UH President Renu Khator was honored by the Greater Houston Partnership and the Kiwanis Club of Houston as International Business Executive of the year.
Presented annually for 25 years, the International Executive award recognized Khator for her global leadership that continues to make Houston the center of international business. Concentrating on innovations, business strategies and vision, the International Executive of the year is one of GHP’s most prestigious international business awards and events, said University associate director of media relations Shawn Lindsey.
“The award was completely unexpected,” Khator said. “When you look at the list of previous honorees, including former Shell Oil President John Hofmeister, Texas Medical Center President Richard Wainerdi and the late four-term U.S. Senator from Texas Lloyd M. Bentsen, I never imagined I would be in such esteemed company for an honor like this.”
During Khator’s career at UH, the University has experienced record-breaking amounts of research funding, enrollment and private support, Lindsey said.
Under Khator’s administration, UH graduates more than 8,000 students each year, most remain in Houston, contributing to increasing a skilled workforce. Additionally, UH has served as a magnet for scholars around the globe — enrolling more than 3,350 students from a 153 countries.
“Being in Houston provides significant locational endowments,” Khator said. “We are fortunate to have relative economic prosperity, job growth and highly skilled graduates that are needed for our energy and healthcare business to grow and thrive.”
Her vision for the UH Energy Research Park, a 75-acre campus south of the University, will help fuel the industry’s future workforce needs and offer a challenging environment for research that fosters innovative public-private partnerships, she said.
“The role of a public Tier One university is to help fuel that growth and serve as a hub of innovation — that will help our region attract the best and brightest from around the world to study, work and call Houston home,” Khator said.
Health care is also an important regional industry with Houston being home to the largest medical center in the world, she said.
“The UH system provides a large portion of the education and research programs needed to sustain and grow this region’s healthcare enterprise,” Khator said. “More than 50 percent of all research expenditures at UH are health related.”
Khator’s honor was presented Thursday at a luncheon at the Hyatt Regency Houston, located on 1200 Louisiana St.
“It was a wonderful honor and great recognition of University Houston as an international university in an international city,” Khator said.
“I am especially appreciative of the continuing support of the Greater Houston Partnership — whose strong endorsement of our dive to Tier One meant so much to our achieving that prestigious designation. I told the audience that I humbly accept this honor on behalf of all Cougars who bleed red.”
With respect to growth, UTSA is growing far faster.
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