Page 185 - The First Fifty Years

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ENDURINGLY GREAT 179

what form it’ll have taken, I don’t know, but I’m just confident
in our future.”

Alvin Zimmerman, UHLC Class of 1967:145 “The quality of
the current editorial boards, from what I see, could be the law
review board at any major law school in the country. The young
people I see on that board today, they are spirited, they are high
quality, they are inspirational, they are brilliant and they put out
a journal that’s second to none. So my belief is that the
foundation left by all of us who have gone before has proven to be
a good solid rock that each and every new level of this now very
high rise building can continue to grow on.”

Carol Dinkins, UHLC Class of 1971:146 “Had it not been for
Houston Law Review, my career would have been vastly
different. Houston Law Review today enjoys great prestige,
earned by the hard work of its 50 boards. My fervent
commendation goes to those who have worked so hard to achieve
so much in this half century of excellence, and my deep
appreciation goes to the members of Board 50 who while
fostering the skills and scholarship of today’s students—our
future—have also made the time to capture this inspiring
history.”

***

In the span of its first fifty years, Houston Law Review had
gone from barely birthed to internationally renowned, from cash-
strapped to profitable, from uncomfortable adolescence to
indisputable maturity.

At the end of the day, at the end of these essays, one thing
can be said with certainty. By the conclusion of its fifth decade,
HLR had reached “a place beyond.” As its founders had
predicted, Houston Law Review was now . . .

Enduringly great.

1. The history that follows, except as otherwise noted, is based solely on the
recollections of the senior co-author of this essay.

2. Dan G. Matthews, Editor’s Page, 1 HOUS. L. REV. viii, viii (1963).

3. Law Journals: Submissions and Ranking, WASH. & LEE U. SCH. LAW,
http://lawlib.wlu.edu/LJ/ (last visited Apr. 22, 2013) (follow “access prior surveys” link, then
select “combined score” for 2011; Houston Law Review is ranked 41st out of 1,686 journals).

4. Marvin Nathan, Larry Pirtle, John O’Quinn, Alvin Zimmerman, Carol Dinkins—
these student editors, and countless others, worked tirelessly to create the policies,
procedures, and even institutional pride that would be necessary for the Review first to
achieve existence, then one day to achieve greatness. See Craig Joyce, Driven: The First
Decade of Houston Law Review, supra, at 17–20 (recounting the many efforts of “The Boys of