Renowned Developer Gives $1 Million to University of Houston, Continuing a Real Love Affair: This is Just His Latest Mega Money Donation

After already having contributed more than $9 million over the years to the University of Houston Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design, international developer Gerald Hines and his wife, Barbara, are continuing to dig deep into their pockets for the acclaimed college. UH has announced that the couple will contribute $1 million for a new Advanced Media Technology Lab, which will give students greater access to emerging technologies in architecture.

The gift is part of the university’s $1 billion “Here, We Go” campaign.

“Innovation, sustainability and superior materials have been integral to my career and part of our firm’s DNA from the start,” Hines said in a statement. “It is my hope that this gift will help to better prepare a new generation of leaders in the built environment.”

Hines’ love affair with the college was firmly established in 1997 when he made a leadership gift of $7 million and the college was subsequently named in his honor. Hines added another million to the coffers in 2014 to support student international scholarships and international programming.

That gift has had far-reaching results, placing the architecture and design college on the international map. At the Venice Biennale in 2014, UH surpassed 100 leading architecture entries from around the world (including prestigious firms such as Rem Koolhaas) to receive the Award for Best Exhibition for its Risky Habitat presentation. Barbara and Gerald Hines and University of Houston president Renu Khator accompanied the UH group, led by Dean Patricia Oliver and Professor Peter Zweig, to Venice.

Last spring, the Hineses joined the college for its presentation at the internationally renowned Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin, Germany. Accompanying the UH group that included Oliver and Khator was Pritzker Prize winning architect Thom Mayne of Morphosis Architects in Los Angeles, who had conducted a series of studios at UH.

“Our gratitude to Gerald and Barbara Hines for their continued generosity cannot be overstated,” Khator said in a statement. “It is this kind of vision and investment that is crucial to expanding opportunities for our students and faculty and pushing the University of Houston to the forefront of innovation.”

Such is the relationship between the college and Hines that when he celebrated his 90th birthday in 2015, he held the bash for 440 in the Philip Johnson-designed college on the UH campus.