William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...
Houston Museum District
The Houston Museum District is an association of 19 museums, galleries, cultural centers and community organizations located in Houston, Texas, dedicated to promoting art, science, history and culture.
The Houston Museum District currently inc ...
and adjacent to the
Texas Medical Center
The Texas Medical Center (TMC) is a medical district and neighborhood in south-central Houston, Texas, United States, immediately south of the Museum District and west of Texas State Highway 288. Over 60 medical institutions, largely concentrat ...
. Rice is ranked among the top universities in the United States.
Opened in 1912 as the Rice Institute after the murder of its namesake
William Marsh Rice
William Marsh Rice (March 14, 1816 – September 23, 1900) was an American businessman who bequeathed his fortune to found Rice University in Houston, Texas. Rice was murdered by his valet Charles F. Jones while sleeping. The murder was pa ...
, Rice is a research university with an undergraduate focus. Its emphasis on undergraduate education is demonstrated by its 6:1 student-faculty ratio. The university has a very high level of research activity, with $156 million in sponsored research funding in 2019. Rice is noted for its applied science programs in the fields of
artificial heart
An artificial heart is a device that replaces the heart. Artificial hearts are typically used to bridge the time to heart transplantation, or to permanently replace the heart in the case that a heart transplant (from a deceased human or, exper ...
research, structural chemical analysis, signal processing, space science, and nanotechnology. Rice has been a member of the
Association of American Universities
The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 63 universities in the United States ( ...
since 1985 and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".
The university is organized into eleven
residential colleges
A residential college is a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship w ...
and eight schools of academic study, including the
Wiess School of Natural Sciences
The Wiess School of Natural Sciences is an academic school at Rice University in Houston, Texas. It comprises the departments of BioSciences (a merging of Biochemistry and Cell Biology and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology); Chemistry; Earth, Envir ...
, the
George R. Brown School of Engineering
The George R. Brown School of Engineering is an academic school at Rice University in Houston, Texas. It contains the departments of Bioengineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computational Applied ...
School of Architecture
This is a list of architecture schools at colleges and universities around the world.
An architecture school (also known as a school of architecture or college of architecture), is an institution specializing in architectural education.
Africa
...
,
Shepherd School of Music
The Shepherd School of Music is a music school located on the campus of Rice University in Houston, Texas. From its inception in 1974Ericson, R."Unafraid, a New Music School Opens; NOT JUST MOSTLY MOZART" ''The New York Times'', March 10, 1974, ...
and the School of Humanities. Rice's undergraduate program offers more than fifty majors and two dozen minors, and allows a high level of flexibility in pursuing multiple degree programs. Additional graduate programs are offered through the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business and the
Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies
The Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies at Rice University offers the Houston community the opportunity to study personal and professional areas of interest. It is named in honor of an endowment from Susanne and Melbern Glasscock.
H ...
. Rice students are bound by the strict Honor Code, which is enforced by a student-run Honor Council.
Rice competes in 14
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...
varsity sports and is a part of Conference USA, often competing with its cross-town rival the
University of Houston
The University of Houston (UH) is a public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the university in Texas with over 47,000 students. Its campus, which is primarily in s ...
. Intramural and club sports are offered in a wide variety of activities such as
jiu jitsu
Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subd ...
,
water polo
Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...
, and
crew
A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the tasks involved ...
.
The university's alumni include more than two dozen
Marshall Scholars
The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is widely considered one of the most prestigious sc ...
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
, it has produced a significant number of astronauts and space scientists. In business, Rice graduates include CEOs, founders of Fortune 500 companies and 3 billionaires; in politics, alumni include congressmen, governors, cabinet secretaries, judges, and mayors.
History
Background
Rice University's history began with the demise of Massachusetts businessman
William Marsh Rice
William Marsh Rice (March 14, 1816 – September 23, 1900) was an American businessman who bequeathed his fortune to found Rice University in Houston, Texas. Rice was murdered by his valet Charles F. Jones while sleeping. The murder was pa ...
, who had made his fortune in real estate, railroad development and cotton trading in the state of
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
. In 1891, Rice decided to charter a free-tuition educational institute in Houston, bearing his name, to be created upon his death, earmarking most of his estate towards funding the project. Rice's will specified the institution was to be "a competitive institution of the highest grade" and that only white students would be permitted to attend. On the morning of September 23, 1900, Rice, age 84, was found dead by his valet, Charles F. Jones, and was presumed to have died in his sleep. Shortly thereafter, a large check made out to Rice's New York City lawyer, signed by the late Rice, aroused the suspicion of a bank teller, due to the misspelling of the recipient's name. The lawyer, Albert T. Patrick, then announced that Rice had changed his will to leave the bulk of his fortune to Patrick, rather than to the creation of Rice's educational institute. A subsequent investigation led by the District Attorney of New York resulted in the arrests of Patrick and of Rice's butler and valet Charles F. Jones, who had been persuaded to administer chloroform to Rice while he slept. Rice's friend and personal lawyer in Houston, Captain James A. Baker, aided in the discovery of what turned out to be a fake will with a forged signature. Jones was not prosecuted since he cooperated with the district attorney, and testified against Patrick. Patrick was found guilty of conspiring to steal Rice's fortune and he was convicted of murder in 1901 (he was pardoned in 1912 due to conflicting medical testimony). Baker helped Rice's estate direct the fortune, worth $4.6 million in 1904 ($ million today), towards the founding of what was to be called the Rice Institute, later to become Rice University. The board took control of the assets on April 29 of that year.
In 1907, the Board of Trustees selected the head of the Department of Mathematics and Astronomy at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
,
Edgar Odell Lovett
Edgar Odell Lovett (April 14, 1871 – August 13, 1957) was an American educator and education administrator.
He was the first president of Rice Institute (now Rice University) in Houston, Texas. Lovett was recommended to the post by Woodr ...
, to head the institute, which was still in the planning stages. He came recommended by Princeton's president,
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
. In 1908, Lovett accepted the challenge, and was formally inaugurated as the institute's first president on October 12, 1912. Lovett undertook extensive research before formalizing plans for the new Institute, including visits to 78 institutions of higher learning across the world on a long tour between 1908 and 1909. Lovett was impressed by such things as the aesthetic beauty of the uniformity of the architecture at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, a theme which was adopted by the institute, as well as the
residential college
A residential college is a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship wi ...
system at
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...
in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, which was added to the Institute several decades later. Lovett called for the establishment of a university "of the highest grade," "an institution of liberal and technical learning" devoted "quite as much to investigation as to instruction."
e must
E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plura ...
"keep the standards up and the numbers down," declared Lovett. "The most distinguished teachers must take their part in undergraduate teaching, and their spirit should dominate it all."
Establishment and growth
In 1911, the cornerstone was laid for the institute's first building, the Administration Building, now known as Lovett Hall in honor of the founding president. On September 23, 1912, the 12th anniversary of William Marsh Rice's murder, the ''William Marsh Rice Institute for the Advancement of Letters, Science, and Art'' began course work with 59 enrolled students, who were known as the "59 immortals," and about a dozen faculty. After 18 additional students joined later, Rice's initial class numbered 77, 48 male and 29 female. Unusual for the time, Rice accepted coeducational admissions from its beginning, but on-campus housing would not become co-ed until 1957. Three weeks after opening, a spectacular international academic festival was held, bringing Rice to the attention of the entire academic world.
Per William Marsh Rice's will and Rice Institute's initial charter, the students paid no tuition. Classes were difficult, however, and about half of Rice's students had failed after the first 1912 term. At its first commencement ceremony, held on June 12, 1916, Rice awarded 35 bachelor's degrees and one master's degree. That year, the student body also voted to adopt the Honor System, which still exists today.
The Founder's Memorial Statue, a bronze statue of a seated William Marsh Rice, holding the original plans for the campus, was dedicated in 1930, and installed in the central academic quad, facing Lovett Hall. The statue was crafted by John Angel. In 2020, Rice students petitioned the university to take down the statue due to the founder's history as slave owner. In January 2022, the Board of Trustees announced plans to relocate the statue within the academic quadrangle.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, Rice Institute was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the
V-12 Navy College Training Program
The V-12 Navy College Training Program was designed to supplement the force of commissioned officers in the United States Navy during World War II. Between July 1, 1943, and June 30, 1946, more than 125,000 participants were enrolled in 131 colleg ...
, which offered students a path to a Navy commission.
The
residential college
A residential college is a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship wi ...
system proposed by President Lovett was adopted in 1958, with the East Hall residence becoming
Baker College
Baker College is a private college with its main campus in Owosso, Michigan. It was founded in 1911 and has additional campuses throughout the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.
The college has been accused of predatory practices. In 2022, a ProP ...
, South Hall residence becoming
Will Rice College
Rice University contains eleven residential colleges which function as the primary housing, dining, and social organizations for undergraduate students. The system was established in 1957 and was inspired by the residential college systems at the ...
, West Hall becoming
Hanszen College
Rice University contains eleven residential colleges which function as the primary housing, dining, and social organizations for undergraduate students. The system was established in 1957 and was inspired by the residential college systems at the ...
, and the temporary Wiess Hall becoming Wiess College.
In 1959, the
Rice Institute Computer The Rice Institute Computer, also known as the Rice Computer or R1, was a 54-bit tagged architecture, section "II.", "PREVIOUS WORK" digital computer built during 1958–1961 (partially operational beginning in 1959) on the campus of Rice University ...
went online. 1960 saw Rice Institute formally renamed William Marsh Rice University. Rice acted as a temporary intermediary in the transfer of land between Humble Oil and Refining Company and
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
, for the creation of
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
President John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until assassination of Joh ...
then gave a speech at Rice Stadium reiterating that the United States intended to reach the Moon before the end of the decade of the 1960s, and "to become the world's leading space-faring nation". The relationship of
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
with Rice University and the city of Houston has remained strong .
The original charter of Rice Institute dictated that the university admit and educate, tuition-free, "the white inhabitants of Houston, and the state of Texas". In 1963, the governing board of Rice University filed a lawsuit to allow the university to modify its charter to admit students of all races and to charge tuition. Ph.D. student Raymond Johnson became the first black Rice student when he was admitted that year. In 1964, Rice officially amended the university charter to desegregate its graduate and undergraduate divisions. The Trustees of Rice University prevailed in a lawsuit to void the racial language in the trust in 1966. Rice began charging tuition for the first time in 1965. In the same year, Rice launched a $33 million ($ million) development campaign. $43 million ($ million) was raised by its conclusion in 1970. In 1974, two new schools were founded at Rice, the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management and the
Shepherd School of Music
The Shepherd School of Music is a music school located on the campus of Rice University in Houston, Texas. From its inception in 1974Ericson, R."Unafraid, a New Music School Opens; NOT JUST MOSTLY MOZART" ''The New York Times'', March 10, 1974, ...
. The Brown Foundation Challenge, a fund-raising program designed to encourage annual gifts, was launched in 1976 and ended in 1996 having raised $185 million ($ million). The Rice School of Social Sciences was founded in 1979.
On-campus housing was exclusively for men for the first forty years, until 1957.Jones College was the first women's residence on the Rice campus, followed by Brown College. According to legend, the women's colleges were purposefully situated at the opposite end of campus from the existing men's colleges as a way of preserving campus propriety, which was greatly valued by Edgar Odell Lovett, who did not even allow benches to be installed on campus, fearing that they "might lead to co-fraternization of the sexes". The path linking the north colleges to the center of campus was given the tongue-in-cheek name of "Virgin's Walk". Individual colleges became coeducational between 1973 and 1987, with the single-sex floors of colleges that had them becoming co-ed by 2006. By then, several new residential colleges had been built on campus to handle the university's growth, including Lovett College,
Sid Richardson College
Rice University contains eleven residential colleges which function as the primary housing, dining, and social organizations for undergraduate students. The system was established in 1957 and was inspired by the residential college systems at the ...
, and
Martel College
Rice University contains eleven residential colleges which function as the primary housing, dining, and social organizations for undergraduate students. The system was established in 1957 and was inspired by the residential college systems at the ...
.
Late twentieth and early twenty-first century
The Economic Summit of Industrialized Nations was held at Rice in 1990. Three years later, in 1993, the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy was created. In 1997, the Edythe Bates Old Grand Organ and Recital Hall and the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, renamed in 2005 for the late Nobel Prize winner and Rice professor Richard E. Smalley, were dedicated at Rice. In 1999, the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology was created. The
Rice Owls baseball
The Rice Owls baseball team is the interscholastic baseball team representing Rice University in Houston, Texas, United States. The Owls have appeared often in the NCAA Tournament since the tenure of head coach Wayne Graham began in 1992. The p ...
team was ranked #1 in the nation for the first time in that year (1999), holding the top spot for eight weeks.
In 2003, the Owls won their first national championship in baseball, which was the first for the university in any team sport, beating Southwest Missouri State in the opening game and then the University of Texas and Stanford University twice each en route to the title. In 2008, President David Leebron issued a ten-point plan titled "Vision for the Second Century" outlining plans to increase research funding, strengthen existing programs, and increase collaboration. The plan has brought about another wave of campus constructions, including the newly renamed BioScience Research Collaborative building (intended to foster collaboration with the adjacent
Texas Medical Center
The Texas Medical Center (TMC) is a medical district and neighborhood in south-central Houston, Texas, United States, immediately south of the Museum District and west of Texas State Highway 288. Over 60 medical institutions, largely concentrat ...
), a new recreational center and the renovated
Autry Court
Tudor Fieldhouse is multi-purpose arena in Houston, Texas. Previously known as Rice Gymnasium, it was renamed in honor of Rice University alum Bobby Tudor, who spearheaded the renovation of the facility with a multimillion-dollar donation. The c ...
basketball stadium, and the addition of two new residential colleges, Duncan College and McMurtry College.
Beginning in late 2008, the university considered a merger with
Baylor College of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is a medical school and research center in Houston, Texas, within the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest medical center. BCM is composed of four academic components: the School of Medicine, the Graduate S ...
, though the merger was ultimately rejected in 2010. Select Rice undergraduates are currently guaranteed admission to Baylor College of Medicine upon graduation as part of the Rice/Baylor Medical Scholars program. According to History Professor John Boles' recent book ''University Builder: Edgar Odell Lovett and the Founding of the Rice Institute,'' the first president's original vision for the university included hopes for future medical and law schools.
In 2018, the university added an online MBA program, MBA@Rice.
In June 2019, the university's president announced plans for a task force on Rice's "past in relation to slave history and racial injustice", stating that "Rice has some historical connections to that terrible part of American history and the segregation and racial disparities that resulted directly from it".
In 2021, in response to requests from community members and Rice students for a
Community Benefits Agreement
A community benefits agreement (CBA) in the United States is a contract signed by community groups and a real estate developer that requires the developer to provide specific amenities and/or mitigations to the local community or neighborhood. In e ...
for the
Rice Innovation District
The Ion District, Ion Innovation District, or Rice Innovation District, is a technology park and innovation district in Midtown Houston which was established as a joint initiative between Rice University and the City of Houston. It has also been c ...
, President Leebron chose instead to pursue a development agreement with the City of Houston. The proposed agreement will not include a community coalition as a signatory, although that is typically how Community Benefits Agreements are structured.
Campus
Rice's campus is a heavily wooded tract of land in the museum district of
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
, located close to the city of
West University Place
West University Place, often called West University or West U for short, is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas within the metropolitan area and southwestern Harris County. At the 2020 U.S. census, the population of the city was 14,955. ...
.
Five streets demarcate the campus: Greenbriar Street, Rice Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard, Main Street, and University Boulevard. For most of its history, all of Rice's buildings have been contained within this "outer loop". In recent years , new facilities have been built close to campus, but the bulk of administrative, academic, and residential buildings are located within the original pentagonal plot of land. The new Collaborative Research Center, all graduate student housing, the Greenbriar building, and the Wiess President's House are located off-campus.
There are only about 50 buildings spread between the main entrance at its easternmost corner, and the parking lots and Rice Stadium at the West end. The Lynn R. Lowrey Arboretum, consisting of more than 4000 trees and shrubs (giving birth to the legend that Rice has a tree for every student), is spread throughout the campus.
The university's first president,
Edgar Odell Lovett
Edgar Odell Lovett (April 14, 1871 – August 13, 1957) was an American educator and education administrator.
He was the first president of Rice Institute (now Rice University) in Houston, Texas. Lovett was recommended to the post by Woodr ...
, intended for the campus to have a uniform architecture style to improve its aesthetic appeal. Nearly every building on campus is noticeably
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
in style, with sand and pink-colored bricks, large archways and columns being a common theme among many campus buildings. Noteworthy exceptions include the glass-walled Brochstein Pavilion, Lovett College with its Brutalist-style concrete gratings, Moody Center for the Arts with its contemporary design, and the eclectic-Mediterranean Duncan Hall. In September 2011,
Travel+Leisure
''Travel + Leisure'' is a travel magazine based in New York City, New York. Published 12 times a year, it has 4.8 million readers, according to its corporate media kit. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC, with trademark ...
listed Rice's campus as one of the most beautiful in the United States.
Lovett Hall, named for Rice's first president, is the university's landmark building. Through its Sallyport arch, new students symbolically enter the university during matriculation and depart as graduates at commencement. Duncan Hall, Rice's computational engineering building, was designed to encourage collaboration between the four different departments situated there. The building's foyer, drawn from many world cultures, was designed by the architect to symbolically express this collaborative purpose.
The campus is organized in a number of quadrangles. The Academic Quad, anchored by a statue of founder
William Marsh Rice
William Marsh Rice (March 14, 1816 – September 23, 1900) was an American businessman who bequeathed his fortune to found Rice University in Houston, Texas. Rice was murdered by his valet Charles F. Jones while sleeping. The murder was pa ...
, includes Ralph Adams Cram's masterpiece, the asymmetrical Lovett Hall, the original administrative building; Fondren Library; Herzstein Hall, the original physics building and home to the largest amphitheater on campus; Sewall Hall for the social sciences and arts; Rayzor Hall for the languages; and Anderson Hall of the Architecture department. The Humanities Building, winner of several architectural awards, is immediately adjacent to the main quad. Further west lies a quad surrounded by McNair Hall of the Jones Business School, the Baker Institute, and Alice Pratt Brown Hall of the
Shepherd School of Music
The Shepherd School of Music is a music school located on the campus of Rice University in Houston, Texas. From its inception in 1974Ericson, R."Unafraid, a New Music School Opens; NOT JUST MOSTLY MOZART" ''The New York Times'', March 10, 1974, ...
. These two quads are surrounded by the university's main access road, a one-way loop referred to as the "inner loop". In the Engineering Quad, a trinity of sculptures by
Michael Heizer
Michael Heizer (born 1944) is an American land artist specializing in large-scale and site-specific sculptures. Working largely outside the confines of the traditional art spaces of galleries and museums, Heizer has redefined sculpture in terms ...
, collectively entitled ''45 Degrees, 90 Degrees, 180 Degrees'', are flanked by Abercrombie Laboratory, the Cox Building, and the Mechanical Laboratory, housing the Electrical, Mechanical, and Earth Science/Civil Engineering departments, respectively. Duncan Hall is the latest addition to this quad, providing new offices for the Computer Science, Computational and Applied Math, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Statistics departments.
Roughly three-quarters of Rice's undergraduate population lives on campus. Housing is divided among eleven
residential colleges
A residential college is a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship w ...
, which form an integral part of student life at the university (see
Residential colleges of Rice University
Rice University contains eleven residential colleges which function as the primary housing, dining, and social organizations for undergraduate students. The system was established in 1957 and was inspired by the residential college systems at the ...
). The colleges are named for university historical figures and benefactor. Rice does not have or endorse a
Greek system
Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities in North America.
Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept gradua ...
, with the residential college system taking its place. Five colleges, McMurtry, Duncan, Martel, Jones, and Brown are located on the north side of campus, across from the "South Colleges", Baker, Will Rice, Lovett, Hanszen, Sid Richardson, and Wiess, on the other side of the Academic Quadrangle. Of the eleven colleges, Baker is the oldest, originally built in 1912, and the twin Duncan and McMurtry colleges are the newest, and opened for the first time for the 2009–10 school year. Will Rice, Baker, and Lovett colleges are undergoing renovation to expand their dining facilities as well as the number of rooms available for students.
The on-campus football facility, Rice Stadium, opened in 1950 with a capacity of 70,000 seats. After improvements in 2006, the stadium is currently configured to seat 47,000 for football but can readily be reconfigured to its original capacity of 70,000, more than the total number of Rice alumni, living and deceased. The stadium was the site of
Super Bowl VIII
Super Bowl VIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Minnesota Vikings and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
on September 12, 1962, in which he challenged the nation to send a man to the moon by the end of the decade. The recently renovated
Tudor Fieldhouse
Tudor Fieldhouse is multi-purpose arena in Houston, Texas. Previously known as Rice Gymnasium, it was renamed in honor of Rice University alum Bobby Tudor, who spearheaded the renovation of the facility with a multimillion-dollar donation. The co ...
, formerly known as Autry Court, is home to the basketball and volleyball teams. Other stadia include the
Rice Track/Soccer Stadium
Wendel D. Ley Track and Holloway Field is a stadium in Houston, Texas. It is primarily used for track and field and soccer for the Rice University Owls. It is bounded by Main Street (southeast), University Boulevard (southwest), Reckling ...
and the
Jake Hess Tennis Stadium
Jake may refer to:
Name
* Jake (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name
* Katrin Jäke (born c. 1975), German swimmer
* Jake (gamer), American ''Overwatch'' player and coach
Animals
* Jake (rescue dog), a ...
. A new Rec Center now houses the intramural sports offices and provide an outdoor pool, training and exercise facilities for all Rice students, while athletics training will solely be held at Tudor Fieldhouse and the Rice Football Stadium.
Innovation District
In early 2019, Rice announced the site where the abandoned
Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...
building in Midtown Houston stood, along with its surrounding area, would be transformed into "The Ion," the hub of the 16-acre South Main Innovation District. President of Rice, David Leebron stated "We chose the name Ion because it's from the Greek ienai, which means 'go'. We see it as embodying the ever-forward motion of discovery, the spark at the center of a truly original idea. It also represents the last three letters in many of the words that define the building's mission, like inspiration, creation, acceleration and innovation."
Students of Rice and other Houston-area colleges and universities making up the Student Coalition for a Just and Equitable Innovation Corridor are advocating for a
Community Benefits Agreement
A community benefits agreement (CBA) in the United States is a contract signed by community groups and a real estate developer that requires the developer to provide specific amenities and/or mitigations to the local community or neighborhood. In e ...
(CBA), a contractual agreement between a developer and a community coalition. Residents of neighboring Third Ward and other members of the Houston Coalition for Equitable Development Without Displacement (HCEDD) have faced consistent opposition from the City of Houston and Rice Management Company to a CBA as traditionally defined, in favor of an agreement between the latter two entities without a community coalition signatory.
Organization
Rice University is chartered as a non-profit organization and is governed by a privately appointed board of trustees. The board consists of a maximum of 25 voting members who serve four-year terms. The trustees serve without compensation and a simple majority of trustees must reside in Texas, including at least four within the greater Houston area. The board of trustees delegates its power by appointing a president to serve as the chief executive of the university. David W. Leebron was appointed president in 2004 and succeeded Malcolm Gillis who served since 1993. The provost, six vice presidents, and other university officials report to the president. The president is advised by a University Council composed of the provost, eight members of the Faculty Council, two staff members, one graduate student, and two undergraduate students. The president presides over a Faculty Council which has the authority to alter curricular requirements, establish new degree programs, and approve candidates for degrees.
The university's academics are organized into several schools. Schools that have undergraduate and graduate programs include:
* The
Rice University School of Architecture
Rice School of Architecture, also referred to as ''Rice Architecture'', is a small undergraduate and graduate institution located within the international research university, Rice University in Houston, Texas. The graduate and undergraduate progr ...
* The
George R. Brown School of Engineering
The George R. Brown School of Engineering is an academic school at Rice University in Houston, Texas. It contains the departments of Bioengineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computational Applied ...
Shepherd School of Music
The Shepherd School of Music is a music school located on the campus of Rice University in Houston, Texas. From its inception in 1974Ericson, R."Unafraid, a New Music School Opens; NOT JUST MOSTLY MOZART" ''The New York Times'', March 10, 1974, ...
* The
Wiess School of Natural Sciences
The Wiess School of Natural Sciences is an academic school at Rice University in Houston, Texas. It comprises the departments of BioSciences (a merging of Biochemistry and Cell Biology and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology); Chemistry; Earth, Envir ...
* The
Rice University School of Social Sciences
Rice School of Social Sciences is an academic school on the Rice University campus. It serves the largest number of undergraduates, with over a third of Rice undergraduates choosing a major in the social sciences.
Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies
The Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies at Rice University offers the Houston community the opportunity to study personal and professional areas of interest. It is named in honor of an endowment from Susanne and Melbern Glasscock.
H ...
Rice's undergraduate students are admitted from a centralized admissions process, which admits new students to the university as a whole, rather than a specific school (the schools of Music and Architecture are decentralized). Students are encouraged to select the major path that best suits their desires; a student can later decide that they would rather pursue study in another field, or continue their current coursework and add a second or third major. These transitions are designed to be simple, with students not required to decide on a specific major until their sophomore year of study. Rice offers 360 degrees in over 60 departments. There are 40 undergraduate degree programs, 51 masters programs, and 29 doctoral programs.
Faculty members of each of the departments elect chairs to represent the department to each School's dean and the deans report to the Provost who serves as the chief officer for academic affairs.
Rice Management Company
The Rice Management Company manages the $6.5 billion Rice University endowment (June 2019) and $957 million debt. The endowment provides 40% of Rice's operating revenues.
In August 2021, an economic development agreement that would provide Rice Management Company with up to $65 million in cost reimbursement from local taxes was given initial approval by the Midtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone. The agreement does not require a Community Benefits Agreement in exchange for funding. Final approval requires a vote by the Houston City Council.
Academics
Rice is a medium-sized, highly residential research university. The majority of enrollments are in the full-time, four-year undergraduate program emphasizing arts & sciences and professions. There is a very high level of research activity. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools as well as the professional accreditation agencies for engineering, management, and architecture.
Each of Rice's departments is organized into one of three distribution groups, and students whose major lies within the scope of one group must take at least 3 courses of at least 3 credit hours each of approved distribution classes in each of the other two groups, as well as completing one physical education course as part of the LPAP (Lifetime Physical Activity Program) requirement. All new students must take a Freshman Writing Intensive Seminar (FWIS) class, and for students who do not pass the university's writing composition examination (administered during the summer before matriculation), FWIS 100, a writing class, becomes an additional requirement.
The majority of Rice's undergraduate degree programs grant B.S. or B.A. degrees. Rice has recently begun to offer minors in areas such as business, energy and water sustainability, and global health.
Student body
As of fall 2022, men make up 51.1% of the undergraduate body and 63.1% of the professional and post-graduate student body. 36.9% of degree-seeking students are from Out-of-State, 35.9% are from Texas and 27.2% are from outside of the United States.
Honor Code
The Rice Honor Code plays an integral role in academic affairs. Almost all Rice exams are unproctored and professors give timed, closed-book exams that students take home and complete at their own convenience. Potential infractions are reported to the student Honor Council, elected by popular vote. The penalty structure is established every year by Council consensus; typically, penalties have ranged from a letter of reprimand to an 'F' in the course and a two semester suspension. During Orientation Week, students must take and pass a test demonstrating that they understand the Honor System's requirements and sign a Matriculation Pledge. On assignments, Rice students affirm their commitment to the Honor Code by writing ''On my honor, I have neither given nor received any unauthorized aid on this (examination, quiz or paper).''
artificial heart
An artificial heart is a device that replaces the heart. Artificial hearts are typically used to bridge the time to heart transplantation, or to permanently replace the heart in the case that a heart transplant (from a deceased human or, exper ...
research, structural chemical analysis,
signal processing
Signal processing is an electrical engineering subfield that focuses on analyzing, modifying and synthesizing ''signals'', such as sound, images, and scientific measurements. Signal processing techniques are used to optimize transmissions, ...
and space science, being ranked 1st in the world in materials science research by the Times Higher Education (THE) in 2010.
* Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship – supports entrepreneurs and early-stage technology ventures in Houston and Texas through education, collaboration, and research, ranked No. 1 among university business incubators.
* Baker Institute for Public Policy – a leading nonpartisan public policy think-tank
* BioScience Research Collaborative (BRC) – interdisciplinary, cross-campus, and inter-institutional resource between Rice University and
Texas Medical Center
The Texas Medical Center (TMC) is a medical district and neighborhood in south-central Houston, Texas, United States, immediately south of the Museum District and west of Texas State Highway 288. Over 60 medical institutions, largely concentrat ...
* Boniuk Institute – dedicated to religious tolerance and advancing religious literacy, respect and mutual understanding
* Center for African and African American Studies – fosters conversations on topics such as critical approaches to race and racism, the nature of diasporic histories and identities, and the complexity of Africa's past, present and future
* Chao Center for Asian Studies – research hub for faculty, students and post-doctoral scholars working in Asian studies
* Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality (CSWGS) – interdisciplinary academic programs and research opportunities, including the journal ''Feminist Economics''
* Data to Knowledge Lab (D2K) – campus hub for experiential learning in data science
* Digital Signal Processing (DSP) – center for education and research in the field of digital signal processing
* Humanities Research Center (HRC) – identifies, encourages, and funds innovative research projects by faculty, visiting scholars, graduate, and undergraduate students in the School of Humanities and beyond
* Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering (IBB) – facilitates the translation of interdisciplinary research and education in biosciences and bioengineering
* Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology – advances applied interdisciplinary research in the areas of computation and information technology
* Kinder Institute for Urban Research – conducts the Houston Area Survey, "the nation's longest running study of any metropolitan region's economy, population, life experiences, beliefs and attitudes"
* Laboratory for Nanophotonics (LANP) – a resource for education and research breakthroughs and advances in the broad, multidisciplinary field of nanophotonics
* Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Lilie) - experiential learning and co-curricular activities in entrepreneurship
* Moody Center for the Arts – experimental arts space featuring studio classrooms, maker space, audiovisual editing booths, and a gallery and office space for visiting national and international artists
*
OpenStax CNX
OpenStax CNX, formerly called Connexions, is a global repository of educational content provided by volunteers. The open source platform is provided and maintained by OpenStax, which is based at Rice University. The collection is available free ...
(formerly ''Connexions'') and
OpenStax
OpenStax (formerly OpenStax College) is a nonprofit educational technology initiative based at Rice University. Since 2012, OpenStax has created peer-reviewed, openly-licensed textbooks, which are available in free digital formats and for a low c ...
open educational resources
Open educational resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research materials intentionally created and licensed to be free for the end user to own, share, and in most cases, modify. The term "OER" describes publicly accessible materials and ...
* Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen (OEDK) – space for undergraduate students to design, prototype and deploy solutions to real-world engineering challenges
* Rice Cinema – an independent theater run by the Visual and Dramatic Arts department at Rice which screens documentaries, foreign films, and experimental cinema and hosts film festivals and lectures since 1970
* Rice Center for Engineering Leadership (RCEL)
* Religion and Public Life Program (RPLP) – a research, training and outreach program working to advance understandings of the role of religion in public life
* Rice Design Alliance (RDA) – outreach and public programs of the Rice School of Architecture
* Rice Center for Quantum Materials (RCQM) – organization dedicated to research and higher education in areas relating to quantum phenomena
* Rice Neuroengineering Initiative (NEI) – fosters research collaborations in neural engineering topics
*Rice Space Institute (RSI) – fosters programs in all areas of space research
* Smalley-Curl Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology (SCI) – the nation's first nanotechnology center
* Welch Institute for Advanced Materials – collaborative research institute to support the foundational research for discoveries in materials science, similar to the model of
Salk Institute
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is a scientific research institute located in the La Jolla community of San Diego, California, U.S. The independent, non-profit institute was founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio vacci ...
and
Broad Institute
The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (IPA: , pronunciation respelling: ), often referred to as the Broad Institute, is a biomedical and genomic research center located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The institu ...
* Woodson Research Center Special Collections & Archives – publisher of print and web-based materials highlighting the department's primary source collections such as the Houston African American, Asian American, and Jewish History Archives, University Archives, rare books, and hip hop/rap music-related materials from the Swishahouse record label and Houston Folk Music Archive, etc.
Admissions
Admission to Rice is rated as "most selective" by '' U.S. News & World Report''.
For fall 2020, Rice received 23,443 freshmen applications of which 2,346 were admitted (10.0%) up from a record-low 8.7% acceptance rate in 2019. The middle 50% range of
SAT
The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...
scores for the class of 2023 were 1470–1560; the middle 50% range of the ACT Composite score was 33–35.
Rankings
Rice was ranked tied at 17th among national universities and 108th among global universities, 6th for "best undergraduate teaching", 5th for "Best Value", and tied for 16th "Most Innovative" among national universities in the U.S. by '' U.S. News & World Report'' in its 2022 edition. ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' magazine ranked Rice University 21st nationally among 650 liberal arts colleges, universities and service academies in 2019, 19th among research universities and 2nd in the South.
In 2020, Rice was ranked 105th in the world by the ''
Times Higher Education World University Rankings
The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' (often referred to as the THE Rankings) is an annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' (THE) magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli ...
''. In 2020, Rice was ranked tied for 95th internationally (41st nationally) by the '' Academic Ranking of World Universities''. Rice University was also ranked 85th globally in 2020 by ''
QS World University Rankings
''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for the ...
''. Rice is noted for its entrepreneurial activity, and has been recognized as the top ranked
business incubator
Business incubator is an organization that helps startup companies and individual entrepreneurs to develop their businesses by providing a fullscale range of services starting with management training and office space and ending with venture c ...
in the world by the Stockholm-based UBI Index for both 2013 and 2014.
The ''
Princeton Review
The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981. and since that time has worked with over 400 million students. Services are delivered by 4,0 ...
'' ranked Rice 4th for "Best Quality of Life", 8th for "Happiest Students", 10th among the most
LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term ...
friendliest colleges, and one of the top 50 best value private colleges in its 2020 edition. Rice was ranked 41st among research universities by the Center for Measuring University Performance in 2007.
In 2011 the
Leiden Ranking
The CWTS Leiden Ranking is an annual global university ranking based exclusively on bibliometric indicators. The rankings are compiled by the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (Dutch: ''Centrum voor Wetenschap en Technologische Studies'' ...
, which measures the performance of 500 major research universities worldwide, using metrics designed to measure research impact ranked Rice 4th Globally, for effectiveness and contribution of research. In 2013 the university was again ranked first globally for quality of research in natural sciences and engineering, and 6th globally for all sciences.
Student life
Situated on nearly in the center of Houston's Museum District and across the street from the city's
Hermann Park
Hermann Park is a urban park in Houston, Texas, situated at the southern end of the Museum District. The park is located immediately north of the Texas Medical Center and Brays Bayou, east of Rice University, and slightly west of the Th ...
, Rice is a closed campus filled with greenery and close to amenities in the nation's fourth-largest city. Rice's campus adjoins Hermann Park, the
Texas Medical Center
The Texas Medical Center (TMC) is a medical district and neighborhood in south-central Houston, Texas, United States, immediately south of the Museum District and west of Texas State Highway 288. Over 60 medical institutions, largely concentrat ...
, and a neighborhood commercial center called Rice Village. Hermann Park includes the
Houston Museum of Natural Science
The Houston Museum of Natural Science (abbreviated as HMNS) is a natural history museum located on the northern border of Hermann Park in Houston, Texas, United States. The museum was established in 1909 by the Houston Museum and Scientific Soc ...
, the
Houston Zoo
The Houston Zoo is a zoological park located within Hermann Park in Houston, Texas, United States. The zoo houses over 6,000 animals from more than 600 species. It receives 2.1 million visitors each year and is the second most visited zoo i ...
,
Miller Outdoor Theatre
Miller Outdoor Theatre is an outdoor theater for the performing arts in Houston, Texas. It is located on approximately of land in Hermann Park, at 6000 Hermann Park Drive, Houston, Texas 77030. The theater offers a wide range of professional e ...
and an 18-hole municipal golf course.
NRG Park
NRG Park, formerly Reliant Park and Astrodomain, is a complex in Houston, named after the energy company NRG Energy. It is located on Kirby Drive at the South Loop West Freeway (I-610). This complex of buildings encompasses of land and consists ...
, home of
NRG Stadium
NRG Stadium, formerly Reliant Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. Construction was completed in 2002, at a cost of $352 million and has a seating capacity of 72,220. It was the first NFL facility to have a retrac ...
and the
Astrodome
The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...
, is two miles (3 km) south of the campus. Among the dozen or so museums in the Museum District was (until May 14, 2017)(See he web page for the) the Rice University Art Gallery, open during the school year from 1995 until it closed in 2017. Easy access to downtown's theater and nightlife district and to Reliant Park is provided by the Houston
METRORail
METRORail is the light rail system in Houston, Texas (United States). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the 12th ...
system, with a station adjacent to the campus's main gate. The campus recently joined the
Zipcar
Zipcar is an American car-sharing company and a subsidiary of Avis Budget Group. Zipcar provides vehicle reservations to its members, billable by the minute, hour or day; members may have to pay a monthly or annual membership fee in addition ...
program with two vehicles to increase the transportation options for students and staff who need but do not otherwise have access to a vehicle.
Residential colleges
In 1957, Rice University implemented a
residential college
A residential college is a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship wi ...
system, which was proposed by the university's first president,
Edgar Odell Lovett
Edgar Odell Lovett (April 14, 1871 – August 13, 1957) was an American educator and education administrator.
He was the first president of Rice Institute (now Rice University) in Houston, Texas. Lovett was recommended to the post by Woodr ...
. The system was inspired by existing systems in place in England and at several other universities in the United States. The existing residences known as East, South, West, and Wiess Halls became Baker, Will Rice, Hanszen, and Wiess Colleges, respectively.
List of residential colleges
Below is a list of residential colleges in order of founding:
*
Baker College
Baker College is a private college with its main campus in Owosso, Michigan. It was founded in 1911 and has additional campuses throughout the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.
The college has been accused of predatory practices. In 2022, a ProP ...
William Marsh Rice
William Marsh Rice (March 14, 1816 – September 23, 1900) was an American businessman who bequeathed his fortune to found Rice University in Houston, Texas. Rice was murdered by his valet Charles F. Jones while sleeping. The murder was pa ...
, and first chair of the Rice Board of Governors.
*
Will Rice College
Rice University contains eleven residential colleges which function as the primary housing, dining, and social organizations for undergraduate students. The system was established in 1957 and was inspired by the residential college systems at the ...
, named for William M. Rice, Jr., the nephew of the university's founder,
William Marsh Rice
William Marsh Rice (March 14, 1816 – September 23, 1900) was an American businessman who bequeathed his fortune to found Rice University in Houston, Texas. Rice was murdered by his valet Charles F. Jones while sleeping. The murder was pa ...
.
*
Hanszen College
Rice University contains eleven residential colleges which function as the primary housing, dining, and social organizations for undergraduate students. The system was established in 1957 and was inspired by the residential college systems at the ...
, named for Harry Clay Hanszen, benefactor to the university and chairman of the Rice Board of Governors from 1946 to 1950.
* Wiess College, named for Harry Carothers Wiess (1887–1948), one of the founders and one-time president of
Humble Oil
Humble Oil and Refining Co. is a defunct American oil company founded in 1911 in Humble, Texas. In 1919, a 50% interest in Humble was acquired by the Standard Oil of New Jersey which acquired the rest of the company in September 1959. The Humbl ...
George R. Brown
George Rufus Brown (May 12, 1898 – January 22, 1983) was a prominent Houston entrepreneur. With his brother Herman, Brown led Brown & Root Inc. to become one of the largest construction companies in the world and helped to foster the political c ...
.
* Lovett College, named after the university's first president, Edgar Odell Lovett.
*
Sid Richardson College
Rice University contains eleven residential colleges which function as the primary housing, dining, and social organizations for undergraduate students. The system was established in 1957 and was inspired by the residential college systems at the ...
, named for the Sid Richardson Foundation, which was established by Texas oilman, cattleman, and philanthropist Sid W. Richardson.
*
Martel College
Rice University contains eleven residential colleges which function as the primary housing, dining, and social organizations for undergraduate students. The system was established in 1957 and was inspired by the residential college systems at the ...
, named for Marian and Speros P. Martel, was built in 2002.
* McMurtry College, named for Rice alumni Burt and Deedee McMurtry,
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Coun ...
venture capitalists.
* Duncan College, named for Charles Duncan, Jr., Secretary of Energy.
Each residential college has its own cafeteria (serveries) and each residential college has study groups and its own social practices.
Although each college is composed of a full cross-section of students at Rice, they have over time developed their own traditions and "personalities". When students
matriculate
Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination.
Australia
In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...
they are randomly assigned to one of the eleven colleges, although "legacy" exceptions are made for students whose siblings or parents have attended Rice. Students generally remain members of the college that they are assigned to for the duration of their undergraduate careers, even if they move off-campus at any point. Students are guaranteed on-campus housing for freshman year and two of the next three years; each college has its own system for determining allocation of the remaining spaces, collectively known as "Room Jacking". Students develop strong loyalties to their college and maintain friendly rivalry with other colleges, especially during events such as Beer Bike and O-Week. Colleges keep their rivalries alive by performing "jacks," or pranks, on each other, especially during O-Week and Willy Week. During Matriculation, Commencement, and other formal academic ceremonies, the colleges process in the order in which they were established.
Baker 13
Baker 13 is a tradition in which students run around campus wearing nothing but shoes and
shaving cream
Shaving cream or shave cream is a category of cream cosmetics used for shaving preparation. The purpose of shaving cream is to soften the hair by providing lubrication.
Different types of shaving creams include aerosol shaving cream (also kn ...
at 10 p.m. on the 13th and the 31st of every month, as well as the 26th on months with fewer than 31 days. The event, long sponsored by
Baker College
Baker College is a private college with its main campus in Owosso, Michigan. It was founded in 1911 and has additional campuses throughout the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.
The college has been accused of predatory practices. In 2022, a ProP ...
, usually attracts a small number of students, but Halloween night and the first and last relevant days of the school year both attract large numbers of revelers.
Beer Bike Race
According to the official website, "Beer Bike is a combination intramural bicycle race and drinking competition dating back to 1957. Ten riders and ten chuggers make up a team. Elaborate rules include details such as a prohibition of "bulky or wet clothing articles designed to absorb beer/water or prevent spilled beer/water from being seen" and regulations for chug can design. Each residential college as well as the Graduate Student Association participates with a men's team, a women's team, and alumni (co-ed) team. Each leg of the race is a relay in which a team's "chugger" must chug of beer or water for the men's division and for women before the team's "rider" may begin to ride. Participants who both ride and chug are referred to as "Ironmen". Willy Week is a term coined in the 1990s to refer to the week preceding Beer Bike, a time of general energy and excitement on campus. Jacks (pranks) are especially common during Willy Week; some examples in the past include removing showerheads and encasing the Hanszen guardian."
The morning of the Beer Bike race itself begins with what is by some estimations the largest annual water balloon fight in the world. Beer Bike is Rice's most prominent student event, and for younger alumni it serves as an unofficial reunion weekend on par with Homecoming. The 2009 Beer Bike race was dedicated to the memory of Dr. Bill Wilson, a popular professor and long-time resident associate of Wiess College who died earlier that year.
In the event of inclement weather, Beer Bike becomes a Beer Run. The rules are nearly identical, except that the Bikers must instead run the length of the track.
Campus institutions
Rice Coffeehouse
Rice Coffeehouse began in Hanszen College, where students would serve coffee in the Weenie Loft, a study room in the old section's fourth floor. Later, the coffee house moved to the Hanszen basement to accommodate more student patrons. That coffeehouse became known as Breadsticks and Pomegranates, and closed due to flooding. Demand for an on-campus Coffeehouse grew and in 1990, the Rice Coffeehouse was founded.
The Rice Coffeehouse is a not-for-profit student-run organization serving Rice University and the greater Houston community. Over the past few years, it has introduced fair-trade and organic coffee and loose-leaf teas.
Coffeehouse baristas are referred to as K.O.C.'s, or Keepers of the Coffee. Rice Coffeehouse has also adopted an unofficial mascot, the squirrel, which can be found on T-shirts, mugs, and bumper stickers stuck on laptops across campus. The logo pays tribute to Rice's squirrel population, claimed by students to be unusually plump and frighteningly tame.
The Pub at Rice
Formerly known as Willy's Pub, The Pub at Rice is Rice's student-run pub located in the basement of the Rice Memorial Center. It opened on April 11, 1975, with Rice President Norman Hackerman pouring the first beer. The original name was chosen by students in tribute to the university's founder,
William Marsh Rice
William Marsh Rice (March 14, 1816 – September 23, 1900) was an American businessman who bequeathed his fortune to found Rice University in Houston, Texas. Rice was murdered by his valet Charles F. Jones while sleeping. The murder was pa ...
. After the drinking age in Texas was raised in 1986, the pub entered a period of financial difficulties and in April 1995, was destroyed in a fire. The space was gutted but renovated and remains open. On February 15, 2022, the Rice Thresher announced the rebranding of Willy's Pub as The Pub at Rice.
Rice Bikes
Rice Bikes is a full-service on-campus bicycle sale, rental, and repair shop. It originated in the basement of
Sid Richardson College
Rice University contains eleven residential colleges which function as the primary housing, dining, and social organizations for undergraduate students. The system was established in 1957 and was inspired by the residential college systems at the ...
in February 2011. In 2012, Rice Bikes officially became the university's third student-run business. Rice Bikes merged with a student-run bicycle rental business in 2013, and operations moved to the Rice Memorial Center in 2014. In 2017, the business moved to the garage of the Rice Housing and Dining department's headquarters.
Rice Bikes sells refurbished bicycles bought from students and functions as a full bicycle repair shop.
The Rice Thresher
''The Rice Thresher'' is the weekly student newspaper of Rice University
William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and a ...
KTRU Rice Radio
KTRU-LP (stylized as ktru) is the college radio station of Rice University, a private university in south-central Houston, Texas, United States.
KTRU-LP broadcasts a freeform-eclectic music format on 96.1 FM; its programming includes modern c ...
), and now defunct, campus-wide student television station (RTV5). They are based out of the RMC student center. In addition, Rice hosts several student magazines dedicated to a range of different topics; the spring semester of 2008 saw the founding of two magazines, a literary sex journal called ''Open'' and an undergraduate science research magazine entitled ''Catalyst''.
''
The Rice Thresher
''The Rice Thresher'' is the weekly student newspaper of Rice University
William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and a ...
'' is published every Wednesday and is ranked by Princeton Review as one of the top campus newspapers nationally for student readership. It is distributed around campus, and at a few other local businesses and has a website. The ''Thresher'' has a small, dedicated staff and is known for its coverage of campus news, open submission opinion page, and the satirical Backpage, which has often been the center of controversy. The newspaper has won several awards from the College Media Association, Associated Collegiate Press and Texas Intercollegiate Press Association.
The Rice Campanile was first published in 1916 celebrating Rice's first graduating class. It has published continuously since then, publishing two volumes in 1944 since the university had two graduating classes due to World War II. The website was created sometime in the early to mid 2000s. The 2015 won the first place Pinnacle for best yearbook from College Media Association.
KTRU Rice Radio
KTRU-LP (stylized as ktru) is the college radio station of Rice University, a private university in south-central Houston, Texas, United States.
KTRU-LP broadcasts a freeform-eclectic music format on 96.1 FM; its programming includes modern c ...
is the student-run radio station. Though most DJs are Rice students, anyone is allowed to apply. It is known for playing genres and artists of music and sound unavailable on other radio stations in Houston, and often, the US. The station takes requests over the phone o online In 2000 and 2006, KTRU won Houston Press' Best Radio Station in Houston. In 2003, Rice alum and active KTRU DJ DL's hip-hip show won Houston Press' Best Hip-hop Radio Show. On August 17, 2010, it was announced that Rice University had been in negotiations to sell the station's broadcast tower, FM frequency and license to the
University of Houston System
The University of Houston System is a public university system in Texas, comprising four separate and distinct universities. It also owns and holds broadcasting licenses to a public television station (KUHT) and a public radio station (KUHF).
Th ...
to become a full-time classical music and fine arts programming station. The new station, KUHA, would be operated as a not-for-profit outlet with listener supporters. The FCC approved the sale and granted the transfer of license to the University of Houston System on April 15, 2011, however, KUHA proved to be an even larger failure and so after four and a half years of operation, The University of Houston System announced that KUHA's broadcast tower, FM frequency and license were once again up for sale in August 2015. KTRU continued to operate much as it did previously, streaming live on the Internet, via apps, and on HD2 radio using the 90.1 signal. Under student leadership, KTRU explored the possibility of returning to FM radio for a number of years. In spring 2015, KTRU was granted permission by the FCC to begin development of a new broadcast signal via LPFM radio. On October 1, 2015, KTRU made its official return to FM radio on the 96.1 signal. While broadcasting on HD2 radio has been discontinued, KTRU continues to broadcast via internet in addition to its LPFM signal.
RTV5 is a student-run television network available as channel 5 on campus. RTV5 was created initially as Rice Broadcast Television in 1997; RBT began to broadcast the following year in 1998, and aired its first live show across campus in 1999. It experienced much growth and exposure over the years with successful programs like "Drinking with Phil”, “The Meg & Maggie Show”, which was a variety and call-in show, a weekly news show, and extensive live coverage in December 2000 of the shut down of KTRU by the administration. In spring 2001, the Rice undergraduate community voted in the general elections to support RBT as a blanket tax organization, effectively providing a yearly income of $10,000 to purchase new equipment and provide the campus with a variety of new programming. In the spring of 2005, RBT members decided the station needed a new image and a new name: Rice Television 5. One of RTV5's most popular shows was the 24-hour show, where a camera and couch placed in the RMC stayed on air for 24 hours. One such show is held in fall and another in spring, usually during a weekend allocated for visits by prospective students. RTV5 has a video on demand site at rtv5.rice.edu. The station went off the air in 2014 and changed its name to Rice Video Productions. In 2015 the group's funding was threatened, but ultimately maintained. In 2016 the small student staff requested to no longer be a blanket-tax organization. In the fall of 2017, the club did not register as a club.
''The Rice Review'', also known as R2, is a yearly student-run literary journal at Rice University that publishes prose, poetry, and creative nonfiction written by undergraduate students, as well as interviews. The journal was founded in 2004 by creative writing professor and author
Justin Cronin
Justin Cronin (born 1962) is an American author. He has written five novels: ''Mary and O'Neil'' and ''The Summer Guest'', as well as a vampire trilogy consisting of ''The Passage,'' '' The Twelve'' and '' City of Mirrors''. He has won the Heming ...
.
''The Rice Standard'' was an independent, student-run variety magazine modeled after such publications as ''The New Yorker'' and ''Harper's''. Prior to fall 2009, it was regularly published three times a semester with a wide array of content, running from analyses of current events and philosophical pieces to personal essays, short fiction and poetry. In August 2009, the ''Standard'' transitioned to a completely online format with the launch of their redesigned website, ricestandard.org. The first website of its kind on Rice's campus, the ''Standard'' featured blog-style content written by and for Rice students. ''The Rice Standard'' had around 20 regular contributors, and the site features new content every day (including holidays). In 2017 no one registered The Rice Standard as a club within the university.
''Open'', a magazine dedicated to "literary sex content," predictably caused a stir on campus with its initial publication in spring 2008. A mixture of essays, editorials, stories and artistic photography brought Open attention both on campus and in the
Houston Chronicle
The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...
. The third and last annual edition of ''Open'' was released in spring of 2010.
Athletics
Rice plays in
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...
athletics and is part of Conference USA. Rice was a member of the
Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas.
Due to mos ...
before joining Conference USA in 2005. Rice is the second-smallest school, measured by undergraduate enrollment, competing in NCAA
Division I FBS
The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). A ...
Tulsa
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
.
The Rice baseball team won the 2003 College World Series, defeating Stanford, giving Rice its only national championship in a team sport. The victory made Rice University the smallest school in 51 years to win a national championship at the highest collegiate level of the sport. The Rice baseball team has played on campus at
Reckling Park
Reckling Park is the baseball stadium at Rice University in Houston, Texas, USA. It serves as the home field of the Rice Owls baseball team. The stadium was built on the site of Cameron Field, Rice's home from 1978–99, in time for the 2000 s ...
since the 2000 season. , the baseball team has won 14 consecutive conference championships in three different conferences: the final championship of the defunct
Southwest Conference
The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...
, all nine championships while a member of the
Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas.
Due to mos ...
, and five more championships in its first five years as a member of Conference USA. Additionally, Rice's baseball team has finished third in both the 2006 and
2007 College World Series
The 2007 NCAA Division I baseball tournament was held from June 1 to 24, . Sixty-four NCAA Division I college baseball teams advanced to the post season tournament after having played through a regular season, and for some, a conference tourname ...
tournaments. Rice now has made six trips to Omaha for the CWS. In 2004, Rice became the first school ever to have three players selected in the first eight picks of the
MLB draft
The first-year player draft is the primary mechanism of Major League Baseball (MLB) for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on a lo ...
when
Philip Humber
Philip Gregory Humber (; born December 21, 1982) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched for the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, and Houston Astros in seven seasons in Major League ...
,
Jeff Niemann
Jeffrey Warren Niemann (born February 28, 1983) is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays from 2008 to 2012.
High school
Niemann attended Lamar High School.
C ...
, and
Wade Townsend
Wade Daniel Townsend (born February 22, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher, twice selected as a first-round Major League Draft pick out of Rice University. Townsend attended Dripping Springs High School in Dripping Springs, ...
were selected third, fourth, and eighth, respectively. In 2007,
Joe Savery
Joseph Cain Savery (born November 4, 1985) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies from 2011 through 2013 and Oakland Athletics in 2014. Before playing professiona ...
was selected as the 19th overall pick.
In 2004–05, Rice sent its women's volleyball, soccer, and basketball teams to their respective NCAA tournaments. The women's swim team has consistently brought at least one member of their team to the NCAA championships since 2013. In 2005–06, the women's soccer, basketball, and tennis teams advanced, with five individuals competing in track and field. In 2006–07, the Rice women's basketball team made the NCAA tournament, while again five Rice track and field athletes received individual NCAA berths. In 2008, the women's volleyball team again made the NCAA tournament.
In 2011 the Women's Swim team won their first conference championship in the history of the university. This was an impressive feat considering they won without having a diving team. The team repeated their C-USA success in 2013 and 2014.
In 2017, the women's basketball team, led by second-year head coach Tina Langley, won the
Women's Basketball Invitational
The Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) is a women's college basketball tournament created in 2009 by Sport Tours. The inaugural tournament occurred at the conclusion of the 2009–10 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. Selections for th ...
, defeating
UNC-Greensboro
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. UNCG, like all members of the UNC system, is a stand-al ...
74–62 in the championship game at Tudor Fieldhouse.
Though not a varsity sport, Rice's ultimate frisbee women's team, named Torque, won consecutive Division III national championships in 2014 and 2015.
In 2006, the
football team
A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all-s ...
qualified for its first bowl game since 1961, ending the second-longest bowl drought in the country at the time. On December 22, 2006, Rice played in the
New Orleans Bowl
The New Orleans Bowl is an NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game that has been played annually since 2001. It is normally held at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans; when the Superdome and the rest of the city suffered damage due t ...
against the Sun Belt Conference champion, Troy. The Owls lost 41–17. The bowl appearance came after Rice had a 14-game losing streak from 2004 to 2005 and went 1–10 in 2005. The streak followed an internally authorized 2003 McKinsey report that stated football alone was responsible for a $4 million deficit in 2002. Tensions remained high between the athletic department and faculty, as a few professors who chose to voice their opinion were in favor of abandoning the football program. The program success in 2006, the "Rice Renaissance," proved to be a revival of the Owl football program, quelling those tensions.
David Bailiff
David Edward Bailiff (born May 26, 1958) is an American football coach and former player. He was most recently the head coach at Texas A&M University–Commerce from 2019-2022; prior to that he was the head coach at Rice University in Houston, Tex ...
took over the program in 2007 and has remained head coach.
Jarett Dillard
Jarett Juma Porter Dillard (born December 21, 1985) is an American lawyer and former American football wide receiver of the National Football League. Dillard achieved success as a college football player for Rice, while earning his bachelor's d ...
set an NCAA record in 2006 by catching a touchdown pass in 13 consecutive games and took a 15-game overall streak into the 2007 season.
In 2008, the football team posted a 9–3 regular season, capping off the year with a 38–14 victory over Western Michigan University in the Texas Bowl. The win over Western Michigan marked the Owls' first bowl win in 45 years.
Rice Stadium also serves as the performance venue for the university's
Marching Owl Band The Marching Owl Band (aka The MOB or the Blues Band of South Main) is the Rice University "marching band" in the sense that it is the official ensemble that performs during football games, some basketball games, parades, and other public events. H ...
, or "MOB." Despite its name, the MOB is a scatter band that focuses on performing humorous skits and routines rather than traditional formation marching.
Rice Owls men's basketball won 10 conference titles in the former Southwest Conference (1918, 1935*, 1940, 1942*, 1943*, 1944*, 1945, 1949*, 1954*, 1970; * denotes shared title). Most recently, guard Morris Almond was drafted in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft by the
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...
. Rice named former
Cal Bears
The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...
head coach
Ben Braun
Benjamin Abraham Braun (born November 25, 1953) is an American former men's college basketball coach and college basketball analyst. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Siena Heights University (1977–1985), Eastern Michigan Univers ...
as head basketball coach to succeed Willis Wilson, fired after Rice finished the 2007–2008 season with a winless (0–16) conference record and overall record of 3–27.
Rice's mascot is Sammy the Owl. In previous decades, the university kept several live owls on campus in front of Lovett College, but this practice has been discontinued, due to public concern regarding animal welfare.
Rice also has a 12-member coed cheerleading squad and a coed dance team, both of which perform at football and basketball games throughout the year.
Notable people
, Rice has graduated 98 classes of students consisting of 51,961 living alumni. Over 100 students at Rice have been
Fulbright Scholars
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...
, 25
Marshall Scholars
The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is widely considered one of the most prestigious sc ...
Watson Fellows
Watson may refer to:
Companies
* Actavis, a pharmaceutical company formerly known as Watson Pharmaceuticals
* A.S. Watson Group, retail division of Hutchison Whampoa
* Thomas J. Watson Research Center, IBM research center
* Watson Systems, maker ...
, among several other honors and awards.
Rice's distinguished faculty and alumni consists of five Nobel laureates, a
Turing Award
The ACM A. M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. It is generally recognized as the highest distinction in comput ...
Fulbright Scholars
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...
, 29 Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Recipients, 14 members of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
, 35
Guggenheim Fellowships
Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative abi ...
, 12 members of the
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...
, 2 members of the
National Academy of Medicine
The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Eng ...
National Humanities Center The National Humanities Center (NHC) is an independent institute for advanced study in the humanities. The NHC operates as a privately incorporated nonprofit and is not part of any university or federal agency. The center was planned under the auspi ...
, and 86 fellows of the
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...
.
In science and technology, Rice alumni include 14
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
astronauts;
Robert Curl
Robert Floyd Curl Jr. (August 23, 1933 – July 3, 2022) was an American chemist who was Pitzer–Schlumberger Professor of Natural Sciences and Professor of Chemistry at Rice University. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996 for ...
fullerene
A fullerene is an allotrope of carbon whose molecule consists of carbon atoms connected by single and double bonds so as to form a closed or partially closed mesh, with fused rings of five to seven atoms. The molecule may be a hollow sphere, ...
;
Robert Woodrow Wilson
Robert Woodrow Wilson (born January 10, 1936) is an American astronomer who, along with Arno Allan Penzias, discovered cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) in 1964. The pair won the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery.
While ...
, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of
cosmic microwave background radiation
In Big Bang cosmology the cosmic microwave background (CMB, CMBR) is electromagnetic radiation that is a remnant from an early stage of the universe, also known as "relic radiation". The CMB is faint cosmic background radiation filling all space ...
;
David Eagleman
David Eagleman (born April 25, 1971) is an American neuroscientist, author, and science communicator. He teaches neuroscience at Stanford University and is CEO and co-founder of Neosensory, a company that develops devices for sensory substitut ...
, celebrity neuroscientist and ''NYT'' bestselling author; and NASA former Apollo 11 and 13 warning systems engineer and motivational speaker Jerry Woodfill.
In business and entrepreneurship, Rice alumni include:
*
Thomas H. Cruikshank
Thomas H. Cruikshank was chairman and CEO of Halliburton, Halliburton Company from 1989 to 1995. He previously served as President and CEO from 1983 to 1989. During his tenure in the early 1990s, Halliburton provided extensive service to Kuwait i ...
, the former CEO of
Halliburton
Halliburton Company is an American multinational corporation responsible for most of the world's hydraulic fracturing operations. In 2009, it was the world's second largest oil field service company. It has operations in more than 70 countries ...
*
John Doerr
L. John Doerr (born June 29, 1951) is an American investor and venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins in Menlo Park, California. In February 2009, Doerr was appointed a member of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board to provide the Pre ...
, billionaire and venture capitalist
*
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...
Troublemaker Studios
Troublemaker Studios is a film production company founded and owned by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez and producer Elizabeth Avellán. The company is based in Austin, Texas and is at the former site of the Robert Mueller Municipal Airport. It shares ...
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema
The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is an American cinema chain founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, which is famous for serving dinner and drinks during the movie, as well as its strict policy of requiring its audiences to maintain proper cinema-going etiq ...
Coinbase
Coinbase Global, Inc., branded Coinbase, is an American publicly traded company that operates a cryptocurrency exchange platform. Coinbase is a distributed company; all employees operate via remote work and the company lacks a physical headq ...
* Burt McMurtry, Silicon Valley venture capitalist
In government and politics, Rice alumni include:
* Alberto Gonzales, former Attorney General
*
Charles Duncan Charles Duncan may refer to:
Politics and law
* Charles T. Duncan (1838–1915), American lawyer and Virginia state judge
* Charles Duncan (politician)
Charles Duncan (8 June 1865 – 6 July 1933) was a British Labour Party politician and t ...
, former Secretary of Energy
* William P. Hobby, Jr., former lieutenant governor of Texas
* John Kline, Member of the House of Representatives
*
George P. Bush
George Prescott Bush (born April 24, 1976) is an American politician and attorney who served as the commissioner of the Texas General Land Office from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Bush unsuccessfully campaigned for the party's ...
Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for President Obama
* Glenn Youngkin, Governor of Virginia
*
Annise Parker
Annise Danette Parker (born May 17, 1956) is an American politician who served as the 61st Mayor of Houston, Texas, from 2010 until 2016. She also served as an at-large member of the Houston City Council from 1998 to 2003 and city controller fro ...
, the 61st Mayor of Houston
In the arts, Rice alumni include:
*
Larry McMurtry
Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas.
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology) ...
-winning writer of the screenplay for ''
Brokeback Mountain
''Brokeback Mountain'' is a 2005 American neo-Western romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee and produced by Diana Ossana and James Schamus. Adapted from the 1997 short story of the same name by Annie Proulx, the screenplay was written by ...
Candace Bushnell
Candace Bushnell (born December 1, 1958) is an American author, journalist, and television producer. She wrote a column for ''The New York Observer'' (1994–96) that was adapted into the bestselling ''Sex and the City'' anthology. The book was ...
, author of ''
Sex and the City
''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the same name, the series premiered in the United Stat ...
'', who attended for three semesters
* Mark Brice, Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker
*
Caroline Shaw
Caroline Adelaide Shaw (born August 1, 1982) is an American composer, violinist, and singer. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013 for her a cappella piece '' Partita for 8 Voices'' and the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Contemporar ...
, Pulitzer Prize-winning musician
In athletics, Rice alumni incldude:
Lance Berkman
William Lance Berkman (born February 10, 1976), nicknamed "Fat Elvis" and "Big Puma", is an American baseball coach and former professional baseball outfielder and first baseman, who is the current head baseball coach of the Houston Christian H ...
,
Brock Holt
Brock Wyatt Holt (born June 11, 1988), nicknamed "The Brock Star", is an American former professional baseball player. Well known for his role as a utility player, Holt played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Re ...
,
Bubba Crosby
Richard Stephen "Bubba" Crosby (born August 11, 1976) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder who played with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees. He is best known for his tenure as a backup outfielder for the Yankees, when hi ...
,
Harold Solomon
Harold Solomon (born September 17, 1952) is an American former professional tennis player who played during the 1970s and 1980s. He achieved a career-high world ranking of No. 5 in singles in 1980, and of No. 4 in doubles in 1976. Over the cours ...
Tommy Kramer
Thomas Francis Kramer (born March 7, 1955) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) from 1977 to 1990. He played college football at Rice University and was selected by the Mi ...
Courtney Hall
Courtney Caeser Hall (August 26, 1968 – April 29, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a center and guard in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Diego Chargers and spent the 1998 preseason with the Denver Br ...
,
Bert Emanuel
Bert Tyrone Emanuel (born October 26, 1970) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the second round of the 1994 NFL Draft. He played college football at Rice.
Emanue ...
Tony Cingrani
Anthony Michael Cingrani (born July 5, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers. Prior to playing professionally, he playe ...
,
Anthony Rendon
Anthony Michael Rendon (, ; born June 6, 1990) is an American baseball third baseman for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played for the Washington Nationals and was a member of the Nationals' 2019 World ...
, and
Leo Rucka
Leopold Victor "Leo" Rucka (August 18, 1931 – January 4, 2016) was an American professional football player who played Linebacker/Center for the San Francisco 49ers during the 1956 NFL season. He was drafted in the 2nd round of the 1954 NFL Draf ...
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...
, aviator, engineer, industrialist, film producer and director
File:Joyce Carol Oates (cropped).jpg, Joyce Carol Oates, noted author and Professor Emerita at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
File:Annise Parker.JPG,
Annise Parker
Annise Danette Parker (born May 17, 1956) is an American politician who served as the 61st Mayor of Houston, Texas, from 2010 until 2016. She also served as an at-large member of the Houston City Council from 1998 to 2003 and city controller fro ...
(1978), 61st
Mayor of Houston
The following is a list of people who have served as mayor of the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas.
Until 2015, the term of the mayor was two years. Beginning with the tenure of Bob Lanier, the city charter imposed term limits on offi ...
File:Alberto Gonzales - official DoJ photograph.jpg, Alberto Gonzales (1979), former
U.S. Attorney General
The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
File:PeggyWhitson-NASA.jpg,
Peggy Whitson
Peggy Annette Whitson (born February 9, 1960) is an American biochemistry researcher, retired NASA astronaut, and former NASA Chief Astronaut. Whitson has a total of 665 days in space, more than any other woman or American.
Her first space mi ...
(1986), NASA astronaut
File:Josh Earnest 2011 (cropped).jpg,
He Jiankui
He Jiankui (; ; born 1984) is a Chinese biophysics researcher who was an associate professor in the Department of Biology of the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, China. Earning his Ph.D. from Rice University ...
(Ph.D. 2010), Chinese biophysicist
File:TechCrunch SF 2013 SJP2372 (9727140956).jpg,
John Doerr
L. John Doerr (born June 29, 1951) is an American investor and venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins in Menlo Park, California. In February 2009, Doerr was appointed a member of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board to provide the Pre ...
(BS 1973, MEng 1974), billionaire venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins
File:George P. Bush crop.jpg,
George P. Bush
George Prescott Bush (born April 24, 1976) is an American politician and attorney who served as the commissioner of the Texas General Land Office from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Bush unsuccessfully campaigned for the party's ...
(1998), Commissioner of the
Texas General Land Office
The Texas General Land Office (GLO) is a state agency of the U.S. state of Texas, responsible for managing lands and mineral rights properties that are owned by the state. The GLO also manages and contributes to the state's Permanent School Fund ...
File:NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine Official Portrait (NHQ201907240001).jpg,
Jim Bridenstine
James Frederick Bridenstine (born June 15, 1975) is an American military officer and politician who served as the 13th administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Bridenstine was the United States representative f ...
(1998), thirteenth
NASA Administrator
The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the highest-ranking official of NASA, the national space agency of the United States. The administrator is NASA's chief decision maker, responsible for providing clarity to ...
Governor of Virginia
The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia serves as the head of government of Virginia for a four-year term. The incumbent, Glenn Youngkin, was sworn in on January 15, 2022.
Oath of office
On inauguration day, the Governor-elect takes th ...
File:Brian Armstrong - TechCrunch Disrupt 2018 01.jpg, Brian Armstrong (2005), cofounder and CEO of
Coinbase
Coinbase Global, Inc., branded Coinbase, is an American publicly traded company that operates a cryptocurrency exchange platform. Coinbase is a distributed company; all employees operate via remote work and the company lacks a physical headq ...
File:Tommy Kramer.jpg,
Tommy Kramer
Thomas Francis Kramer (born March 7, 1955) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) from 1977 to 1990. He played college football at Rice University and was selected by the Mi ...
(1977), Former quarterback for
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
File:Former Commissioner Stephen Hahn (49484140217).jpg, Stephen Hahn (1980), 24th
Commissioner of Food and Drugs
The United States Commissioner of Food and Drugs is the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The commissioner is appointed by the president of the United States and ...