From the President

Great universities, like Rome, weren't built in a day. Contrary to what some think, erecting buildings is the easy part. But beautiful campuses do not a great university make.

Assembling a great faculty is an important part of the equation. When gifted scholars and teachers come together, intellectual combustion occurs. The robust to-and-fro that takes place in laboratories, offices, and classrooms is nothing less than the forward march of human civilization on a local level.

Gifted students are also essential to the task of building great universities. All students come to institutions of higher education in quest of the knowledge they will need to lead successful lives. However, truly gifted students bring more than a desire for a diploma; they bring an unquenchable curiosity about themselves and their world. They ask tough, probing questions – questions that can lead both them and their teachers into uncharted academic waters.

Gifted students are not just receivers of knowledge; they are catalysts to its formation.

Most important of all are alumni, for the quality of their lives is the final measure of a university's greatness.

Since 1889, Texas A&M University-Commerce has awarded more than 110,000 degrees to deserving students. As alumni, they have reset the course of history for themselves, their families, and their world.

So it's not just about beautiful buildings, although the campus of Texas A&M University-Commerce has indeed undergone a remarkable physical transformation, particularly in the fifteen years since we joined the Texas A&M University System. In reality, the task of building a great university began more than a century ago, and the work remains unceasing to this day. Well into our second century of service, we Lions declare with pride that the world is a better place because this university has served so many, so well.

And the future is just beginning.

Dr. Dan R. Jones
President