Rice University history

At its first commencement ceremony, held on June 12, 1916, Rice awarded 35 bachelor's degrees and one master's degree.

Four years later, at the initial commencement, 35 bachelor’s degrees and one master’s degree were awarded, with the first doctorate conferred in 1918.

The Founder's Memorial Statue, a bronze statue of a seated William Marsh Rice, holding the original plans for the campus, was dedicated in 1930, and installed in the central academic quad, facing Lovett Hall.

In 1954 Curl earned a B.A. at the Rice Institute (now Rice University) in Houston, and three years later he completed his doctoral studies in chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley.

Three of Rice’s five losses in the 1955-56 season came at the hands of SMU, who finished the season ranked seventh in the nation.

Unusual for the time, Rice accepted coeducational admissions from its beginning, but on-campus housing would not become co-ed until 1957.

The residential college system proposed by President Lovett was adopted in 1958, with the East Hall residence becoming Baker College, South Hall residence becoming Will Rice College, West Hall becoming Hanszen College, and the temporary Wiess Hall becoming Wiess College.

1960 saw Rice Institute formally renamed William Marsh Rice University.

In 1963 the first space science department in the United States was established at Rice.

As head of the Players, Sandy directed multiple shows year in and year out, beginning in 1964 with A Man For All Seasons.

Rice began charging tuition for the first time in 1965.

I’ll show you more beauties later but for today here are several scenes from Beer Bike, 1967.

In the same year, Rice launched a $33 million ($271 million) development campaign. $43 million ($287 million) was raised by its conclusion in 1970.

In 1974, two new schools were founded at Rice, the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management and the Shepherd School of Music.

Radio astronomer Robert Woodrow Wilson, winner of the 1978 Nobel Prize for Physics, was a graduate of Rice University.

In September 1985 Curl met with Kroto, of the University of Sussex, England, and Smalley, a colleague at Rice.

In 1991 Science magazine named buckminsterfullerene their "molecule of the year."

In 1996 Rice professors Richard E. Smalley and Robert F. Curl, Jr., were awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Tucker was a star for the Owls in the late ’50s and was inducted into the Rice Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999.

In 2003, the Owls won their first national championship in baseball, which was the first for the university in any team sport, beating Southwest Missouri State in the opening game and then the University of Texas and Stanford University twice each en route to the title.

In 2008, President David Leebron issued a ten-point plan titled "Vision for the Second Century" outlining plans to increase research funding, strengthen existing programs, and increase collaboration.

Despite its small student body (about 9,500 in 2012), the university has produced 101 Fulbright Scholars, 20 Marshall Scholars, and 12 Rhodes Scholars.

In 2018, the university added an online MBA program, MBA@Rice.

In 2020, Rice students petitioned the university to take down the statue due to the founder's history as slave owner.

In 2021, in response to requests from community members and Rice students for a Community Benefits Agreement for the Rice Innovation District, President Leebron chose instead to pursue a development agreement with the City of Houston.