productive fashion," says Pavlou. "In the long run, I see that this technology can help students who cannot physically come to the classroom and can actually get almost the whole experience."

And hey, students don't have to worry about traffic, parking, or sweaty walks across campus to get to class.

Stream the episode with Pavlow below or wherever you get you podcasts — just search for the "Houston Innovators Podcast."


According to a new study, Houston is among the cities most vulnerable to job loss due to the recession caused by COVID-19. Getty Images

COVID-19 could cost Houston 44,000 jobs by the end of the year, says local economist

hits keep coming

No matter whether the outlook leans more toward optimism or pessimism, Houston stands to lose a head-spinning number of jobs in the grips of a coronavirus-induced recession.

Economist Bill Gilmer, director of the Institute for Regional Forecasting at the University of Houston's Bauer College of Business, says a moderate recession could drain as many as 44,000 jobs from the regional economy by the end of 2020. That's out of nearly 3.2 million workers in the Houston metro area.

The job figures might look "much worse" through the second and third quarters of this year, Gilmer says. However, he adds, Houston's job losses should be followed by a "quick recovery" in 2021.

A study published March 27 by personal finance website SmartAsset predicts an even greater impact on employment in Houston.

SmartAsset forecasts 56,469 full-time and part-time jobs in just the city of Houston, or nearly 5 percent of the local workforce, could be lost in a coronavirus recession. In all, more than 282,000 jobs, or 24.6 percent of the city's workforce, could be in jeopardy, according to the study.

John Diamond, director of the Center for Public Finance at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, says he thinks Smart Asset's job-loss estimate is "decent" but might be too low.

In light of the federal government's extension of social-distancing guidelines to April 30 and perhaps further extensions, Diamond believes Houston will suffer "substantial" job losses in the next two to four months. After the social-distancing rules are relaxed, Diamond expects an employment bounce-back later in the year.

"The recovery could be rapid if business supply chains and networks remain intact," Diamond says, "and if oil prices rebound by the end of the year."

For his part, Ed Hirs, an economics lecturer at the University of Houston, pessimistically envisions about 300,000 people in the Houston metro area will lose their jobs, at least in the short term, due to the coronavirus recession and the recent plunge in oil prices. (By comparison, the Economic Policy Institute projects the entire state of Texas will lose 442,717 private-sector jobs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.)

"COVID-19 is going to be kind of a catch-all spring cleaning excuse for a lot of the oil and gas companies as they try to reduce their payroll," Hirs says.

For now, though, concerns about the oil war between Russia and Saudi Arabia must "take a back seat" to concerns about COVID-19, he says.

Aside from the energy industry, the escalating economic slump promises to hit several other prominent business sectors in Houston, including hospitality and manufacturing. Hirs thinks a recession could shrink Houston's 2020 economic output by 10 percent.

"This is across the board," he says, "and has the potential to be extraordinarily devastating."

ThinkWhy, a labor analysis firm, believes the impact of the COVID-outbreak on the Houston job market will be more evident in the blow it delivers to international trade than in any boost it provides to the health care sector. "But the pandemic will no doubt have an impact on both," the firm says.

It's already having a tremendous impact on small and midsize businesses in the Houston area. A March 23-28 survey by the Greater Houston Partnership found 34 percent of those businesses already had reduced their headcounts in response to the COVID-19 slowdown. And 55 percent said they're unsure whether they'll wind up carrying out permanent layoffs in the next six months.

"Houstonians like to embrace the notion that their metro was among the last to enter the Great Recession and was among the first to exit. That's not going to be the case this time," economist Patrick Jankowski, senior vice president of research at the Greater Houston Partnership, wrote in an unvarnished economic assessment published March 20. "All three pillars of Houston's economy — energy, global trade, and the U.S. economy — are tottering. The next 12 to 18 months will likely be very rough for Houston."
UH's business school just received its second largest gift ever. Photo courtesy of University of Houston

University of Houston receives historic $13M gift for its entrepreneurship program

Money moves

University of Houston's C.T. Bauer College of Business has received its second largest donation to benefit its entrepreneurship program.

The Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship, which was recently ranked the top undergraduate entrepreneurship program in the country, received the $13 million gift from its namesake foundation — The Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Family Foundation — and the state of Texas is expected to match an additional $2 million, bringing the total impact to $15 million.

"Our family is deeply committed to the ideals of entrepreneurship," says Cyvia Wolff in a news release. "Our business personified everything that it means to be an entrepreneur. The skills, the thinking, the mindset are fundamental to success for business leaders today and in the future. On behalf of my late husband, we are truly honored to ensure the entrepreneurial legacy not only endures but remains accessible for students. We are truly honored to be part of this program and university."

The money will be used to create three endowments for the program. The Dave Cook Leadership Endowment, named for the center's director, Dave Cook, will be created and funded with $7 million of the donation to support leadership within the organization. For $4 million, the center will create the Wolff Legacy Endowment, which aims to increase students involved in the center, as well as the companies coming out of the program. The last $2 million will be used to create the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Endowed Chair(s)/Professorship(s) in Entrepreneurship. This initiative will support research and community outreach.

"We are passionate about entrepreneurship and how it can forever change students' lives," says Bauer Dean Paul A. Pavlou in the release. "We seek to further promote entrepreneurship as a university-wide, even citywide effort, by collaborating within and across the university in a multitude of areas, such as technology, health care, arts and sports."

The program was created in the mid '90s and was later renamed after Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff in 2007, and has seen great success over the past decade. In that time, Wolff students have created 1,270 businesses, with identified funding of just over $268 million. According to the release, the program has been ranked in the top two spots of the Princeton Review's top undergraduate entrepreneurship programs for nine of the past 12 years.

"Entrepreneurship is crucial for the future of our country, as well as our city and state," says UH President Renu Khator in the release. "We are proud to be at the forefront of work around entrepreneurial training and research. The uniqueness of our program has and continues to make it the model program. This extraordinary gift ensures our leadership in this space will continue and will support the creation of businesses, change communities and impact our students' lives."

At UH, 2,500 students take at least one entrepreneurship course a year, and more than 700 students complete certificate programs.

"What we are doing is transformative in the lives of students, mentors and stakeholders in a way that elevates everyone towards excellence," Cook, who was named the director of the program in 2017, says in the release. "The impact of this gift allows us to remain the leader and to move forward with confidence, purpose and permanence."

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Houston energy trailblazer Fervo closes $462 million Series E

Fresh Funds

Houston-based geothermal energy company Fervo Energy has closed an oversubscribed $462 million series E funding round, led by new investor B Capital.

“Fervo is setting the pace for the next era of clean, affordable, and reliable power in the U.S.,” Jeff Johnson, general partner at B Capital, said in a news release.

“With surging demand from AI and electrification, the grid urgently needs scalable, always-on solutions, and we believe enhanced geothermal energy is uniquely positioned to deliver. We’re proud to support a team with the technical leadership, commercial traction, and leading execution capabilities to bring the world’s largest next-generation geothermal project online and make 24/7 carbon-free power a reality.”

The financing reflects “strong market confidence in Fervo’s opportunity to make geothermal energy a cornerstone of the 24/7 carbon-free power future,” according to the company. The round also included participation from Google, a longtime Fervo Partner, and other new and returning investors like Devon Energy, Mitsui & Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Centaurus Capital. Centaurus Capital also recently committed $75 million in preferred equity to support the construction of Cape Station Phase I, Fervo noted in the release.

The latest funding will support the continued buildout of Fervo’s Utah-based Cape Station development, which is slated to start delivering 100 MW of clean power to the grid beginning in 2026. Cape Station is expected to be the world's largest next-generation geothermal development, according to Fervo. The development of several other projects will also be included in the new round of funding.

“This funding sharpens our path from breakthrough technology to large-scale deployment at Cape Station and beyond,” Tim Latimer, CEO and co-founder of Fervo, added in the news release. “We’re building the clean, firm power fleet the next decade requires, and we’re doing it now.”

Fervo recently won Scaleup of the Year at the 2025 Houston Innovation Awards, and previously raised $205.6 million in capital to help finance the Cape Station earlier this year. The company fully contracted the project's capacity with the addition of a major power purchase agreement from Shell this spring. Fervo’s valuation has been estimated at $1.4 billion and includes investments and support from Bill Gates.

“This new investment makes one thing clear: the time for geothermal is now,” Latimer added in a LinkedIn post. “The world desperately needs new power sources, and with geothermal, that power is clean and reliable. We are ready to meet the moment, and thrilled to have so many great partners on board.”

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This article originally appeared on EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

Baylor center receives $10M NIH grant to continue rare disease research

NIH funding

Baylor College of Medicine’s Center for Precision Medicine Models received a $10 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health last month that will allow it to continue its work studying rare genetic diseases.

The Center for Precision Medicine Models creates customized cell, fly and mouse models that mimic specific genetic variations found in patients, helping scientists to better understand how genetic changes cause disease and explore potential treatments.

The center was originally funded by an NIH grant, and its models have contributed to the discovery of several new rare disease genes and new symptoms caused by known disease genes. It hosts an online portal that allows physicians, families and advocacy groups to nominate genetic variants or rare diseases that need further investigation or new treatments.

Since its founding in 2020, it has received 156 disease/variant nominations, accepted 63 for modeling and produced more than 200 precision models, according to Baylor.

The center plans to use the latest round of funding to bring together more experts in rare disease research, animal modeling and bioinformatics, and to expand its focus and model more complex diseases.

Dr. Jason Heaney, associate professor in the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at BCM, serves as the lead principal investigator of the center.

“The Department of Molecular and Human Genetics is uniquely equipped to bring together the diverse expertise needed to connect clinical human genetics, animal research and advanced bioinformatics tools,” Heaney added in the release. “This integration allows us to drive personalized medicine forward using precision animal models and to turn those discoveries into better care for patients.”

Houston institutions launch Project Metis to position region as global leader in brain health

brain trust

Leaders in Houston's health care and innovation sectors have joined the Center for Houston’s Future to launch an initiative that aims to make the Greater Houston Area "the global leader of brain health."

The multi-year Project Metis, named after the Greek goddess of wisdom and deep thought, will be led by the newly formed Rice Brain Institute, The University of Texas Medical Branch's Moody Brain Health Institute and Memorial Hermann’s comprehensive neurology care department. The initiative comes on the heels of Texas voters overwhelmingly approving a ballot measure to launch the $3 billion, state-funded Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (DPRIT).

According to organizers, initial plans for Project Metis include:

  • Creating working teams focused on brain health across all life stages, science and medical advances, and innovation and commercialization
  • Developing a regional Brain Health Index to track progress and equity
  • Implanting pilot projects in areas such as clinical care, education and workplace wellness
  • Sharing Houston’s progress and learnings at major international forums, including Davos and the UN General Assembly

The initiative will be chaired by:

  • Founding Chair: Dr. Jochen Reiser, President of UTMB and CEO of the UTMB Health System
  • Project Chair: Amy Dittmar, Howard R. Hughes Provost and Executive Vice President of Rice University
  • Project Chair: Dr. David L. Callender, President and CEO of Memorial Hermann Health System

The leaders will work with David Gow, Center for Houston’s Future president and CEO. Gow is the founder and chairman of Gow Media, InnovationMap's parent company.

“Now is exactly the right time for Project Metis and the Houston-Galveston Region is exactly the right place,” Gow said in a news release. “Texas voters, by approving the state-funded Dementia Prevention Institute, have shown a strong commitment to brain health, as scientific advances continue daily. The initiative aims to harness the Houston’s regions unique strengths: its concentration of leading medical and academic institutions, a vibrant innovation ecosystem, and a history of entrepreneurial leadership in health and life sciences.”

Lime Rock Resources, BP and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center served as early steering members for Project Metis. HKS, Houston Methodist and the American Psychiatric Association Foundation have also supported the project.

An estimated 460,000 Texans are living with dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, and more than one million caregivers support them.

“Through our work, we see both the immense human toll of brain-related illness and the tremendous potential of early intervention, coordinated care and long-term prevention," Callender added in the release. "That’s why this bold new initiative matters so much."

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