Rice President Reginald DesRoches delivered his State of the University address Dec. 11 at the Moody Center for the Arts, highlighting points of pride from the past year and providing a look to the future.
The newest parliament of Owl graduates celebrated a major step in their educational journey during Rice’s December 2024 commencement ceremony, held in Tudor Fieldhouse today. More than 500 degrees were conferred this semester.
Tommy Pan Fang, assistant professor of strategic management at Rice, has been named to Poets&Quants’ list of 50 Best Undergraduate Professors. Pan Fang was chosen from among 1,000 nominations, and at age 30, he is one of the youngest professors on the list, which represents 43 schools, including five international institutions.
Rice’s Shepherd School of Music is celebrating an exceptional showing at the Chamber Music America Awards as its faculty and alumni received three of the organization’s top honors.
’Tis the season of giving, and Rice’s Police Department is hosting its 12th annual Blue Santa Toy Drive in partnership with the Children’s Assessment Center to sponsor 15 families.
Staff member and beloved employee Kelly Quin passed away Nov. 30. She worked at Rice University for more than 30 years, most recently serving as assistant vice president for campaign and constituent strategy.
Rice’s Native American Student Association hosted an Indigenous cultural celebration involving dancing, music, food, beading, crafts and storytelling Nov. 22 at Farnsworth Pavilion as part of National Native American Heritage Month.
Elizabeth Freimuth ’98, Shepherd School of Music alumna and principal horn of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, will join the Shepherd School faculty as professor of horn in the fall of 2025.
Rice Emergency Medical Services recognized the 26th annual National Collegiate EMS Week Nov. 11-17 by hosting community education efforts and spirited activities to increase public awareness of collegiate EMS.
Longtime Houston restaurateur Benjy Levit debuted Local Foods Market at Rice, situated in the newly renovated Brochstein Pavilion, during a soft opening Nov. 19. Its hours of operation will be weekdays from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. and weekends 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
The Rice community joined together at the grassy knoll outside the Memorial Student Center and Brochstein Pavilion to celebrate Rice’s first Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander Night Nov. 8. More than 800 people took in an evening of entertainment, fellowship and food and beverages from local businesses operated by people with SEAPI heritage. The evening was a collaboration between the Rice Vietnamese Student Association, Rice Filipino Student Association and Rice Southeast Asians United at Rice.
Research led by a Rice University political scientist finds that residents living in neighborhoods that hosted at least one block party in prior presidential election years were nearly 2 percentage points more likely to vote in that year’s presidential election compared to those who lived on blocks without such events.
On Nov. 19-20, anyone with unpaid parking citations issued on or before Nov. 15 may pay them off while simultaneously benefitting the Rice community through a donation program.