Current News

Astronaut and alumna Peggy Whitson tapped as Rice’s 2024 commencement speaker

Alumna Peggy Whitson ’86, America’s most experienced astronaut, will deliver the address at Rice’s 111th commencement during the undergraduate ceremony May 4.

Faster and simpler point-of-care malaria test developed by Rice researchers

Rice University researchers have developed a rapid, accurate test for diagnosing malaria that is significantly faster and easier to use than traditional tests. The advancement has the potential to improve patient outcomes, especially in rural regions with limited health care resources.

Rice event at Moody Center spotlights intersection of art, activism

Artist jackie sumell is set to speak at Rice University’s Moody Center for the Arts for a presentation titled “Growing Abolition.”

Rice goes pink and blue with an azalea celebration March 1

Rice University welcomes members of the Owls community to visit the pathway between Entrance 1 and the Sallyport to enjoy the colorful flowers, community, a food truck and entertainment in celebration of the crown jewel of the university’s welcoming driveway from 12-1:30 p.m. March 1. As an added bonus, the first 100 people dressed in Rice blue will receive a free cupcake.

Miguel Harth-Bedoya to lead Rice Shepherd School symphony, chamber orchestras March 2-3

Miguel Harth-Bedoya, music director laureate of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and director of orchestral studies at Baylor University, will lead the Rice Shepherd School of Music symphony and chamber orchestras March 2 and 3, respectively.

Energy and computing collide at annual Rice event

The 17th annual Energy High Performance Computing Conference hosted by Rice University’s Ken Kennedy Institute March 5-7 is the premier meeting place for the energy industry to engage in conversations about challenges and opportunities in high performance computing (HPC), computational science and engineering, machine learning and data science.

Data-processing tool could enable better early stage cancer detection

A team of Rice researchers has developed a tool that is better at integrating single-cell DNA and RNA data than more recent, state-of-the-art technologies. The findings could lead to better early stage cancer detection.

Public school enrollments will continue to decline unless they become customer-focused, Rice study suggests

In September 2023, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona issued a warning call stating “Public schools are approaching a ‘make or break moment.’” This week, several North Texas schools announced potential school closures and staff position eliminations. Nationally, public schools lost over 1.2 million students to private and charter schools over the first two school years of the COVID-19 pandemic with Texas witnessing a 2.2% decline.

Rice’s Angela Wilkins named to Texas’ Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council

Angela Wilkins, executive director of Rice’s Ken Kennedy Institute, is one of four members appointed to the Texas Artificial Intelligence (AI) Advisory Council, which studies and monitors AI systems developed, employed or procured by state agencies.

Rice hosts Dr. Bernard Harris, first Black American astronaut to walk in space

Rice University continued its celebration of Black History Month with a special installment of the Ion’s “Visionary Voices” speaker series featuring Dr. Bernard Harris Jr., a NASA astronaut and the first Black American to walk in space. He is also a physician, company founder, CEO, philanthropist and venture capitalist.