WOLFF CENTER LEADS
NATION IN UNDERGRAD
ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The UH Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship has been basking in the spotlight recently. 

In addition to being named the nation’s No. 1 undergraduate entrepreneurship program by The Princeton Review, it also received a $13 million gift from the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Family Foundation. Enhancing the donation is an additional $2 million matching grant expected from the state of Texas, bringing its total anticipated impact to $15 million. 

“We are passionate about entrepreneurship and how it can forever change students’ lives,” said Bauer Dean Paul A. Pavlou. “We seek to further promote entrepreneurship as a university-wide, even city-wide effort, by collaborating within and across the university in a multitude of areas, such as technology, health care, arts and sports.” 

The foundational $13 million gift is being used to create three endowments for the Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship:

• $7 million to create the Dave Cook Leadership Endowment, named after center director Dave Cook, to support leadership roles within the Wolff Center to ensure its ongoing success 
• $4 million to create the Wolff Legacy Endowment, to support activities that will increase the number of students involved in the Wolff Center, increase the number of businesses created by Wolff Center students and alumni and continue the level of excellence reflected in its top national rankings 
• $2 million to create the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Endowed Chair(s)/ Professorship(s) in Entrepreneurship, supporting new research in entrepreneurship, expanding student participation in entrepreneurship across the University and increasing community outreach 

Within the past decade, program participants have started 1,270 businesses, with identified funding of just more than $268 million. The Center is consistently ranked as one of the most innovative undergraduate programs in the world and integrates both the “head” and “heart” of the entrepreneur into the curriculum and immersive experiences. 

Between 35 and 40 students each year are accepted into the program, which was launched in 1991 and named for Houston philanthropists Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff in 2007. However, about 2,500 UH students take at least one entrepreneurship course every year. 

"We are passionate about entrepreneurship and how it can forever change students’ lives."

“Entrepreneurship is crucial for the future of our country, as well as our city and state,” said UH President Renu Khator. “We are proud to be at the forefront of work around entrepreneurial training and research. The uniqueness of our program has and continues to make it the model program. This extraordinary gift ensures our leadership in this space will continue and will support the creation of businesses, change communities and impact our students’ lives.”