Rice President Reginald DesRoches joined hundreds of returning Owls during Alumni Weekend Nov. 6-9, visiting celebrations across campus to greet alumni celebrating milestones from their 10th to 50th reunions.
Rice has unveiled the Gateway Project, a transformative initiative on university-owned land in Rice Village that will create a seamless, pedestrian-friendly corridor linking the campus to the heart of the Village, while reimagining the west side of campus anchored by the renovation of Rice Stadium.
The latest edition of the President’s Lecture Series brought Astro Teller and Rice alumnus Andy Karsner ’89 to the Rice Business Shell Auditorium to speak about technology and innovation for today’s challenges.
Rice's Rebecca Richards-Kortum has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), one of the nation’s highest honors in health and medicine. She is one of two Rice faculty who are the only Texas researchers to share membership across the national academies of medicine, science and engineering — an honor held by fewer than 35 researchers nationwide.
Rice President Reginald DesRoches emphasized the university’s ambitious, collaborative approach to transforming health and medicine during a panel discussion hosted by the Greater Houston Partnership. Joined by leaders from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas and Harris Health, DesRoches outlined Rice’s vision for becoming a world leader in health innovation — a key component of the university’s strategic plan.
Biotechnology Innovation Organization president and CEO John F. Crowley visited Rice as part of a tour highlighting regional biotech hubs across the country.
Rice continues its upward trajectory in national and international rankings, earning the No. 17 spot in the 2026 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings.
Rice Real Estate Co., in partnership with Lincoln Property Co., has unveiled plans to develop a landmark research, laboratory and office building designed to catalyze world-class innovation and enterprise in Houston.
The building consolidates Rice’s visual arts programs, long scattered across campus, into a single state-of-the-art space that emphasizes collaboration, transparency and public engagement.
Rice immortalized one of its most devoted alumni Sept. 6, dedicating a bronze sculpture outside the player entrance of Rice Stadium in honor of former football standout and lifetime trustee Bucky Allshouse ’71.
Rice has been recognized among the nation’s best colleges this week — coinciding with the beginning of its fall semester — ranking No. 10 on Niche’s 2026 Best Colleges in America list and No. 12 on Forbes’ annual America’s Top Colleges list.
It is with great excitement that I welcome you back to Rice for the start of another academic year. Our campus has come alive once again with energy, anticipation and purpose. Last week, we officially welcomed 1,300 new undergraduates during O-Week along with a preliminary count of more than 1,400 new graduate students. Today, classes begin for us all.
After more than a decade of outstanding leadership at Rice, Paul Cherukuri, the university’s top innovation executive, will be leaving his post to accept a position at the University of Virginia.
Amid unprecedented enrollment growth, Rice will open its 12th residential college, the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao College — referred to as Chao College — made possible by a generous gift from the Chao family foundation.