To mark the 50th anniversary of a pair of momentous occasions in Rice history, six trailblazing Owls were honored at the First Black Student-Athletes Celebration Sept. 16 at the Ion.
Leaders from Rice and Houston Methodist gathered at Tudor Fieldhouse Aug. 19 to celebrate the start of construction on the Houston Methodist-Rice University Center for Human Performance.
Continuing a time-honored O-Week tradition, Rice President Reginald DesRoches hosted his first President’s Welcome dinner for all incoming students at Rice, held this year in Founder’s Court with the gorgeous backdrop of Lovett Hall’s iconic Sallyport.
An eventful first day of O-Week for Rice’s Class of 2026 was capped off with yet another annual Rice tradition — the matriculation ceremony and accompanying slate of speeches that signal the official beginning of incoming students’ new lives as members of the Rice community.
A paper co-authored by postdoctoral research associate Mohammad Salehi and President Reginald DesRoches, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and of mechanical engineering, was selected as the featured article for a recent volume of the journal Engineering Structures.
Former President David Leebron will spend much of the coming year at the two institutions other than Rice that have played the most important roles in his education and career.
Reginald DesRoches started his first day as Rice University’s newest president the same way he starts most Fridays: with a run around campus, on this particular dewey Houston morning, accompanied by his wife Paula and daughter Shelby, a Rice senior. Later, just as he has during his term as provost, he strolled into Allen Center. But on this Friday, he walked in as President DesRoches.
Today marks my first day as president of Rice University and exactly five years since I first arrived at Rice. I am humbled and grateful for the opportunity to serve such a distinguished institution and have already received a tremendous amount of support.
This is the final day of my service as president of Rice, and I face just one key but difficult task, namely to try to adequately express our gratitude to the Rice community. Ping and I came to Rice 18 years ago with only an inkling of what lay ahead. We were excited by what we had learned about Rice, including what the university had accomplished and what its ambitions were. We were hopeful about what we might contribute, and yet not sure what to expect.
Amy Dittmar, a distinguished scholar with an extensive background in economics, finance and university administration, has been named the new provost of Rice University.
Hailed as “wonderful leaders” and “a positive force for Rice,” President David Leebron and his wife, Y. Ping Sun, were celebrated with a gala at the Ion April 29 honoring nearly two decades of service to a university that, as one attendee put it, “is better for all they have invested in our institution.”
After a year in which the university community largely returned to campus in the midst of an unprecedented global pandemic, President David Leebron dedicated his annual town hall meeting to reviewing both recent developments and the accomplishments of the university he has led for the last 18 years.
Lisa Birenbaum, assistant dean for finance and administration in the School of Social Sciences, was named winner of the Elizabeth Gillis Award for Exemplary Service at President David Leebron’s spring town hall meeting April 21.
Rice Director of Athletics Joe Karlgaard, left, presented President David Leebron and University Representative Ping Sun with a framed jersey during Saturday’s baseball game against the University of Texas at San Antonio. Leebron also threw out the game’s ceremonial first pitch.
Rice President David Leebron will deliver his town hall address April 21, and university staff members are invited to a lunch reception following the event.