Allbritton Art Institute to Affiliate With Baylor University

May 12, 1998

by Larry D. Brumley

WACO, Texas -- Baylor University announced today an affiliation with the Allbritton Art Institute, a non-profit educational institution established and endowed last year by Joe and Barbara Allbritton of Houston. Beginning this fall, the Allbritton Art Institute will teach courses at Baylor that focus on late 19th century works, with an emphasis on Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. Students taking Allbritton Art Institute courses will receive credit toward a Baylor degree.
"Baylor University is most grateful to the Allbrittons for their vision in establishing the art institute and making possible this affiliation, which will have a significant positive impact on the quality of Baylor's art department," said President Robert B. Sloan Jr. "Their appreciation for art and for Baylor University, as represented in this new relationship, will be a tremendous benefit to our students."
The Allbritton Art Institute will develop and offer new courses related to 19th century art history, and will bring distinguished artists and art experts to the Baylor campus through a series of guest lectures and symposia. In addition, Baylor's art department will have use of the Institute's library holdings and a state-of-the-art "smart classroom" equipped with the latest audio-visual and computer technology for instructional purposes, which the Institute will construct at Baylor this summer.
"The department of art is thankful to Mr. and Mrs. Allbritton for making Baylor University a recipient of the Allbritton Art Institute," said art department chairman John D. McClanahan. "Their vision and means will provide a remarkable opportunity for amplification of course offerings in the area of late 19th century art history, bringing the art history program at Baylor to a higher level."
Allbritton, who earned a law degree from Baylor in 1949, is a member of the university's board of regents and serves as chairman and chief executive officer of Riggs Bank, N.A., in Washington, D.C. He also owns nine network-affiliated television stations in the United States and is former publisher of The Washington Star.
A former member of Baylor's board of trustees and executive committee, Allbritton received the university's Distinguished Alumni Award in 1974 and was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1964. The Baylor president's campus residence is named The Allbritton House in recognition of the benefactor who funded the home's construction.
Allbritton is currently a member of the Baylor Foundation board of directors and is a former chairman of the Baylor College of Medicine board. He serves as a trustee of the National Geographic Society, The Lyndon B. Johnson Foundation in Austin, The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation in Los Angeles, and the George Bush Presidential Foundation in College Station.
The Allbrittons have one son, Robert Lewis Allbritton.