Almost thirty years ago, the University of Houston Board of Regents was faced with a difficult decision — replacing longtime UH president Philip G. Hoffman.
President Hoffman was the quintessential tough act to follow. The unusual administrator who was respected by faculty, administrators, and regents alike, President Hoffman sheparded UH during the era from early 1960’s to the late 1970’s as the university transformed from a sleepy city college into Texas’ first dynamic urban university. An example of President Hoffman’s influence is the fact that, when he took office in 1962, UH was admitting its first minority student and, when he retired as UH president in 1977, UH had become Texas’ most fully-integrated state university by far. Other accomplishments during his tenure included reorganization of UH’s administration into that of a major university, completion of the university’s first real master plan for campus development, implementation of the initial stages of the University of Houston System of campuses, and overseeing the rise of UH’s athletic teams into national powers.
So, given President Hoffman’s accomplishments and stature, the UH Board really needed to make a splash in naming his replacement. Their choice? 35 year-old wunderkind, Barry A. Munitz.
Mr. Munitz was an interesting choice. Hired a year or so earlier as Vice-President and Dean of Faculties at UH’s central campus, the young Mr. Munitz and his glamorous wife cut a sophisticated and trendy swath through UH social circles. The theory behind Mr. Munitz’s appointment was that he represented the new wave of college administrator who encouraged ties between the business and university communities.

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Inasmuch as my utterly unprofessional opinion is that the Houston area is going to be hammered by a hurricane this season, just a note to let you know that Tropical Depression 3 has just formed in the Atlantic. Current projections have the storm crossing the Yucatan of Mexico, entering the Gulf of Mexico, and heading towards the upper Texas coast, where current forecasts have it reaching the coast by Wednesday morning or so. While over the Gulf, the depression is likely to intensify into a tropical storm if it survives the journey. While satellite imagery and forecast models indicate weakening, upper level conditions over the Gulf support strengthening.
One thing to note during the hurricane season is that computer models do a better job of predicting the track of a storm than its intensity, where an experienced forecaster’s gut reaction often is better than the computer models.
Frankly, a not-too-powerful storm would be welcomed in the Houston area right now as the area is suffering from a combination of typical hot summer tempuratures and a mini-drought over about the past 45 days.