University of Houston

Lubbock, Texas radio broadcaster Mike Gustafson took some photos of the University of Houston earlier this spring when in town to call the Texas Tech-Houston baseball series. This is the third campus Mike has photographed (along with Rice and Baylor) and, as always, I greatly appreciate his generosity. I did a postdoctoral fellowship at UH from 1989-1991 (pre-Internet) and had not been back to the campus since, so it was interesting for me to see what it looks like 34 years later!

A major landmark on the UH campus is the Ezekiel Cullen Building, which hosts administrative offices.

One of the majors for which UH is best known is hospitality (hotel and restaurant) management. As shown in the next picture, the Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership features its own hotel, where students gain hands-on experience in hotel operations.

Next is the Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts.

UH has two adjoining Student Centers, North and South. Here is the latter...

Another student amenity is the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center, shown next.

Lastly are the UH Cougars' two football facilities, TDECU Stadium* and the indoor practice building.

*Standing for Texas Dow Employees Credit Union.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Mark Armour, a Facebook friend of mine who I meet through the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), posted some photos of his alma mater, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on the social media site a while back and kindly agreed to let me use them here. RPI is located in Troy, New York, as part of the Tri-City Capital District of Albany-Schenectady-Troy. 

As Rensselaer's full name implies, technology is a huge part of its mission. Most (44%) students major in engineering, followed by computer science (21%). Other fields such as math, statistics, physical sciences, and biology draw a few percentage each. Fields outside the sciences such as business and the arts also draw a few percentage (source). Accordingly, you'll see mainly STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) facilities among the campus photos below.

Shown first is the Voorhees Computing Center. One year ago, the center received the first IBM quantum computer to be located on a college campus.

Following is the Walker Laboratory, built in 1906, which hosts Chemistry.

Related to Chemistry is Chemical Engineering, which is housed in the Ricketts Building (along with Biological Engineering).

Next is the Greene Building, home of the School of Architecture. 

According to the School's website:

The history of the School of Architecture at Rensselaer dates back to 1848 when Benjamin Franklin Greene, the senior professor, and director at Rensselaer at that time, traveled to Europe to undertake the first systematic study of educational models, examining, among others, the École Des Beaux-Arts and École Politechnique in Paris. Upon his return, he wrote, The True Idea of a Polytechnic, premised on looking forward to the creation of a new world. He proposed the “Rensselaer School” become “The Rensselaer Polytechnic of Engineering and Architecture,” asserting Architecture to be essential to any polytechnic “worthy of the name.”

The Lally School of Management (below) shows the hilly terrain of the RPI campus.

The Troy Building, formerly the home of Civil Engineering, now hosts the President, Provost, and various Vice Presidents.

Finally, there is one building I was unable to identify.

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah -- photographed for this blog entry by Carson Dover, an alumnus of the school (BS, MS) -- has an especially scenic campus. As one observer noted, "pretty much the entire BYU campus is surrounded by the Rocky Mountains' Wasatch Range." Carson is now a new graduate student with us at Texas Tech University and he kindly took these photos for the blog.

The mountains also frame the Wilkinson Student Center...

... the new Engineering Building (which opened circa 2019)...

... the entry to the Harold B. Lee Library ...

... and this plaza of blooming trees.

One additional aspect of the location is the presence of "Y Mountain," a half-mile from campus and shown at this link. According to the linked article:

Preparations for placing the initials BYU on the mountainside began in April of 1906 when president George H. Brimhall commissioned surveyors for the letters "B," "Y" and "U." The letter "Y" was first laid out to insure that the initials were properly centered on the mountain. Beginning in the early morning, students formed a line that zigzagged up the mountainside. Standing eight feet apart, each student would carry a load of lime powder up to the next person and then return for another. 

Officials expected to complete laying out all three letters by 10 a.m. By 4 p.m., only the Y was covered. After such a laborious day of work, plans to fill in the other two letters were scrapped.

Other important structures on the BYU campus include the Spiral Walkway (seen from overhead at this link)...

... the Tree of Wisdom (which has been relocated and rebuilt a few times)...

... and the Visitors Center...

Ultimately, though, as proclaimed on this university sign, "The world is our campus."

Fresno State University

One of our Texas Tech graduate students, Emma Willis-Grossmann, visited her undergraduate alma mater Fresno State University earlier this spring. While there, she photographed the university's architectural award-winning library and she was kind enough to share her photos. Here are two perspectives on the library, one without and one with the intense California sun!

According to the Fresno State library website, the stunning feature we see above is "the Table Mountain Rancheria Tower, which is a striking five-story elliptical tower of glass, steel and angled-wood lattice that symbolizes a twined Native American basket."

Baylor University

Lubbock sportscaster and all-around good guy Mike Gustafson traveled to Waco in mid March to do radio for the Texas Tech at Baylor baseball series and was kind enough to take photos of the Baylor campus. 

The following picture of the Mark & Paula Hurd Welcome Center seems like a good one with which to welcome readers to this photo essay...

Another prominent structure on college campuses is the library. Here is Moody Library (part of the main Moody and Jones research libraries, which have a Starbucks!).

Professors presumably can get their nourishment at the McMillan-Connelly Faculty Center...

Some of the academic buildings include the Baylor Fine Arts Center...

McCrary Music Building...

and the Baylor Sciences Building...

Russell Hall, divided into a North and a South area, is a residential complex. North Russell has become known of late as a home for international students...

Next is Harrington House, which has served a number of different purposes at the university over the years.

With Baylor being a religiously affiliated institution, two major campus buildings are the Truett Theological Seminary...

and Miller Memorial Chapel...

Finally, a campus-photo ensemble from Mike wouldn't be complete without a shot of the baseball stadium...

University of California, San Diego

 Earlier this summer, I attended an academic conference in San Diego. 

I had hoped to visit a few different college campuses while there but only had time to visit one, the University of California, San Diego. From the Old Town Transit Center, it was easy enough to catch a light-rail train (known in San Diego as a trolley) to UCSD's campus in the community of La Jolla.

Despite the institution existing for only 62 years (young, as far as major universities go), UCSD "faculty, researchers, and alumni have won 27 Nobel Prizes as well as three Fields Medals [in mathematics], eight National Medals of Science, eight MacArthur Fellowships, and three Pulitzer Prizes," according to Wikipedia.

Perhaps because it developed during the counterculture 1960s, UCSD has some rather eccentric and eclectic architecture on campus. Shown below first is the Geisel Library (1970), named after Theodor Seuss Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) and his wife Audrey. 

Shown next is the Jacobs School of Engineering, which features a seemingly precarious house that was hoisted to the top via crane in 2011. Presumably it illustrates some type of engineering or physics principle! People can go inside the house but it's not something I would have wanted to do.

Not quite as exotic but still interesting is the "neighborhood" containing the Social Sciences Public Engagement and Arts and Humanities complexes. As indicated by the red arrow below, there is an outdoor terrace midway up the building.

Other parts of the campus are geared to promote entertainment, arts, and relaxation. One can attend events at the Epstein Family Amphitheater...

...enjoy campus murals...

...get a little rest on a hammock...

...or look out at mountains.

University of Alabama

The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa is probably best known for its national championship Crimson Tide football teams under legendary coaches Paul "Bear" Bryant (1958-1982) and Nick Saban (2007-present). Below are two shots of Bryant-Denny Stadium, which holds over 100,000 fans and recently received a $100 million renovation.

The U of A is also known historically for other things than football. Alabama was among the many Southern universities that were linked to slavery and practiced Whites-only admission until the early 1960s (or thereabouts). Today, the University features historical markers and programs to acknowledge these facts.

Two weeks ago, my wife attended an academic conference at the U of A and kindly took several pictures for this website (including the ones above). The first two photos below are named after members of the Gorgas family (information on the buildings' histories from here). Immediately below is Gorgas House, named after former University President (and Confederate General) Josiah Gorgas...

The Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library appears next. Ms. Gorgas was a University librarian and wife of Josiah.

Next is the Little Round House. This small building has served many purposes over the years, which are described on the associated plaque.

One of the few exceptions to the campus's predominant red-brick motif is the President's House...

For those seeking a quiet area for reflection and introspection, the benches in the following photo would fit the bill...

Finally, we have the Elephant Statue near the football stadium. How an elephant mascot came to be associated with U of A is described here.

Alabama.com has a photo essay on 41 campus buildings for those of you wishing to see more of the U of A.