Who is the Chancellor of The University of Houston?

Sitting in the president’s office, looking out onto a campus covered in scarlet red and albino white, dreaming of new ways to grow one of the top research institutions is not where Chancellor Renu Khator saw her career going.

Expanding the opportunities in and around the University of Houston as the first woman chancellor, and the first Indian immigrant to lead a Tier one research institution.

Through the last 12-years of her tenure, Chancellor Khator has been able to accomplish, refine, and start new dreams for the university system.

Renu’s dreams for higher education started when she was a teenager living in her native India, wanting to go to college for a bachelor’s degree in political science.

She stated, “My obsession, my passion… was to get the highest degree possible,” and that is what she did.

After being married to her husband, Suresh Khator, Renu moved to the United States and continued to pursue her passion for higher education.

Suresh was studying at Perdue University, and was able to help Renu, a non-English speaker, enroll in the university so she could accomplish her goal.

She earned her Ph. D. in Political Science and Public Administration after years of hard work; which helped her grow in the University of South Florida system.

There, she worked for 22-years climbing through administrative positions until she reached the office of provost; then she was offered an interview to become the chancellor of the University of Houston.

Once Renu decided to take the interview, she looked into UH and everything it had to offer at the time.

“The reason I came here was because I knew what was possible for the university,” she said.

From there, she would begin to compile her list of dreams for the university, including Tier-one status in her first few years.

Tier one distinction came within three-years, an impressive feat that would prove to help expand her idea of what is possible.

Khator understood that all of the dreams she had for the university would require a significant amount of funding.

That need lead to the “Here, We Go” fundraising campaign that reached its goal of $1 billion, 18 months ahead of schedule.

The $1 Billion will fund scholarships, improvements and new projects to increase the overall standing and impact the university has to offer.

“Just all around from sciences, arts athletics,” Renu said. “I believe in comprehensive, overall even excellence.”

Projects being funded by the billion started immediately, including the construction of the Fertitta center -a multipurpose arena- and improvements all over campus.

The latest dream to be realized is the medical school, set to open its doors in the fall of 2020.

Renu wanted to create the medical school after realizing there are many ways to help improve the quality of the community surrounding the UH campus.

“There is a health disparity, there are people [around us] who do not have access to health care,” she stated.

The goal for the medical school is to train students to fill the need for local doctors and health care officials.

Through her career at the University of Houston, Khator has done her best to have all of her dreams for the university to come true and to believe in the future possibilities.

“I feel if you do put your heart and soul in something, you have passion for something. Doors and windows will open. But just have the courage at that time to walk through that door or to peak out that open window.”