For the first time in the University System’s history the Board of Regents has elected all female regents to fill the positions of chair, vice chair, and secretary of the board.
UH Law Center alumna Carroll Robertson Ray will serve as the board’s chair. Fellow Law Center alumna Nelda Luce Blair will serve as vice chair. Journalist and philanthropist Michele (Mica) McCutchen Mosbacher will serve as secretary.
Ray, a board member since 2008, will be one of only four women elected to the position.
She will be taking over for three-term chair Welcome W. Wilson, Sr., for whom Ray holds an enormous amount of respect.
“He was a great leader and we are very appreciative for all he has done,” Ray said.
Ray currently chairs the board’s academic and student success committee and says her main goal as chair will be to assist Provost John Antel and his staff in continuing to implement programs which help students reach their graduation goals.
Making sure admissions and financial aid are as customer-friendly and efficient as possible is another top priority.
“It was not long ago that I was a law student, and there were some less than efficient offices,” Ray said. “I think as a university we can do better and the students deserve better.”
Blair has been a board member since 2008 and currently chairs the board’s facilities, construction and master planning committee.
She hopes the University will receive the required funding needed to proceed with some of the new residence and construction plans.
As the board’s future vice chair and the current liaison for government relations, Blair says she is dedicated to helping the University obtain the necessary funding to help reach Tier One status.
“The University of Houston represents its city more than many other universities,” Blair said. “My hope is that the community and businesses around Houston begin to recognize what a gem it really is.”
Mosbacher, a board member since 2008 as well, also aims to be fully engaged in the University’s goal of becoming a Tier One university.
She serves as a member of the academic and student success committee and believes that giving the students the resources to succeed, both academically and financially, is vital to the University’s success.
“The culture of the University has shifted and we are now a more goal-oriented university,” Mosbacher said.
Ray, Blair and Mosbacher will take office on Sept. 1.
All-female? Could they have been half-female? Quarter-female?
Or even quarter-unicorn? 😛