Bernard Mallon served as the first principal (now referred to as the president) at what was then the Sam Houston Normal Institute. He wrote the first catalogue and it was issued at the opening of school.

The mission of the school was "the thorough professional training of teachers for the common schools of Texas." Mallon selected the four faculty and the school opened with one building on a five-acre campus as a two-year institution. There were 74 students, all on state scholarships.

His dream for Sam Houston had been to "make this my last and best work." Mallon had been an educator for 30 years, when at age 55 he died on October 21st, only eleven days after officially being named as principal.

Sources include: The Houstonian, October 17, 1996 and April 23, 1971.