FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 11, 2006

Contact: Eric Gerber
713.743.8189 (office)
281.627.2065 (cell)
egerber@uh.edu

HOUSTON, May 11, 2006 – Gov. Rick Perry has named Welcome W. Wilson Sr. and Jim P. Wise, both alumni of the University of Houston Bauer College of Business, to serve as regents for the UH System, through August 31, 2011, effective immediately.

Wilson is chairman and CEO of GSL Industrial Partners, LP, and Wise is Managing Member of Haddington Energy Partners III L.L.C., a private equity fund providing capital to the energy industry.

The UHS Board of Regents is the governing body for the system’s four universities – University of Houston,
UH-Clear Lake, UH-Downtown and UH-Victoria.

Wilson and Wise are replacing Morrie Abramson and Thad “Bo” Smith, respectively, who completed their six-year terms in August. Regents continue to serve after their term until new regents have been appointed by the governor. Regent Morgan Dunn O’Connor, who also has completed a six-year term, will continue to serve at the pleasure of the governor until a replacement is appointed.

“Morrie Abramson and Bo Smith have served the UH System inexhaustibly and with great skill and commitment in a number of capacities on the board. Their insight and expertise, both as highly successful businessmen and as very involved alumni, will be missed around the board table, but we fully intend to keep them as active advisers to the university and the UH System,” said Leroy Hermes, chairman of the UH System Board of Regents.

“We are very pleased to have two equally committed and talented alumni join us on the Board in Welcome Wilson and Jim Wise. Both have long-standing relationships with the University of Houston and bring great business acumen to their service,” Hermes said.

Chancellor Jay Gogue expressed his appreciation for the devoted and tireless service of the outgoing regents and his pleasure in welcoming the two new members to the board.

“Serving as a public university regent is an amazingly complex role, requiring skills ranging from architecture to finance to fund-raising and helping generate public support. Morrie Abramson and Bo Smith have been tireless leaders and advocates for the UH System and their efforts will have benefits for many years,” he said.

“I know that Welcome Wilson and Jim Wise, with their commitment to their alma mater and their corporate and community experience and leadership, will bring equally powerful support and counsel to the UH System for the future.”

Wilson joined the University of Houston in 1946, transferring in as a junior and graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1949. He came with the rush of veterans returning to school and saw his first semester with 3,500 total students swell to 10,500 by the next fall. He has watched and participated in that growth ever since.

“I am unabashedly pleased and honored to have been selected by Governor Perry to serve my university as a member of the Board of Regents,” Wilson said. “I served as business manager of the Cougar student newspaper in college, which before this appointment was the best job I ever had. I look forward to serving the University of Houston and the UH System to help us reach our greatest potential for the good of the city of Houston and the state of Texas.”

Wise is a native Houstonian and graduated from the UH College of Business (now the Bauer College) in 1966. He has more than 40 years of operational and financial experience in industries ranging in size and scope from the financial and energy sectors to the chemical and construction fields. He is a Certified Public Accountant and an active volunteer leader in Houston. He is a member of the C.T. Bauer College of Business Dean’s Executive Advisory Board and is a distinguished alumnus of the college.

“I was very excited and pleased to accept Gov. Rick Perry’s appointment to serve on the UH System Board of Regents since it marries my passions for the University of Houston and the City of Houston, both of which have blessed my family throughout our lives,” Wise said.

“The future success of Houston and this university system are tied directly together,” Wise said. “We must continue to provide a quality education at a reasonable cost to ensure that Houston has a well-educated workforce to lead our city in this new global economy. And Houston must be our strongest partner in developing new programs and reaching to greater excellence, to ensure that the University of Houston and the UH System are able to deliver the education, research and services that are required for today and for tomorrow.”

For additional information about the UHS Board of Regents, see http://www.uhsa.uh.edu/regents/.

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM

The University of Houston System is the state’s only metropolitan higher education system, encompassing four universities and two multi-institution teaching centers. The universities are the University of Houston, a nationally recognized doctoral degree-granting, comprehensive research university; the University of Houston-Downtown, a four-year undergraduate university beginning limited expansion into graduate programs; and the University of Houston-Clear Lake and the University of Houston-Victoria, both upper division and master’s-level institutions. The centers are the UH System at Sugar Land in Fort Bend and the UH System at Cinco Ranch. In addition, the UH System includes KUHF-FM, Houston’s National Public Radio and classical radio station, and KUHT-TV, the nation’s first educational television station.

For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.