Five recognized for their meritorious service to Rice

Five recognized for their meritorious service to Rice

BY DAVID THEIS
Special to the Rice News

Four Rice alumni and a longtime professor have earned the Association of Rice Alumni’s Meritorious Service Award, recognizing their significant, sustained and voluntary contributions of energy, time and creativity toward the advancement of the university.

Jimmy Roton

As an associate athletic trainer at Rice, Jimmy Roton ’85 is known for giving more than his job description calls for — from consoling homesick athletes during long trips to sacrificing weekends and holidays to work with athletes. As a resident associate of Jones College, a position he held from 1994 to 2004, his generosity was equally deep. Many remember him for the night he stayed up with a desperate student, successfully talking him out of suicide. But Roton is also noted for his more routine contributions — such as crawfish boils and trips with foreign students to see Christmas lights— that are now woven into the fabric of Rice.

Dennis Huston

English Professor Dennis Huston learned early in his career that he loved teaching. “I felt as if I had entered temporarily into a new dimension of experience where I lived everything more intensely — and I knew that I had found what I had been born to do,” he said.

For more than 35 years, Huston has been one of the most engaged and passionate teachers at Rice as well as one of the most honored teachers.

Former Rice President George Rupp said, “In his hands, literary texts offer not only aesthetic satisfaction but a way to probe the complexity of character and explore the human condition.”

Susanne Glasscock

Susanne Glasscock ’62 is a generous and devoted supporter of Rice.

A current member of the Rice Board of Trustees, she has worked on projects ranging from class reunions to library fundraisers. She and her husband, Melbern ’61, are members of the Campaign Leadership Committee and co-chairs of the William Marsh Rice Society. They funded an annual scholarship for mechanical engineering students, endowed the Alan J. Chapman Scholarship in Mechanical Engineering and generously support the School of Continuing Studies.

“I think Rice is Susie’s first and most lasting priority,” said Mary McIntire, dean of Continuing Studies. “She is a visionary about the importance of Rice’s place in the broader community.”

Tom Greene

Tom Greene ’71 began his years of service to Rice as an undergraduate, when he served as vice president of the Student Association and as president of Baker College.

After graduating, Greene attended The University of Texas School of Law and became a successful litigator. But he continued serving Rice, as a four-time class chair and as a member of the Fund Council and of the University Standing Committee on Financial Aid. Perhaps his most significant work has been with the Association of Rice Alumni, where he has served as a member of the Alumni Honors Committee, a board member and president.

Gus Schill Jr. ’55 summed up Greene’s contributions, “Tom has realized and accepted the obligation of Rice graduates to their university, and he’s performed his duties with skill.”

Ann Greene

From her term as president of Brown College to her marriage in Rice Chapel to classmate Tom Greene, Ann Greene ’71 developed a strong attachment to Rice — so strong that even after years away from the university, during which she worked as a welfare case worker and a legal assistant, earned a law degree, became a research attorney and a litigation and appellate lawyer and raised two children, it lured her back.

She became involved in Alumni Affairs as a member of the Alumni Honors Committee, a member of the Association of Rice Alumni board of directors and professionally as director of Alumni Affairs.

“She could’ve followed a more lucrative career path. But she followed her heart,” said Judge Robert Parks ’73.