Rice celebrates a century of progress

The year 1912was full of momentous events: The Republic of Chinawas established and the last Chinese emperor abdicated; NewMexico and Arizona became the newest and last states in the continental United States; the first parachute jump from an airplanewas made; Robert Scott’s expedition perished near the South Pole; the Titanic sank; “Tarzan of theApes” was published; Jim Thorpewon the pentathlon and decathlon at the London Olympics; Montenegro declared war on Turkey; Woodrow Wilsonwas elected president; andNabisco invented the Oreo cookie.

InHouston, therewas little doubt that the most important development of 1912was the establishment of the Rice Institute just beyond the outskirts of the rapidly growing town of about 80,000 people. ThiswasHouston’s first institution of higher education, and at its opening on Oct. 12, President Edgar Odell Lovett put together a grand celebration the likes ofwhich the city had never seen. These past few days, exactly 100 years later, we celebrated a century of progress.

Since the opening of Rice’s doors to the first group of 59 students, more than 70,000 degree students have enrolled, plus tens of thousands more who have benefited from continuing studies and other programs. The first faculty of a dozen or so has grown to more than 600. Andwhat started as four buildings isolated at one end of a pentagon- shaped piece of prairie has increased to about 80.

The university has now grown beyond its historic borders with the construction of the BioScience Research Collaborative, which links Rice to the TexasMedical Center and nowprovides a hub for moving the fruits of research into medical application. And with Rice’s strong entry into digital education, that growth continues in a virtual space: We have nearly 100,000 students enrolled in our online collegelevel offeringswhilewe are also serving about 1 million K- 12 students in Texas with digital STEM— science, technology, engineering and mathematics— materials.

We have accomplished things President Lovett, as visionary as hewas, could scarcely have imagined. We added the Shepherd School ofMusic, the Jones School of Business, the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies, the Baker Institute for Public Policy and initiatives like the Kinder Institute forUrban Research and the Chao Center forAsian Studies.

We have expanded our student body and are nowone of the most diverse private universities in the country. Our students come from all over theworld and, with so many of our graduates choosing to stay inHouston, we serve as a brain magnet for this community. Our ascendancy into the very top ranks of American higher educationwas recognized over a quarter century agowhen Rice became one of the 60 elite research institutions in theAssociation of American Universities andwe have since been ranked consistently among the 20 best universities in the country. We became a leader in space science and gave birth to nanoscience and nanotechnology, which have transformed the possibilities of materials science, chemistry, medicine, chemical and biomolecular engineering and other fields.

In short, we do not merely celebrate the extraordinary men, women and events of 1912, but thewomen, men and accomplishments of every year since. It is in some sense not our founding— or at least not alone our founding— that warrants that grand celebration, but howover generations, our faculty, our students and alumni, our staff, our trustees, our community and our city have built something that trulywarrants our pride and continued dedication.

Our city and its leaders in government, business and philanthropy have been wonderfully supportive throughout this time. We have worked hard to contribute asmuch and more to this community in return. It’s no accident that the TexasMedical Centerwas located next to Rice 33 years after our founding, or thatHouston’s extraordinary museum district sits at the other end of our campus. The histories of theHouston Symphony, theHouston Grand Opera, theMuseum of Fine Arts of Houston, the Johnson Space Center and even theHouston Ship Channel all owe part of their origin and strength to Rice. WilliamMarsh Rice’s gift to the city ofHouston— for that is what itwas always intended to be— has beenmultiplied many times over the past century.

We knowthat despite our great successes, there is morework to be done. Our changingworld, our evolving city and the constant creation of newknowledge bring newpossibilities and new challenges. With more urgency than ever, Rice willwork to educate leaderswhowill guide our city and growour businesses. We willwork with the city’smuseums and cultural institutions to bring beauty and cultural understanding to the people of America’s most diverse city. We willwork with members of the TexasMedical Center to bring the results of basic research intomedical practice to improve health and save lives. We willwork with Houston’s most prominent industry to assure that the world will have the technology to safely satisfy its energy needs and thatHouston remains the energy capital of theworld. We willwork with theHouston Independent School District and other schools to improve education for our children and provide the human resourceswe need to be a globally competitive city.

Funny thing about universities: We don’t just pick up and move. We have been here servingHouston, and benefitting from it, for 100 years. Andwe expect to be doing the same for centuries to come.