UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS BUREAU OF BUSINESS RESEARCH. The Bureau of Business Research, an integral part of the College and Graduate School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, was founded in 1926 to bring the university closer to the Texas business community. Alonzo B. Cox^qv served as the bureau's first director. Since the early years the bureau has conducted applied research, performed economic analysis, and developed and disseminated information about the state's economy to the business community, state government, and the general public. Currently, the bureau's research and service activities concentrate on the ways Texas industries can become nationally and globally competitive. Since 1927 the bureau has published Texas Business Review,^qv which provides analyses of business issues in layman's language, and in 1933 it began publication of the annual Directory of Texas Manufacturers, the primary source of information on the state's manufacturing industries. Texas Industrial Expansion, begun in 1951, updates the manufacturing directory on a monthly basis. The bureau periodically publishes and updates other reference works, including the Directory of Texas Trade and Professional Associations, Directory of Texas Wholesalers, Texas Fact Book, and Texas Family Law. Recent titles from the research monograph series, published on an occasional basis, include the Role of Natural Gas in Environmental Policy (1993) and NAFTA and Trade Liberalization in the Americas (1995). Past publications include Atlas of Texas (1976), Atlas of Mexico (1975), Atlas of Central American (1978), Texas Economic Indicators (1987-94), Texas Railroads: A Record of Construction and Abandonment (1981), and The Size, Distribution and Growth of the Texas Population, 1980-2030 (1987). In 1983 the bureau was asked to take on the administration of the Natural Fibers Research and Information Center, which collects and reports information on the Texas fiber industries. Funded by the Texas Food and Fibers Commission,^qv NFRIC has published Climates of Texas Counties (1987), History of Cotton in Texas (1989), and the annual Natural Fibers Fact Book (1993-95). In 1995 the bureau had a staff of fifteen and a budget of $700,000. Administrators are George P. Huber, associate dean for research and director, and Lois G. Shrout, associate director.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: C. Aubrey Smith, Fifty Years of Education for Business at the University of Texas (Austin: University of Texas College of Business Administration Foundation, 1962).

Lois G. Shrout