Rice Business has grown dramatically over the past decade, and that momentum now has a new home in Asha and Farid Virani Hall, a 112,000-square-foot building which now stands alongside McNair Hall, offering students a combined 400,000 square-feet designed to support the school’s expanding community of graduate and undergraduate students, faculty, researchers and alumni.
Rice University celebrated the opening of Virani Hall with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Sept. 10, marking a major milestone in the continued growth of Rice Business. The building has been named in recognition of the generosity of Houston business and community leaders Asha Virani ’89 and Farid Virani.
“This building is about creating opportunities for generations of students to learn, connect and become leaders who make a difference,” said Robert T. Ladd ‘78, chairman of the Rice Board of Trustees. “It gives Rice Business the space to match the extraordinary momentum we are seeing across the school and the university.”
“Virani Hall reflects both where Rice is today and where we are headed,” Rice President Reginald DesRoches said. “As we grow, we are investing in the people, programs and spaces that allow us to expand our impact while preserving the exceptional Rice experience.”
The Viranis made a historic gift in 2024 to create the Virani Undergraduate School of Business. Their philanthropy supports undergraduate curriculum development and delivery, cocurricular opportunities and resources that strengthen students’ career readiness and academic success. Today, the naming of Virani Hall builds on that investment and extends the family’s support across Rice Business. Dr. Asha Virani is a physician and Rice alumna, and Farid Virani is the founder and chairman of Prime Communications. Their son Faraz Virani ’21 is a Rice graduate, and their daughter Zoya Virani graduated from Emory University in 2022.
“We want this place to belong to everybody that walks through these doors – students, faculty and the entire Rice community,” Farid Virani said in his remarks. “A great business education is a lot more than just learning how to be successful in business. We believe it's about developing thoughtful leaders; people who are curious, people who have high integrity and people who understand that with success comes responsibility to others. That belief was the primary reason for us to invest and help with the Virani Undergraduate School at Rice. We absolutely believe that, and now seeing this Virani Hall come to life is incredibly meaningful to us. At the end of the day, the building is all about the people that come in, friendships that develop, ideas that are generated and opportunities that come about. Not only are they prepared to be successful, but more importantly, they are prepared to make a difference in the world.”
Asha Virani described their journey to creating Virani Hall unintentionally started at Rice, where they met as 19-year-olds. She said they could have never imagined that this is where the path would lead.
“While our story is uniquely ours, its promise belongs to everyone: Life holds possibilities we cannot yet imagine,” she said.
A business school transformed by growth
The growth at Rice Business over the last decade has been significant. Led by former Dean Peter Rodriguez, who now is the president of Wake Forest University, the school doubled MBA enrollment and launched new programs, including the undergraduate major, which has quickly become one of the most popular at Rice. The launch of the Virani Undergraduate School of Business following the Viranis’ historic 2024 gift created a dedicated school for undergraduate business education at Rice and opened new opportunities for students to pursue business alongside the university’s broader academic offerings.
Today, more than 10% of the university’s undergraduates are declared business majors and more than 23% of incoming students are interested in the business degree at Rice. This semester more than 1,000 Rice students are enrolled in business courses.
That expansion extends across Rice Business. Over the past decade, the school has increased its graduate offerings, including an online MBA, a professional hybrid MBA and a graduate certificate in health care management. The school has also grown its faculty and staff, launched the Virani Undergraduate School of Business and welcomed a rapidly increasing community of students and alumni.
Amy Dittmar, the Howard R. Hughes Provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, is also a professor of finance at Rice Business.
“Rice Business has become an increasingly important part of the academic experience at Rice, serving not only a growing community of graduate students but also the growing number of undergraduate business majors and other students who are combining business with disciplines across the university,” Dittmar said. “Virani Hall gives us the capacity to build on that success — expanding opportunities for students, supporting our outstanding faculty and creating an environment where teaching, research and collaboration can continue to thrive.”
As the school has grown in size and stature, so has the need for space that can support its teaching, research and community. Together, Virani Hall and McNair Hall create an integrated hub for undergraduate and graduate business education and provide capacity for Rice Business’ next phase of growth.
“Rice Business has evolved dramatically over the past decade, not simply in size but in the breadth of what we offer and the students we serve,” said Jeff Fleming, interim dean of Rice Business. “Virani Hall gives us the capacity to keep building on that momentum while creating an even stronger community for our students, faculty and alumni.”
Designed for learning, connection and community
Virani Hall includes flexible, technology-enabled classrooms, breakout rooms for team-based learning, faculty offices, doctoral research space and event spaces designed to bring together students, alumni and business leaders.
The building also adds new dining and gathering spaces, including a cafe serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, an enclosed atrium and open common areas available to students from across Rice.
The building was designed to feel like a natural extension of Rice’s campus while creating more opportunities for people to gather and interact. Virani Hall wraps around the south and west sides of McNair Hall, connecting the two buildings through new indoor and outdoor community spaces.
The Ralph S. O’Connor Atrium, which now encloses Woodson Courtyard, is covered by a ceiling with skylights, creating a shaded gathering place that can be used throughout the year. A soaring, light-filled walkway connects the courtyard with a new western atrium, while dining areas open onto a patio and tree-shaded terrace.
The building also draws on familiar elements of Rice architecture, including a red clay tile roof, brick and cast-stone details, while using those materials in new patterns and configurations.
“It's a joy to see people using the building that you designed,” said principal architect Stephan Cassell. “That's really what it's about: seeing people make personal connections, attending classes, events in the O'Connor atrium, the patio and more. When we design a building, it's not to make another edifice on campus that makes us happy to do so – it's really about supporting and furthering the community of Rice. That's what architecture really does when it does it well.”
Skanska partnered with Sugar Land-based B. Bell Builders to construct the building. Architecture Research Office led the design, with Houston-based Kirksey Architecture serving as executive architect.
Building on the undergraduate experience
The expanded facilities come as the Virani Undergraduate School of Business enters its next phase. The program celebrated its first anniversary in October and has quickly become a growing part of the Rice undergraduate experience. Its curriculum combines a rigorous foundation in business fundamentals with internships, research, externships and other real-world experiences designed to prepare students for leadership.
This spring, the Virani School launched two new initiatives: a concentration in marketing and the Moody Business Scholars Program, which will offer cocurricular programming to selected business majors through tracks in finance, management and marketing. The early outcomes reflect that emphasis on career readiness: 95% of Rice undergraduate business majors in the Class of 2025 found their postgraduate paths within six months of graduation. Recent graduates have gone on to employers including AT&T, the Houston Rockets, GE HealthCare and Capital One.
Together, Virani Hall and McNair Hall give Rice Business the physical capacity to support its continued growth while creating a more connected environment for undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, alumni and industry partners.