Dominic & Ellen Ng Academic Center for Excellence Dedication set for Friday

HOUSTON – The dedication of the completely renovated Dominic & Ellen Ng Academic Center for Excellence will take place this Friday at 3:15 p.m. on the second floor of the Athletics/Alumni Center on the University of Houston campus.

Thanks to the generosity of Dominic & Ellen Ng, more than 400 Houston student-athletes will have access to a completely renovated 9,000-square foot center constructed to foster academic excellence. The space consists of a new open floorplan with reconfigured areas for student-athlete tutoring and group study spaces highlighted by technology driven furniture amenities.

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Dominic Ng, a University of Houston alum, is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of East West Bank. Headquartered in California, East West Bank is a top performing commercial bank with an exclusive focus on the U.S. and Greater China markets. He transformed East West Bank from a small savings and loan association with $600 million in assets in 1991, into a full-service commercial bank today with $38.1 billion in assets. East West Bank has been ranked among the 25 largest banks in the U.S. by market capitalization, and in 2018, Forbes named it among the top five of "America's 100 Best Banks."

Ellen Ng is also a University of Houston alum, having earned both an undergraduate degree and MBA from the Bauer College of Business.

"We cannot thank Dominic and Ellen Ng enough for their support of our student-athletes. Their commitment to academic excellence reflects itself in their successful careers and they are great role models for our student-athletes," Houston Vice President for Athletics Chris Pezman said. "The Academic Center for Excellence provides student-athletes a valuable resource in their pursuit of a degree from a Tier One university. These upgrades will provide a positive impact to all of our sport programs as we continue to compete for championships while supporting our mission to build champions for life."

The renovated space also includes redesigned classrooms to provide serviceable areas for both small and large groups along with new office space for student-athlete services personnel.

In addition to the lead gift from Dominic and Ellen Ng, a gift from the Cullen Trust for Higher Education supplied the additional funding to complete the project. A former student-athlete himself, Corbin J. Robertson Jr., Chairman of the Board of the Cullen Trust for Higher Education, is the chairman and CEO of Natural Resource Partners, serves on the University of Houston Energy Advisory Board and was a founding member of the Corbin J. Robertson Society.

Corby, along with his sisters, Beth Robertson, Lillie Robertson and Carroll Ray, honored their late father with the gift by naming Study Hall 1 and Study Hall 2 in memory of their late father, Corbin J. Robertson, who is considered one of the major benefactors of Houston Athletes, working closely with former UH Director of Athletics Harry Fouke to help create the nationally-ranked football, basketball and golf programs of the 1960s and '70s.

Dominic & Ellen Ng Academic Center for Excellence.

Complete renovation of more than 9,000 square feet of existing Academic support space on the second floor of the Athletics/Alumni Center with a new clean modern architectural approach.
Open floorplan with new glass entry area and reconfigured areas for student-athlete tutoring and group study complete with technology driven furniture amenities.
Redesigned classroom placement to service small and large groups.
New offices for student-athlete services personnel.

The project was completed in August prior to the start of the fall semester.

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