Members of the Rice University community gathered Aug. 19 at the Anderson Clarke Center to celebrate Paul Padley, whose more than three decades of service as a professor, researcher and technology leader have left a lasting impact on the university. The event highlighted his significant contributions to both the university’s academic mission and its operational strength.
Padley recently transitioned into the role of senior faculty adviser to President Reginald DesRoches and Kelly Fox, executive vice president of operations, finance and support. Fox praised Padley for his leadership and dedication, noting his guidance on crucial initiatives such as imagineOne, Rice’s Oracle Cloud implementation project.
“I came to appreciate that (Padley) was called to service because of his love for Rice and his dedication and determination to help make things better,” Fox said.
Before taking on his advisory role, Padley served as vice president for information technology and chief information officer beginning in 2022. During that time, he led a substantial transformation of the Office of Information Technology by developing a strategic road map aligned with Rice’s Momentous strategic plan, strengthening technological infrastructure and preparing the university for future needs.
In addition to his administrative leadership, Padley is a professor of physics and astronomy and the director of the T.W. Bonner Nuclear Laboratory. An internationally recognized particle physicist, he leads the U.S. contributions to the Compact Muon Solenoid detector at the European Organization for Nuclear Research’s Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.
While addressing guests, Padley emphasized the significance of pursuing purpose in one’s work.
“If you do that, everything else will fall in place,” he said. “What’s wonderful about being at Rice is there are so many positive things to be passionate about, whether it’s enabling the next generation of AI, saving babies’ lives or trying to solve the mystery of dark matter. Every day, you come to work knowing you’re enabling all of that.”
Paul Cherukuri, vice president for innovation and chief innovation officer, described Padley as a leader deeply invested in the institution and its people. “He cares about this university. He cares about the people he works with, and I think that is a testament to his character,” Cherukuri said.
Padley received his doctorate and master’s degree in physics from the University of Toronto and his bachelor’s degree in physics from York University.