Rice alumni association honors nine

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Rice alumni association honors nine
Cites contributions to university and the world at commencement

Rice University’s alumni association will honor members of the school’s administration, faculty and past graduates for their outstanding contributions to the university and the world in conjunction with commencement activities this weekend.

For their commitment to Rice, Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian, founding director of Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, and Neal Lane, the Malcolm Gillis University Professor and senior fellow in science and technology policy at the Baker Institute, have been chosen by the Association of Rice Alumni (ARA) as the 2009 Gold Medal winners. The Gold Medal is the highest honor bestowed by the ARA and recognizes extraordinary service to the university.

The ARA will present Distinguished Alumni awards to T. Jay Collins ’68, Rachelle Smith Doody ’78 and ’92, and Robert S. Martin ’71. This award recognizes Rice alumni who have advanced the interest and standards of excellence of Rice through distinctive professional or volunteer careers.

Meritorious Service awards will go to Teveia Rose Barnes ’75, Kathleen S. Matthews, Jeffery O. Rose ’77 and Richard J. Stoll. The awards honor significant contributions toward the advancement of the university.

Djerejian was U.S. ambassador to Israel under President Bill Clinton. He served both President George H.W. Bush and Clinton as assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs and President Ronald Reagan and Bush as U.S. ambassador to the Syrian Arab Republic. He founded the Baker Institute in 1994.

Lane has served Rice as chair of the physics department and university provost and is a professor of physics and astronomy. He was science adviser to President Clinton and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from August 1998 to January 2001, and has also served as director of the National Science Foundation.

Collins is president, CEO and director of Oceaneering International Inc., a global oilfield provider of engineered services and products for the offshore oil and gas industry.

Doody is the Effie Marie Cain Chair in Alzheimer’s Disease Research, professor of neurology and director of the Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders Center at Baylor College of Medicine, one of the premier centers in the country.

Martin was named in 2001 by President George W. Bush to direct the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services. A winner of the Presidential Citizens Medal, one of the nation’s highest civilian honors, he has held positions at Louisiana State University, the University of Texas at Arlington and Austin, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He retired in 2008 from Texas Women’s University, where he was a professor of library sciences.

Barnes, a member of the Rice Board of Trustees, is a partner at the law firm Foley & Lardner LLP in San Francisco. She chairs the Rice board’s audit committee and has worked extensively with the Office of Resource Development, the Shepherd School of Music and the ARA.

Matthews, the Stewart Memorial Professor of Biochemistry and Cell biology, is former dean of the Wiess School of Natural Sciences. She helped found the Rice Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering and was instrumental in the building of George R. Brown Hall and the renovation of Keck Hall.

Rose, managing director at Alvarez & Marsal, a global professional services firm, is a Rice trustee and former athlete who has served as a member of the Athletic Steering Committee, the Owl Club and the ”R” Association, of which he is a life member.

Stoll, a professor of political science, celebrates his 30th anniversary at Rice this year. He helped establish the Baker Institute and chaired the Master of Liberal Studies program at the Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies, and has supported students as an associate of Jones College for nearly three decades.