Featured Stories

Rice celebrates donors who helped raise more than $200,000 for United Way

Rice University President Reginald DesRoches and wife Paula Gilmer DesRoches welcomed guests to Cohen House for amuse-bouches and beverages April 29 as a way to thank donors who made this year’s “Owl in for Houston” campaign to support United Way of Greater Houston a success.

Selman joins Rice Board of Trustees, Kraft reelected

Rice University has announced the appointment of Cathryn Selman ’78 and the reelection of Patti Kraft ’87 to its board of trustees. Both distinguished alumnae will serve four-year terms starting July 1.

Rice and Houston ISD partner to launch planetary science education program for K-12 students and teachers

Rice University and the Houston Independent School District (HISD) will collaborate on a space and planetary science pilot program to inspire the next generation of Earth, planetary and space enthusiasts and professionals.

Rice’s Yousif Shamoo elected AAAS fellow

Rice University bioscientist Yousif Shamoo has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science.

Rice cell biology student named Watson Fellow

When Trinity Eimer, a senior at Rice University, applied for the prestigious one-year postgraduate Thomas J. Watson Fellowship last September, she knew exactly what project to pitch to the evaluation committee. The cell biology and genetics major began her college career during the COVID-19 pandemic and wanted to spend her next 12 months studying the cross-cultural impact of grief caused by it.

Two Rice faculty elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Rice professors Pedro Alvarez and Antonios Mikos have been elected fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the oldest learned societies in the nation.

Underwater robot pioneers new energy-efficient buoyancy control

A remotely operated underwater robot built by a team of Rice University engineering students pioneers a new way to control buoyancy via water-splitting fuel cells.

Rice’s OpenStax awarded $90M to lead first-of-its-kind NSF research hub for transformational learning and education research

OpenStax at Rice University was awarded $90 million from the National Science Foundation to build and lead SafeInsights, a groundbreaking research and development (R&D) hub for inclusive learning and education research to benefit tens of millions of students and their instructors across all educational levels.

‘Music for New Bodies’ makes world premiere at Rice’s Shepherd School

Lauded by the New York Times for “the ferocity of the music” and “the layered depths of the text,” “Music for New Bodies” made its world premiere at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University April 20.

‘Enter with curiosity’: George R. Brown Prize for Excellence in Teaching winner Betul Orcan-Ekmekci talks about her approach in the classroom

Great teaching cannot be accomplished without first taking great responsibility in the classroom, said Betul Orcan-Ekmekci, an associate teaching professor in mathematics and Rice’s 2024 recipient of the George R. Brown Prize for Excellence in Teaching.