Current News

Leading the humanities with humanity

In Kathleen Canning ’s six years as dean of Rice University’s School of Humanities , she has made 50 faculty hires, overseen a faculty of 170, strengthened eight departments and managed 15 centers and programs, including several established under her leadership.

Rice study reveals insights into protein evolution

Rice University’s Peter Wolynes and his research team have unveiled a breakthrough in understanding how specific genetic sequences, known as pseudogenes, evolve. Their paper was published May 13 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal.

Eye On Art at the Ion to host art installation celebration May 15

The Eye On Art Program at the Ion — Houston’s innovation hub powered by Rice University — will celebrate two new installations and a monumental piece of artwork in the plaza at a free May 15 preview party.

Rice to add women’s golf as its 17th intercollegiate sport starting in 2026-27

A landmark $5 million gift from a former Rice women’s basketball player will enable Rice to add women’s golf to the Owls’ list of intercollegiate sports beginning with the 2026-27 academic year.

Rice breaks ground on new business school building, unveils design

Rice University broke ground today on a new $54.5 million building for the Jones Graduate School of Business, unveiling the innovative design of a facility that will support the school’s growing student and faculty population.

Ken Kennedy Institute launches AI, data and computing seed funding initiative

The Ken Kennedy Institute, in collaboration with the Rice Synthetic Biology Institute, Smalley-Curl Institute and the Rice Advanced Materials Institute, awarded $175,000 in support of seven innovative research projects looking to establish new paradigms in AI, data and computing.

Rice President DesRoches joins men’s health discussion on TEDx Talk

Rice President Reginald DesRoches participated in a TEDx Talk where he joined community leaders in a discussion on men’s health and the challenges of leading during a health crisis.

Rice economist to participate in creation of next U.S. Department of Labor survey on youth in the workplace

Rice University economist Flávio Cunha will participate in the establishment of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 2027, the latest effort from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to understand how youth are participating in the labor market and how that impacts their lives and livelihood.

Grants for undergraduate teaching at Rice boost creativity in the classroom

Students will have hands-on opportunities to learn data collection, molecular visualization, language skills, CPR, digital engineering design, interdisciplinary thinking and more thanks to the George R. Brown Teaching Grants.

Watch video: Rice closes another celebration-filled academic year

It’s a wrap for Rice University’s 2023-24 academic year, which was filled with traditions — established and new — as well as other exciting events, activities and announcements on campus.

Tenneys enjoy special family moment at Rice commencement

David Tenney stood onstage at Rice Stadium Saturday, handing out diplomas to graduating students one by one. Rice’s undergraduate commencement ceremony is an event he knows well, having not only received his degree from Rice in 1987 but also having worked as the university’s registrar for two decades. But this time was different. A special moment he’d been waiting for was finally here: His son Jonathan Tenney was among the graduates.

Celebrating excellence: Association of Rice Alumni honors Laureates Award recipients

More than 300 alumni and members of the Rice community honored a number of highly distinguished individuals who have gone above and beyond the call in their professional fields, volunteer efforts and support of the university at the Association of Rice Alumni Laureates Celebration.

Rice’s online Master of Computer Science degree ranked No. 3 by Fortune

Rice’s online Master of Computer Science program was honored by Fortune Magazine with the No. 3 designation in its national rankings.

Rice’s composting program surpasses 1M-pound milestone

Rice University recently crossed a significant milestone with its sustainability efforts. The campus has diverted more than 1 million pounds of food waste from landfills to composting since the composting program’s inception in November 2020.

Beyond names and dates: ‘The Red Book’ comes alive thanks to Rice student research

In the digital archives of Rice University’s Woodson Research Center at the Fondren Library lies a unique treasure: “The Red Book,” freely available to view by the public thanks to the African American History Research Center at the Gregory School, which loaned Woodson its copy to scan and preserve.