Hugh Roy Cullen

Hugh Roy Cullen (July 3, 1881 – July 4, 1957) was a highly acclaimed American industrialist and philanthropist. Cullen was heavily involved in the petroleum industry having struck oil near Texas in 1928. He was a large supporter of multiple educational institutions in and around Houston, in one of which, the University of Houston, he became a longtime chairman of the board of regents. He is considered one of the most important figures in Texas during the "oil boom" era.

Biography

Early life Cullen grew up in San Antonio with his mother and siblings; his father had abandoned the family when Roy was only four years old. A misguided kidnapping attempt by his father a couple of years later brought Roy closer to his mother, who was shaken by the event. Roy lived out his childhood in poverty, even resorting to dropping out of school in the fifth grade to work at a candy factory to help his mother pay the bills. At sixteen years of age, he made for Dallas, where he attempted to make amends with his ailing father. After this proved a failure, he attempted to join the army, recruiting young men to fight in the Spanish–American War. Roy was rejected after his father blew the whistle on Roy's age, too young to fight.

Still seeking a path in life, Roy moved with his half-sister and her husband to Schulenburg, Texas, where he found a job in a cotton-trading office. At eighteen, he became a cotton buyer, a position that had him buying cotton from farmers so that the company, Ralli Brothers, could resell it at a profit. He eventually took a job with a Houston firm and was dispatched to Mangum, Oklahoma, where his recovering father then lived. After marrying Lillie Cranz, his girlfriend of five years, he continued working as an independent cotton broker, but he searched for a new venture after he lost his savings in the Panic of 1907. He discovered that Houston was seeking much shipping business and Roy figured the city was ripe for opportunity. He relocated his family there in 1911 and focused his efforts on learning the business of real estate. After four years of poor results, however, Roy was again down on his luck.

Personal life and philanthropy Cullen married Lillie Cranz in 1902 and had five children: Roy Gustav, Lillie, Agnes, Margaret, and Wilhelmina.

In 1938, the Cullens made a contribution to build the Roy Gustav Cullen Building on the new campus of the University of Houston. He would continue to make large donations to the university throughout his lifetime. The Cullen Foundation is still a large contributor to the school.

Cullen had been in his early life a Democrat, but supported Herbert Hoover and other Republicans after 1929, due to the belief that the Democratic Party was, at the national level, the party of machine politics and socialism, labelling FDR's policies the 'Jew Deal'. Additionally, he was critical of fellow Houston leader Jesse H. Jones. He also supported the Dixiecrats:"Although Cullen aided the Dixiecrat movement in 1948, he normally supported Republican candidates, particularly Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952." In 1946, he donated the land in Houston that later became Texas Southern University.

In 1946, the Cullens helped to found St. John's School.

In 1947, the Cullens created the Cullen Foundation. The still extant foundation continues the Cullens legacy of significant support for educational institutions. It funded the expansion and renovation of what became known as the Hugh Roy and Lillie Cullen Building of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.

In late 1954, less than three years before his death, Cullen's fortune was estimated to be $200–300 million.

Cullen is the grandfather of coal magnate Corbin Robertson, Jr.