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HOLLYWOOD PIZAZZ AND ALUMNI GENEROSITY MAKE “The EENR Center is and should be the center of all things related to
GALA ’17 A SWINGING SUCCESS energy, environment, and natural resources.”
It was a night of glitz and glamour as University of Houston Law Center
held its 41st Annual Law Gala & Auction at the Hilton Americas with the UHLC PROF. EVANS CHAMPIONS “HIDDEN FIGURES”
theme “Hollywood Swing.” AT LONDON CONFERENCE ON ‘CITIZEN SCIENCE’
More than 550 guests filled the hotel’s Ballroom of the Americas, University of Houston Law Center Professor Barbara Evans traveled
bedecked with rich red lighting and black and gold accents surrounded to London to deliver the keynote address at a conference exploring the
by lush flowers and lights, to honor outstanding faculty and alumni of growing worldwide citizen science movement on March 2.
the Law Center, including The Honorable Mary E. Bacon ’72, Judith A. Citizen science occurs when ordinary
Blissard ’87, Tony Buzbee ’97, Michelle Gray ’11, The Honorable Eva laypeople assume the roles of innovators
M. Guzman, William J. Jackson ’92, Greg King ’85, George Levkoff ’85, and researchers in a people-driven
Professor Michael A. Olivas, Gary W. Orloff ’73, Ricky A. Raven ’86, The process of scientific discovery, as opposed
Honorable Randy Wilson ’77 and the law firm, Andrews Kurth Kenyon. to treating research as the exclusive
Alex Roberts ’06, a partner at Beck Redden LLP, chaired the 41st Annual province of professional scientists who
Law Gala with his wife Anne Roberts. handle discovery for a disengaged public.
Dean Leonard M. Baynes, spoke about the success of the Law Center “We tend to forget that all throughout
and shared with attendees exciting developments with the Cornerstone history, regular people were the main
Club campaign to support a new law building. drivers of scientific discovery. A few
UH System Chancellor Renu Khator took the stage to congratulate the citizen scientists became famous, like
Carl Linneaus in the 18th century and
Law Center on this year’s accomplishments and to honor Buzbee as Charles Darwin in the 19th, but there
winner of the Dean’s Award. Barbara Evans were innumerable ‘hidden figures’ like the
Auctioneer Vincent J. Montalbano performed a lively “Paddles Up” women who invented settled agriculture millennia ago by figuring out
speed fundraiser where attendees were encouraged to donate on the how to cultivate plants from seeds,” Evans noted.
spot to support student scholarship. The “Paddles Up” and live and
silent auctions raised more than $99,000. The auction was co-chaired NATIONAL LAWMAKERS OFFER VARYING PERSPECTIVES
by Michelle Gray. The event overall raised nearly $500,000, which ON ENERGY POLICY AT UHLC-HOSTED SYMPOSIUM
will fund scholarships, advocacy programs, faculty research, student
organizations, library acquisitions, technology advances, student A discussion that analyzed the implications of President Donald Trump’s
recruitment, and other student activities at the Law Center. administration’s energy policies and their potential impact on the
Following the auction, attendees danced the night away to the musical industry, economy, and the future of the planet brought several U.S.
stylings of the Richard Brown Orchestra. congressmen to the University of Houston Law Center.
“The Future of Energy Policy,” was the final symposium of the UH
Energy Symposium Series.
U.S. NEWS RANKS UHLC ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND
ADVOCACY PROGRAMS AMONG NATION’S BEST The opening speaker was Wayne Christian, a commissioner on the
The University of Houston Law Center’s Environment, Energy & Natural Railroad Commission of Texas. Christian was elected to the agency in
November 2016. Christian represented District 9 in the Texas House of
Resources Center and the Blakely Advocacy Institute were recognized for Representatives from 1997-2005 and again from 2007-2013.
environmental law and trial advocacy respectively by U.S. News & World
Report. UHLC’s trial advocacy program ranked No. 21 and environmental Rep. Gene Green, a 1977 Law Center alumnus, followed. Green was
law ranked No. 28. elected to the Congress from the 29th Congressional District in 1992
“The Law Center has a tremendous advocacy program and it is good to see after 20 years in the Texas legislature. He is the ranking member for
the subcommittee on health and also serves on the subcommittees on
our excellence being noticed on a national scale,” said Blakely Advocacy energy, environment and digital commerce and consumer protection.
Institute Executive Director, Jim Lawrence ’07.
For the Law Center’s Environment, Energy & Natural Resources Center, Rep. Pete Olson was the final speaker. Olson was elected in 2008.
He serves as vice chair of the energy and power subcommittee and
it marks a first appearance in the U.S. News & World Report’s rankings is a member of the communications and technology subcommittee.
since EENR was founded in 2008. He also serves on the environment subcommittee and co-chairs the
“Houston is the energy capital of the world,” said Professor Darren Bush. Congressional Refinery Caucus and Corrosion Caucus.

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