Rice bids farewell to Wise

BY B.J. ALMOND
Rice News staff

There was no shortage of tears, hugs or applause Wednesday as members of the Rice community packed Brochstein Pavilion to say goodbye to Scott W. Wise ’71. After 31 years of dedicated service to his alma mater, Wise is taking on the role of TIAA-CREF’s chief investment officer for a new Houston-based business that will provide investment management services for endowments and foundations around the country.

	JEFF FITLOW
	The Rice community gathered at the Brochstein Pavilion to say goodbye to Scott W. Wise ’71, who is pictured with his wife, Geraldina Interiano Wise ’83.

A Rice economics alum who lettered in baseball all four years as an undergraduate, Wise has been a member of the Rice staff since 1979. Over the past three decades he has served as controller, associate treasurer, lecturer at the Jones School, interim vice president for development, chair of search committees for two vice presidents, board member of the Association of Rice Alumni and member of the Rice Athletics Committee, head of technology transfer and his current roles as president of Rice Management Company and vice president for investments and treasurer.

“If there’s anyone who was ever a citizen of Rice, it’s Scott,” President David Leebron said.

Leebron commended Wise for his “truly remarkable contributions” to Rice and his prudent management of the university’s most important asset — the endowment. Under Wise’s stewardship, the endowment grew from $990 million to a high of $4.6 billion. During the recent economic slump, the value of Rice’s endowment decreased 18 percent, but Leebron pointed out that the faculty still gave Wise a round of applause back then because Rice’s peer institutions suffered losses of 25 percent or more in their endowments.

“That was the real test of stewardship of Rice’s assets,” Leebron said. “We can’t really appreciate what Scott has contributed if we think only in terms of dollar returns. Scott had to steward a fundamental change and bring Rice into the modern era of how we think about our endowment and our endowment management.”

Rice Board of Trustees Chairman Jim Crownover ’65 and former board chair Charles Duncan Jr. ’47 were out of town and unable to attend the reception but sent letters for Leebron to read in their absence.

Duncan wrote that when he was directly involved with Rice, he relied on Wise’s “advice and counsel heavily and developed tremendous respect for his acumen.” So did Jack Trotter and Evans Attwell, who both have served as chairman of the board’s Finance Committee, Duncan said.

Crownover said Wise is among the few who have created “an outstanding enterprise.” “Under Scott’s vision and leadership, what we now call the Rice Management Company has grown from a modest beginning to a well-diversified portfolio of investment, with experienced investment managers overseen by superb staff members,” he wrote.

Trustee L.E. Simmons, who chairs the Rice Management Company, said Wise taught him a lot about institutional investing. “I was so impressed from day one about the way Scott thinks and the way he works with his staff,” he said. “Scott has maintained a style of investing that is very much Rice.” Simmons, who serves on other local boards, said Rice sets the standard for managing endowments. “Scott led this entire city into different ways of thinking about investing,” he said.

Trustee J.D. Bucky Allshouse ’71 noted that Wise was a great baseball pitcher for the Owls, with a Southwest Conference earned run average of 0.80 in 1970 that ranks as the fourth-lowest ERA in Rice’s baseball history. “Scott was dedicated to the sport and committed to excellence,” Allshouse said. “And he had the same commitment to his career at Rice and handled himself professionally with great integrity and wisdom.” Allshouse recalled that whenever a tough decision had to be made about the endowment or investment portfolio, Wise’s advice was always sought. “I truly believe this university would not be where it is today had it not been for Scott’s guidance on the endowment and spending,” he said.

Holly Hardy, director of real estate, energy and natural resource investments for Rice Management Company, summarized the many reasons that she and other members of the investment staff admire their boss. “Foremost is the culture Scott has created within Rice Management Company — a culture of integrity and fair dealing that each of us is very proud to be a part of,” she said, adding that Wise truly created that culture, having personally selected the entire staff and each of the more than 100 managers through which the endowment currently invests.

Hardy joked that Wise can be “annoyingly smart sometimes,” but she said the staff “trusts his judgment implicitly” and respects his “quiet competence and calm” and “strength of character.” Hardy thanked Wise for the trust he has placed in his staff, his genuine concern for their personal lives and his many years of support. “Scott is a genuinely kind and empathetic soul,” she said. “We’re going to miss his presence on a daily basis.”

Touched by the testimonials, Wise expressed a “deep sense of honor” for being able to serve Rice for 31 years. He said his success was not due to his personal performance, but to the performance of the board and everyone on the Rice Management Company and investment teams. “I’m most proud of the team I’ve built here,” he said.

He recalled his first visit to Rice a month after graduating from high school in 1967. Since the age of 8 he had wanted to be a Southwest Conference pitcher. When Rice baseball coach Doug Osburn invited him to campus, Wise’s father drove him to Houston from Beaumont. Wise said that after what seemed like a 30-second admission interview, he was offered a scholarship and signed with Rice. When he got back to Beaumont later that day, his mom informed him that a coach from Texas A&M had left a message. When Wise returned the call, the A&M coach said they wanted Wise to play ball for them. Wise explained that he couldn’t accept their offer because he had just committed to Rice. “My life might have worked out differently if we had cell phones back then,” he said.

Wise said the lifeblood of Rice is “all the people” — the students, faculty, staff and board — including the four presidents for whom he worked — Leebron, Malcolm Gillis, Norman Hackerman and George Rupp — and the three board chairs who served during his years at Rice — Crownover, Duncan and Bill Barnett.

“What I’m going to miss most about Rice is the people,” he said.