Rice Business’ Rodriguez celebrates 10 years at university and new role
Deans, faculty, staff and board members gathered June 2 to celebrate Rice Business Dean Peter Rodriguez’s 10 years transforming the business school at Rice University and bid farewell as he steps into a new role as the 15th president of Wake Forest University.
Artemis II engineer shares stories from space at Rice’s Ion
“NASA Stories at the Ion” is a morning series that spotlights the human side of space exploration with each session featuring personal and powerful stories from astronauts and key NASA personnel.
Texas universities show sharp differences in health insurance premiums, Baker Institute report finds
Annual health insurance premiums for faculty and staff vary by more than $5,000 per employee across Texas universities, according to a new report from Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. For PPO (or POS plans) — the only plan type offered at every institution in the sample — the report finds that the total annual cost of individual coverage, combining employer and employee contributions, ranges from $8,095 for Texas universities belonging to Employees Retirement System of Texas (such as the University of Houston) to $15,742 at Trinity University.
Redrawing Houston: Event explores flood risk, growth and future of region
In a city infamous for its flooding, something as innocuous as rain can prove to be disastrous or even deadly. Small increases in the amount of rainfall over time can have significant consequences today, said Ed Emmett, fellow in energy and transportation policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and former Harris County Judge, as he led the daylong conference “Redrawing Risk: What FEMA’s New Flood Maps Mean for Greater Houston.”
Houston plants roots for FIFA World Cup in Ion District with Green Corridor initiative
The next step in Houston’s beautification initiative kicked off May 13 in advance of the 2026 FIFA World Cup games taking place at NRG Stadium this summer. Aramco, as a FIFA host committee sponsor and in celebration of its 25-year partnership with Trees for Houston, selected the Ion District for the commemorative tree planting ceremony.
Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and Kinder Institute for Urban Research will host “Redrawing Risk,” a one-day public conference May 21 examining the real-world implications of FEMA’s updated flood maps for Houston.
Houston faith leaders unite around shared challenges, new Rice study finds
In a city as diverse as Houston, how are religious communities working together? The team at Rice’s Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance spent the last two years on a “listening research tour” conducting in-depth interviews and focus groups with religious and community leaders from every corner of the city to learn more about the barriers to religious cohesion.
Rice Business’ Jue-Rajasingh named to international 40-under-40 list
In Diana Jue-Rajasingh’s classroom at Rice, students debate difficult organizational dilemmas with no easy answers. This approach in the classroom has helped earn Jue-Rajasingh, assistant professor of strategic management at Rice Business, a place on Poets&Quants’ 2026 40-Under-40 Graduate Business Professors list recognizing rising stars in business education.
The Institute of Global Politics at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice announced the creation of a new task force focused on assessing the strategic rationale for U.S. foreign assistance, reframing policy objectives and developing actionable recommendations for a new era of global competition.
Rice Business honors MBA graduates, student leaders and faculty at commencement
The latest graduates from Rice’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business were awarded their Master of Business Administration degrees May 8 at Tudor Fieldhouse in front of a crowd of loved ones, faculty, staff and students.
Boniuk Institute awarded $2.9M to study religion’s impact on AI, biotech and more
Today, the big questions surrounding religion and science are about responsibly building and managing new scientific technologies, how they can shape what the world should be and what it could become — questions Rice’s Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance will try to answer in partnership with the University of California, San Diego thanks to a new $2.9 million grant from the Templeton Religion Trust.
Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy welcomed the President of Guyana Irfaan Ali May 4 for a discussion on Guyana’s rapid emergence as one of the world’s fastest-growing energy producers and its long-term development strategy. The program convened policymakers, academics and industry leaders to examine the country’s role at the intersection of energy security, shifting global dynamics and economic transformation.
Rice student ventures sweep top honors at Johns Hopkins Healthcare Design Competition
Multiple Rice-led student ventures earned top honors across categories at the Johns Hopkins Healthcare Design Competition. The founders built these winning businesses through Rice’s Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Lilie), underscoring the university’s growing leadership in health care innovation.
Science communication as feedback loop explored at annual ethics symposium
The annual Ethics and Compliance Symposium brought renowned vaccinologist Peter Hotez, senior fellow in disease and humanity at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, to share his research and discuss the ethics of academic public engagement.
Rice students bring health care to rural regions through new app
Three Rice students spent their spring break piloting a mobile health platform designed to support community health workers in underserved regions, including Guatemala, Kenya and Colombia.
