EXPANDING
REACH IN PARIS
Rice’s Global Paris Center is a growing hub for teaching and collaboration.
FROM LONDON TO UZBEKISTAN
For a week or a year, Rice Owls are seeking more ways to learn abroad.
IN BENGALURU, RICE STARTS UP Rice Global India pursues research and educational partnerships.
RICE UNIVERSITY FALL 2025
To Learn About the Smallest Particles in the Universe, Rice Researchers Are Working on the LARGEST Scientific Instruments in the World. PAGE 48
Cory Voskanian’s ’28 study abroad trip in Taiwan included a day snorkeling and seeing sea turtles on an island off the south coast of Taiwan.
A new partnership is creating a powerful research ecosystem with a home in Bengaluru.
The Rice Global Paris Center provides an ideal place for teaching and collaboration in Europe’s capital of culture.
From Madagascar to the Dominican Republic, Rice students are finding diverse international learning opportunities.
Rice researchers continue to be an integral part of studying subatomic matter at CERN, both on campus and onsite.
Archis in China, a crash course in Thailand, mastering global experiences, Shepherd School celebrates 50 years, how Rice ranks, moving the legislative needle
Water supply and sanitation, protecting Rice’s research endeavors, SXSW London and VIVA Tech Paris bring Rice to the world, Kinder Houston Area Survey reveals its latest results
Classnotes, Ope Amosu ’14 creates West African dishes, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke ’04 returns to Rice, Larry Goeller’s ’86 18,000-mile motorcycle journey and new ARA Board members
An “Owliday” guide to help kick off your holiday shopping
Alice Levitt
(“The Sweet Taste of Success”) is an awardwinning restaurant critic and food editor also known for her writing in the worlds of travel and medical technology. Some of her favorite bylines include Vox, Reader’s Digest, Atlas Obscura, Culture and EatingWell.
Glenn Harvey
(“The Heart of Matter”) is a Filipino Canadian illustrator whose work often deals with themes of technology, constant evolution and how that affects our lives. He lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
Delphine Lee
(“Owls Abroad”) Based in Washington, D.C., illustrator Delphine Lee’s work has appeared in such publications as The Economist, Mother Jones, Atlas Obscura and The New York Times. When not drawing, she is likely in her garden wrestling with weeds.
Robyn Ross (“City of Learning”) is an independent journalist who writes frequently for Texas Monthly and has contributed to the Stranger’s Guide and The New York Times.
Sasha Sviridova (“City of Learning”) is an illustrator and visual storyteller based in Switzerland. Her fun, playful visuals explore how people connect with the world and each other, helping clarify complex ideas.
Nithya Ramcharan ’25 (“Traveling Classroom”) majored in computer science and English at Rice and is a former editorial intern for Rice Magazine.
PUBLISHER
Office of Public Affairs
Melinda Spaulding Chevalier, vice president
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Alese Pickering
EDITOR
Lynn Gosnell
ART DIRECTOR
Amy Kinkead
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Jackie Limbaugh
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Tracey Rhoades
COPY EDITOR
Deverly Perez
PROOFREADER
Jenny Rozelle ’00
PHOTO/VIDEO
Jeff Fitlow
Gustavo Raskosky
CONTRIBUTORS
Alex Becker, Andrew Bell, Deborah Lynn Blumberg, Silvia Cernea Clark, Glenn Harvey, Jennifer Latson, Delphine Lee, Alice Levitt, Brandon Martin, Alex Eben Meyer, Sarah Rufca Nielsen ’05, Nithya Ramcharan ’25, Joel Resendez, Robyn Ross, Brandi Smith, Chris Stipes, Kayt Sukel, Sasha Sviridova, Kat Cosley Trigg
Rice Magazine is published three times a year and is sent to Rice alumni, faculty, staff, parents of undergraduates and friends of the university.
©September 2025, Rice University
Robert T. Ladd, chair; Elle Anderson; Bart Broadman; D. Mark Durcan; Josh Earnest; Michol L. Ecklund; George Y. Gonzalez; Jennifer R. Kneale; Patti Lipoma Kraft; Holli Ladhani; Elle Moody; Asuka Nakahara; A. Lanham Napier; William “Bill” V. Neville III; Vinay S. Pai; Byron Pope; Cathryn Rodd Selman; Gloria Meckel Tarpley; Jeremy Thigpen; Claudia Gee Vassar; Charlos C. Ward; James Whitehurst; Lori Rudge Whitten; Randa Duncan Williams; Michael B. Yuen.
Reginald DesRoches, president; Amy Dittmar, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs; Stephen Bayer, vice president for Development and Alumni Relations; Paul Cherukuri, vice president for Innovation; Melinda Spaulding Chevalier, vice president for Public Affairs; Kelly Fox, executive vice president for Operations, Finance and Support; Terrence M. Gee, interim vice president for Information Technology and chief information officer; Kenneth Jett, vice president for Facilities and Capital Construction; Christopher Johns-Krull, interim executive vice president for Research; John D. Lawrence, vice president for Investments; Caroline Levander, vice president for Global Strategy; Tommy McClelland, vice president and director of Athletics; Yvonne M. Romero, vice president for Enrollment; Omar A. Syed, vice president and general counsel.
POSTMASTER
Send address changes to: Rice University
Development Services–MS 80
P.O. Box 1892
Houston, TX 77251-1892
EDITORIAL OFFICES
Creative Services–MS 95
P.O. Box 1892
Houston, TX 77251-1892 Phone: 713-348-6768 ricemagazine@rice.edu
IN THE EDITOR’S NOTE for “Rice Magazine Issue No. 13,” published in summer 2012, I marveled at my luck in joining the Rice community during its yearlong centennial celebration. “Having enrolled in a crash course in 100 years of Rice history, I’m also getting lessons in the vision for Rice’s future,” I wrote, before getting down to the business at hand — previewing the issue’s stories for readers.
Looking back, the debut featured a solid mix of campus news and events (including the debut of James Turrell’s Skyspace!), research findings and alumni tales. A personal essay by Professor Emeritus Ron Sass added poignancy, and an account of a concert at Houston’s Orange Show added fun. And so it went.
Between then and now, 50 issues have landed in your homes and inboxes, thanks in large part to the collaborative talents of a core staff of dedicated, funny and seriously creative professionals — and the steady support we’ve received from leadership. That’s too many Rice-related stories to count — but believe me, the keg of cool stories about Owls is barely tapped.
Not that we don’t have favorites — entire issues devoted to Owls in the Houston food scene and beverage businesses around the world; stories that
rhyme Rice and history, like Vietnamese refugees’ oral histories preserved in Houston’s Asian American Archive (“Lost at Sea”) and a peek into primary research by historians Alexander X. Byrd ’90 and Caleb McDaniel (“Paging Through History”); the astonishing tale of roommates Barney Graham ’75 and Bill Gruber ’75, whose careers intersected in the race to develop a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 (“Solving the Vaccine Puzzle”); and a feature about architectural historian Jobie Hill ’02, who is striving to save slave houses across the American South (“Tracing the Ancestors”).
Over 13 years, the magazine has evolved for the better — adding a website and multimedia storytelling; undergoing a comprehensive redesign led by then-art director Alese Pickering, which earned recognition from professional design associations; and growing our pool of freelance writers, illustrators and photographers. In 2022, still in pandemic mode, we took home the top award in magazine achievement from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Last year, we expanded our pages to include Owlmanac into the fold.
According to a recent survey finding, Rice Magazine is the preferred source of information about Rice for alumni. In this deeply challenging moment for higher ed, sharing the stories of Rice takes on added relevance and responsibility. But this team is up to the challenge. Once again, I marvel at my luck in joining the Rice community. Thank you for your attention, your feedback and your ideas. Owl see you around!
We really do like reader feedback and Owl puns. Kindly write to us at ricemagazine@rice.edu. Look for the next issue in late 2025.
THIS SUMMER , I had the opportunity to visit the Rice Global Paris Center and was struck by the vibrancy of the academic and cultural exchange taking place there. Tucked in the heart of one of the world’s great cultural capitals, the center is bustling with activity — hosting classes, convening international scholars and researchers, connecting alumni and building bridges between continents. Our European hub is doing exactly what was envisioned when we opened its doors: creating new opportunities for Rice faculty and students to learn, teach, collaborate and thrive on a global stage.
While there, I spoke with several students who were experiencing life outside the United States for the first time. They were taking everything in with wide eyes — Parisian architecture, cuisine and culture — and finding joy in the unexpected. I also connected with faculty who are energized by the possibilities the center offers: new research collaborations, interdisciplinary partnerships and the chance to deepen their impact on global challenges.
These moments reaffirm just how essential global engagement is to Rice’s mission. Whether it’s a student discovering a new culture or a faculty member forging a new international partnership, these experiences cultivate empathy, adaptability and curiosity — traits that are vital in today’s interconnected world and organizations. They challenge our assumptions, broaden our perspectives and help us better understand the complexity of the problems we aim to solve.
This is why this kind of engagement is a core pillar of Rice’s strategic plan, Momentous: Personalized Scale for Global Impact. Our most pressing challenges — whether they concern energy, public health, climate change or national security — do not stop at borders. Meaningful progress depends on international collaboration: diverse perspectives, cross-cultural insights and shared solutions.
Our goal is not simply to be present around the world — it is to be engaged.
Over the past few years, Rice has been ambitiously expanding its global presence. In addition to our Paris Center, we launched Rice Global India and, most recently, joined the Venice International University Consortium, an alliance of two dozen top institutions committed to advancing international research and education. We are proud to be only the third university in the Americas to join this prestigious group.
These efforts are already bearing fruit. In the most recent QS World University Rankings, Rice rose more than 20 spots to 119 globally — a reflection of our academic excellence, international reputation and growing research footprint. The real impact is seen in the experience we offer our students and the influence our faculty have around the world.
We will continue to strengthen our global partnerships — deepening ties with existing collaborators and identifying new regions where our faculty and students can make a difference. This includes expanding international research initiatives, launching valuable study abroad opportunities, and forging relationships with industry and nongovernmental organization leaders whose work aligns with Rice’s core strengths.
Our goal is not simply to be present around the world — it is to be engaged. That means building partnerships that are reciprocal and enduring. It means preparing our students to lead in a global context. And it means ensuring that the solutions we pursue here in Houston are shared with and shaped by communities across the globe.
As you’ll read throughout this issue of Rice Magazine, the Rice community is making an impact far beyond campus borders. Whether in Europe, India or here in our own city, our faculty, students and alumni are advancing knowledge, lifting lives and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. The world is our campus. And I couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead.
ARCHITECTURE STUDIO
Architecture students cap their grad design studio with a 10-day trip to study and design in rural China.
BY ANDREW BELL
WHEN SAMANTHA
GARZA signed up for her graduate architecture studio this spring, she didn’t expect to find herself walking through a centuries-old village in Eastern China, watching locals dry vegetables in bamboo trays or wash clothes in the river. Nor did she anticipate a dramatic shift in her design philosophy.
“This experience was honestly life-altering,” says Garza, a second-year graduate student at the Rice School of Architecture. “It helped me see architecture more as an art form. It wasn’t just about building — it was about understanding people, culture and space.”
Last spring, Garza and a group of architecture students had the rare opportunity to work under the guidance of two of the most celebrated architects working today: Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu, founders of the Hangzhoubased Amateur Architecture Studio. Shu, a 2012 Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate, and Wenyu, his longtime collaborator, are known for their deeply contextual approach to architecture — a vision that has earned them global acclaim and a recent joint induction into the French Academy of Architecture. As visiting faculty at Rice, they led a semester-long design studio focused on the intersection of tradition and modernity in rural China, culminating in a 10-day immersive trip to Wencun, a
historic village outside of Hangzhou.
“Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu’s work is deeply rooted in the material and cultural traditions of place, yet it speaks to global concerns — resilience, reuse and the ethics of construction,” says Igor Marjanović, the William Ward Watkin Dean of the Rice School of Architecture. “These are the same values we cultivate at Rice, where architecture is both a cultural act and a civic responsibility.”
The studio’s central project was to design a civic workshop space for Wencun, where Shu and Wenyu have
spent more than a decade revitalizing aging homes and reimagining the possibilities of rural life. Their vision is one where urban and rural spaces can coexist through sensitive design that respects cultural identity while embracing modern needs.
“Usually, architectural education starts zoomed out — from research to site to building,” says Alex Piña, a second-year graduate student.
“But in this studio, we started with materials and details. We chose timber or brick on Day 1. That grounded everything we did.”
That inversion of the typical design process was intentional, Wenyu says.
“We want the students to know how to close the building — to understand how things are made,” she says. “Start with construction, and then design.”
The students’ work was grounded not just in technical knowledge but in cultural exchange. As part of the course, Shu introduced the class to Chinese calligraphy, challenging students to select a character that embodied their design ethos. “It’s not just language — it’s structure, pattern, rhythm,” Shu explains. “The brush is elastic. It teaches a new way of feeling space.”
The students’ journey began in Shanghai before moving on to Hangzhou and finally Wencun. The contrast between sleek skyscrapers and hand-built stone homes was striking, Piña says.
“In the U.S., we often design at a larger scale,” Piña says. “But there, everything is minimized to what’s necessary. It’s about respect — for the land, the materials and the people.”
While touring the village, students saw firsthand the kind of architecture that can’t be understood through photos alone. They touched the local black limestone, wandered through bamboo groves and learned from villagers who build their own homes using salvaged materials.
“I had to relearn how to design,” says Paige Frost, a third-year student in
the Master of Architecture program. “It wasn’t about imposing my ideas. It was about adapting. Understanding. Observing how people live.”
Shu and Wenyu’s model for rural revitalization is structured in three phases: propose a design, renovate, then pass off the plans to local villagers, who ultimately build the project themselves, often modifying it along the way.
“We don’t want everything controlled by us,” Shu says. “We provide the framework. Then they bring it to life.” That humility left a strong impression on the students, Garza says. “It made our designs more real, more grounded. And seeing how locals interacted with public spaces — that shaped everything I did.”
Shu and Wenyu’s pedagogy is rooted in craft — hand drawings, handmade models and deep respect for context. In their words, it’s about finding balance between nature and the artificial.
“They’re very direct in their feedback,” Frost says. “They’ll tell you what works and what doesn’t. But it’s always to push you further.”
The studio culminated in an exhibition of the students’ designs in Wencun, with the goal of inspiring the local community and sparking dialogue.
“We just wanted to let our students design something there,” Wenyu says. “Maybe the locals will take interest. Maybe something will happen.” The openness to possibility at Rice is what attracted Shu and Wenyu to want to work with its architecture students, Shu says. “We came to Rice because it’s one of the few good schools that truly teaches students how to do real architecture.”
Igor Marjanović is the William Ward Watkin Dean of Architecture and professor in the School of Architecture. Wang Shu is a doctoral supervisor and the dean of the School of Architecture at China Academy of Art.
Rice advances research, policy and student priorities during 89th Texas Legislative session.
THE 89TH TEXAS LEGISLATIVE SESSION closed on June 2, 2025, after 140 days of policymaking and passing a record-setting $338 billion budget for the 2026–27 biennium. Of the 9,275 bills and resolutions filed, fewer than 1,400 passed — but Rice helped shape some of the most impactful. President Reginald DesRoches made two visits to the Capitol, and Rice leaders played a key role in advancing major priorities and shaping new laws in areas as diverse as water and infrastructure, space and support for community college transfers.
A highlight of this session was the establishment of the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, or DPRIT, to expedite research and drive scientific breakthroughs in brain dementia and brain health. Rice contributed to a supportive higher ed/health care coalition and worked with the lieutenant governor’s team to designate the initial funding of
$3 billion. The institute’s establishment is contingent upon voter approval of a state constitutional amendment this November.
SB 1032 would have expanded the definition of an “eligible institution” for the Governor’s University Research Initiative under the Excellence in Higher Education Act to include a private or independent institution of higher education. Rice and other private universities in Texas want to participate in this program in order to help attract distinguished researchers from around the world to Texas. The bill passed both chambers but was vetoed by the governor, who cited the program’s lack of funding from the legislature.
SB 1409 permits all Texas higher education institutions the ability to self-insure their student health care plans, lowering costs for students and schools and improving plan options. Rice leadership testified and met with legislators to secure support, and State Sen. Tan Parker (Senate District 12) and State Rep. Ann Johnson (House District 134, which includes Rice’s campus) carried the proposal during the legislative session.
On April 14, 2025, more than 50 Rice students, faculty and staff visited the Capitol in Austin for the very first Rice Day at the Texas Capitol. President DesRoches led the delegation for a day of advocacy, connection, and celebration of the university’s impact on the state and beyond. A highlight was celebrating 50th anniversaries for Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business, Shepherd School of Music, George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing, and Wiess School of Natural Sciences.
— JOEL RESENDEZ
ANTHROPOLOGY 450, co-taught by anthropologist Eugenia “Nia” Georges and doctoral candidate in anthropology Tim Quinn, combines an on-campus classroom experience with an international research field trip in Bangkok, Thailand. In the first part of the semester, a dozen Rice social sciences majors studied the political, health, social and environmental issues of Thailand’s capital while working on detailed research proposals. During spring break in March, the students embarked on a weeklong, fully funded trip to Thailand, where they met Thai students and faculty, attended lectures, conducted interviews and toured cultural spaces.
“When they land in Thailand,” Georges says, “they go and go and go.” Quinn, who lives in Bangkok, served as a knowledgeable guide for the students during the week. Leveraging his connections with local universities and organizations in Bangkok, he provided students with valuable contacts for their research.
“For Nia, it’s more of a methods course that she teaches, and for me, it’s
a Thai studies crash course,” Quinn says. “It’s about getting you through the process of what doing research abroad looks like in a really tight time frame.”
Students pursued a variety of research areas by diving deep into topics as varied as the obligatory service requirements in Thai medical schools and the pandemic’s impact on elephant reserves. Sarah Vu ’27 combined her interests in sports law and social policy to study the discourse surrounding child Muay Thai fighters. “I learned an incredible amount just by observing the
ANTH 450 International Research Experience: Bangkok, Thailand
DEPARTMENT
Anthropology
DESCRIPTION
This course, part of Rice’s Gateway facultyled immersion programs, extends classroom learning beyond the campus by introducing students to independent research conducted in an international setting: Bangkok, Thailand. The course is limited to a dozen students.
body language and facial expressions of the people I spoke with,” Vu says.
Josh Gill ’25, whose project revolved around migration to Thailand, is continuing his research in Japan through a Wagoner Scholarship. “I would definitely say ANTH 450 was the most thought-provoking, rewarding and life-changing class I took at Rice,” he says.
The development of the course was spearheaded by the late Lyn Ragsdale, former dean of the School of Social Sciences, who “wanted to open up possibilities for international research experience to Rice undergrads,” Georges said. In recent years, thanks to the generous support of the Frances Anne Moody-Dahlberg Gateway Program, Ragsdale’s vision of international research is even more accessible.
— NITHYA RAMCHARAN ’25
Eugenia Georges is professor of anthropology and Tim Quinn is a Ph.D. candidate in anthropology in Rice’s School of Social Sciences. Rice’s facultyled immersion programs are funded by the Moody Gateway Program.
Shepherd School hits a high note with community day.
THIS SPRING , the Shepherd School of Music threw itself a birthday party — and invited all of Houston. The school’s 50th Anniversary Community Day March 29 welcomed hundreds of guests, transforming the grounds into a kidfriendly cultural playground of musical performances and hands-on activities designed to connect the school’s worldclass talent with visitors.
The day kicked off with a sold-out performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s famed and family-friendly “Peter and the Wolf,” narrated by Michael Sifuentes and conducted by resident maestro Miguel Harth-Bedoya. (Not to be outdone, Sammy the Owl delighted the crowd with his own conducting debut.) Meanwhile, visitors roamed freely throughout both Alice Pratt Brown and Brockman halls, engaging in activities that included iPad-powered sound experiments and performances that blended chamber music with traditional
South Asian and Filipino dance.
Musical demonstrations offered included Baroque movements, opera arias, organ and choral showcases, and creative new compositions, such as unexpected and intriguing duets for violin and contrabassoon. Along the Shepherd School’s Piazza Della Musica, families gathered for face painting, musical games and pop-up concerts performed from a mobile concert truck.
“We know that for so many of these students and families, this is their first interaction with classical music,” said Lynette S. Autrey Dean of Music Matthew Loden. “We want to make sure that we can give them an experience that’s fun, that they begin to attach themselves to the joy of making music,
and hopefully they’ll keep coming back to campus over and over again.”
For Houstonian Isabel David, it was a reminder of attending music classes at the Shepherd School when her daughter was a toddler. Celine, now 9 years old, described the day as “fun, dramatic and very memorable.” And for Houston? A joyful reminder of why Rice’s Shepherd School is one of the city’s most treasured cultural gems.
— SARAH RUFCA NIELSEN ’05
Miguel Harth-Bedoya is distinguished resident director of orchestras and adjunct faculty at the Shepherd School of Music. Matthew Loden is the Lynette S. Autrey Dean of Music and professor of executive music management at the Shepherd School of Music.
Rice’s strength in national rankings is no secret, but recently the university advanced 22 spots in the 2026 edition of the QS World University Rankings, climbing to No. 119 globally and No. 29 among U.S. universities. The annual rankings, compiled by London-based higher education data provider Quacquarelli Symonds, include over 1,500 of the world’s top universities across more than 100 locations. Rice was previously ranked No. 141 in 2025 and No. 145 in 2024.
QS evaluates institutions based on research and discovery, employability and outcomes, learning experience, global engagement and sustainability. Rice scored highest in international student diversity, international student ratio, international faculty ratio, citations per faculty and sustainability.
Learn more about Rice’s latest rankings at magazine.rice.edu/QS
GRADUATE STUDIES
From courses in policy and development to wide-open classroom discussions, Rice’s Master of Global Affairs degree aims to expand students’ worldview.
student Nathaniel Uy ’26 was still living in the Philippines when his sister, a registered nurse, moved to the Houston area in 2022. “She started encouraging me to [join her], but at first I didn’t want to,” recalls Uy, who worked in maritime security at an international think tank in Manila. When Uy heard about Education USA, a U.S. Department of State program which helps advise international students who want to study in the U.S., he signed up for a webinar to find out more. That’s where he learned about Rice’s Master of Global Affairs program, which checked all the boxes — professionally and personally.
Last year, Uy was admitted into the two-year, 36-credit-hour MGA program, joining a cohort of more than two dozen working adults with global experiences, backgrounds and careers. The degree is co-sponsored by the School of Social Sciences and the Baker Institute for Public Policy.
“The resources and opportunities here are amazing,” says Uy, who has embraced academic and campus life with enthusiasm — as a research intern at the Baker Institute, an RA for graduate student housing, a gallery guide at the Moody Center for the Arts and the founding leader of a new Filipino graduate student group.
Uy says his career interests have broadened thanks to faculty mentors like Steven Lewis, a renowned China
and Southeast Asia scholar, and Tony Payan, an expert in U.S.-Mexico relations and cross-border studies.
Payan has taught in the MGA program since its inception in 2015 and teaches a foundational course called Global Systems every fall. A real strength, he says, is the program’s diversity of students. A cohort might include recent graduates, former or active-duty military, professionals seeking intellectual and professional growth, diplomats, and students from many different nationalities. “I think they are all richer for it, as they get to exchange views and know that there are many people that think differently,” Payan observes.
For Rice alumna Maria SuarezSimmons ’23, a highlight of the MGA program is its flexibility. “You end up crafting a two-year program that really supports your interests,” she says. As a vice president of energy policy at the Energy Workforce and Technology Council, Suarez-Simmons steered her courses toward contemporary issues related to trade and sustainable energy policy in Latin America. “Any time I had a project, a paper or a presentation for our courses, I always linked the topic to either Venezuela or energy policy, or both combined.”
She also gained deeper perspectives through an energy geopolitics class taught by Jim Krane, an expert in Middle East energy policy. “It really
helped me see energy policy and its evolution over time and better understand why energy diplomacy happens the way it does.” As someone who grew up living in several countries, SuarezSimmons found the MGA program’s diverse student enrollment — where 25% are international — to be especially enriching. In addition to adding different perspectives to critical issues, “it made me part of a community,” she says.
Last February, the MGA program launched a weeklong international masterclass at the Rice Global Paris Center, adding yet another new avenue for expanding student experience. The class provided a concentrated lesson in international policy negotiation in collaboration with the Institute for Global Negotiation, based in Zurich, Switzerland. — LYNN
GOSNELL
Steven Lewis is the C.V. Starr Transnational China Fellow at the Baker Institute for Public Policy and associate director of the Chao Center for Asian Studies. Tony Payan is the Claudio X. Gonzalez Fellow in U.S.-Mexico Studies, the Françoise and Edward Djerejian Fellow for Mexico Studies, and the executive director of the Center for the U.S. and Mexico at the Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Jim Krane is the Diana Tamari Sabbagh Fellow in Middle East Energy Studies at the Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Learn more about the Master of Global Affairs program at mga.rice.edu.
TRADITIONAL , centralized water infrastructure — long considered the backbone of modern civilization — is costly to build, difficult to expand and increasingly vulnerable to climate disruption, population growth and aging materials. Environmental engineer Qilin Li is pioneering a new way to manage wastewater at the most local of levels — the household. Together with Arizona State University and funded by the Gates Foundation, Li and the Rice WaTER Institute are designing and building sustainable
systems that integrate water supply and sanitation, eliminating the need for traditional sewer lines.
Globally, billions of people live without access to sewer systems or safely managed drinking water.
“We don’t think the current way of supplying water and managing wastewater is sustainable,” says Li, professor of civil and environmental engineering in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing
at Rice and lead for the Rice WaTER Institute’s Decentralized Reuse Enabled by Autonomous Modules initiative.
This disparity is especially stark in low-income countries, where a lack of infrastructure, a warming climate and rapid urbanization compound the problem, fueling disease, malnutrition and environmental degradation.
“We often treat water supply and sanitation as two separate issues,” says Li. “But in reality, they’re deeply connected. In water-scarce regions, wastewater isn’t waste, it’s a valuable resource.”
When wastewater is treated properly
When wastewater is treated properly and reused locally, it doesn’t just ease the strain on infrastructure, it boosts water security, supports sustainability and provides essential services to communities that have long been left behind.
and reused locally, it doesn’t just ease the strain on infrastructure, it boosts water security, supports sustainability and provides essential services to communities that have long been left behind.
The project tackles two core streams of wastewater. The first is urine treatment, which focuses on recovering nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium — key nutrients for fertilizer — while also disinfecting and recycling the water for toilet flushing. The second is greywater treatment, which targets the lightly used water from sinks, showers and laundry to be cleaned and reused for handwashing or other non-potable applications.
Instead of relying on complex and fragile biological treatments or the chemically intensive treatments traditionally used in municipal plants, Li’s team uses electricity to disinfect and purify water through electrodialysis and electrochemical disinfection, technologies that can be fully automated and operated without specialized training.
These household-scale systems are more than engineering feats — they’re
tools for equity and resilience, with a utility that extends beyond developing regions. Aging infrastructure in major cities is beginning to present major challenges, and in places where expanding or replacing sewer networks is cost-prohibitive, stand-alone, self-contained sanitation systems offer an elegant work-around. Public restrooms, for instance, could be deployed quickly and affordably without tearing up streets for new plumbing.
“If we can recycle water on site, we reduce dependence on centralized systems and reduce the costs and risks that come with them,” Li says. “The systems being designed are modular and reconfigurable, which means they are customizable to different water needs, cultural preferences and environmental constraints.”
For Li, the motivation to change the water paradigm is rooted in experience. Growing up in China, she boiled every drop of water before drinking it. When she moved to the U.S. and saw people drinking straight from the tap, it was a revelation — and the beginning of a lifelong mission.
“I remember thinking, this is amazing, being able to trust your tap water,” Li recalls. “But over time, I realized that even these systems have flaws.”
Li has spent nearly a decade designing flexible, high-performance water technologies with global reach in mind. “There’s no one-size-fits-all solution,” Li says. “Water is technical, but it’s also cultural. What works in India may not work in Texas.”
Her early interactions with the Gates Foundation involved reviewing other projects around the world, from toilets in the U.K. to treatment units in Thailand. That experience, she says, was deeply eye-opening.
“You begin to see that sanitation isn’t just a technology issue. It’s about perception, trust and economics,” she explains. “In some cultures, collecting waste is stigmatized. In others, it’s a business opportunity.”
Today, she’s applying those lessons to design systems that are not only technically sound but socially and economically viable. “We’re not just building hardware,” Li says. “We’re building a new model for how the world thinks about water.”
Rice launches new funding program to sustain research amid federal shifts.
FEDERAL FUNDING is the backbone of academic research. So when governmental priorities and policies shift and vital research funding vanishes overnight, institutions struggle. To adjust to recent abrupt grant reductions or cancellations, Rice has launched a new Bridge Funding Program aimed at preserving research continuity and graduate training. Designed for current Rice graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and
faculty whose funding has been unexpectedly reduced or terminated, the bridge program provides financial support for up to 12 months to ensure stability in training and research processes. According to Amy K. Dittmar, the Howard R. Hughes Provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs, the initiative demonstrates Rice’s broad institutional resolve to advancing its research mission.
“Rice is committed to research,
Rice is committed to research, scientific discovery and creative works. This Bridge Funding Program protects the long-term sustainability and impact of Rice’s research and creative endeavors.
Importantly, it ensures continuity for graduate students as they make progress toward their academic goals.
scientific discovery and creative works,” Dittmar says. “This Bridge Funding Program protects the longterm sustainability and impact of Rice’s research and creative endeavors. Importantly, it ensures continuity for graduate students as they make progress toward their academic goals.”
As of July 2, the university has approved five requests from across the schools of Engineering and Computing, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences, representing just under $400,000 in committed funding. Funds are sourced from a combination of administrative funds and contributions from departments, schools and faculty themselves, with a central oversight committee meeting weekly to evaluate ongoing applications. Everyone is pitching in to keep scientific progress alive.
Even short-term bridge funding creates a positive ripple effect, as dedicated researchers — and their students — now have breathing room to continue their work uninterrupted, ensuring Rice’s research ecosystem remains resilient. True to its mission, Rice is proactively investing in mechanisms to preserve excellence and protect the next generation of scholars.
— SARAH RUFCA NIELSEN ’05
Sae “Rylie” Endo has already set her sights on applying for a doctoral program in the U.S.
Each year, talented students from Japan come to Rice to work in labs, build friendships and gain confidence in pursuing a career in STEM.
IN FEBRUARY, Rice’s Smalley-Curl Institute welcomed 10 Japanese students to campus to participate in the 2024–25
TOMODACHI-Dow Women’s STEM Leadership and Research Program — a five-week internship that thoughtfully combines academic rigor, mentorship and cultural exchanges.
Leading the internship program is physicist Junichiro Kono, the director of the Smalley-Curl Institute and a renowned researcher in light-matter interactions and quantum materials.
Rice’s TOMODACHI-Dow internship is the latest in a string of awardwinning international educational programs founded or guided by Kono. The program’s mission is to serve as a catalyst for female Japanese students to advance their commitment to science and engineering research and engagement with the U.S. with an eye toward reducing the gender gap in STEM in Japan.
“We go through a rigorous applica-
tion process to select 10 students to attend,” explains Kono, who serves as TOMODACHI’s research director. TOMODACHI-Dow participants also have the opportunity to collaborate and interact with 10 Taiwanese students pursuing STEM degrees who visit Rice at the same time through a similar program called MACHI, fostering a rich cross-cultural experience.
Long before they stepped on campus, the newest cohort of TOMODACHIDow and MACHI interns were matched with faculty researchers and their lab groups. These included faculty mentors in physics, bioengineering, computer science, biosciences and materials science.
Sae “Rylie” Endo, a rising senior at Keio University in Yokohama, studies applied physics and has already set her sights on applying for a doctoral program in the U.S. At Rice, she joined Kono’s lab, working directly with Dason Kim ’25 to research light-matter
interactions using terahertz timedomain spectroscopy.
“I really got to know how the lab works, not just about research or how we use these tools, but also how we do both small- and big-group meetings and how to use Slack to communicate,” Endo explains.
TOMODACHI-Dow education director Naoko Ozaki, a multilingual lecturer in Japanese at Rice, developed a full complement of lesson plans designed to help prepare the students for life at Rice. Assignments included practicing speaking and writing in English in situations like talking with a professor or with another student, for example.
“We also asked 20 female students in STEM to work as peers,” says Ozaki, who enjoyed taking the students to attend basketball games or have meals in Lovett College, where she is an RA. “I hope that what we did before and throughout their stay in Houston led to building a strong relationship among the participants,” she says.
A poster competition closed out the internships. Despite never having created a poster or presented her research in competition, Endo took home the top prize. This summer, she returned to Rice and worked with Kim to further advance their research.
“It was very good that I got to know [the students],” Endo says, “because some of them were in the same field as me and all of them are very motivated.”
— LYNN GOSNELL
Junichiro Kono is director of the SmalleyCurl Institute, the Karl F. Hasselmann Chair in Engineering, professor of electrical and computer engineering and materials science and nanoengineering in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing, and professor of physics and astronomy in the Wiess School of Natural Sciences. Naoko Ozaki is a lecturer in Japanese in the School of Humanities at Rice. The TOMODACHI Initiative is a public-private partnership between the U.S.-Japan Council and the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, with support from the Government of Japan. The program is funded by Dow Chemical Japan Limited.
Two members of the Rice community are among the 2025 Pulitzer Prize winners recognized for their powerful contributions to public service journalism.
Leah Binkovitz , a sociology Ph.D. student at Rice and former writer and editor at the Kinder Institute for Urban Research, was part of the Houston Chronicle editorial board awarded the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. The series, titled “The Tracks We Leave Behind,” exposed how train blockages in Houston disproportionately affect working-class and minority neighborhoods, a problem often dismissed as routine inconvenience.
Binkovitz said her work on the series was deeply informed by her academic research and time at Rice. As a graduate researcher, she collaborated with sociology faculty on projects exploring segregation, neighborhood barriers, and how residents navigate physical and social boundaries. “I always hope my journalism can help us see each other and our experiences more clearly, so we feel invested in each other’s well-being,” Binkovitz said.
Daisy Chung ’14 , a biosciences and visual arts alumna who has contributed to Rice Magazine, was part of the Reuters team awarded the Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting for a series on the fentanyl trade between China and the United States. As a visual journalist, Chung’s illustrations helped break down complex chemistry and public health issues for global audiences. “[T]his award feels like an affirmation that visual storytelling is essential to investigative reporting,” she said. Chung said her science background came full circle during the yearlong fentanyl investigation, where she became the team’s point person on decoding chemical structures. “It inspired the first graphic story in the series — a visual breakdown of the chemistry behind fentanyl production.”
— KAT COSLEY TRIGG
FACULTY BOOKS
BY LYNN GOSNELL
Gentrification, White Spacemaking, and a Black Sense of Place
Shani Adia Evans
University of Chicago Press, 2025
Rice sociologist Shani Adia Evans first got the idea for her groundbreaking study of historically Black neighborhoods in Portland, Oregon, after moving with her family to the city in 2015. The move, from a racially mixed neighborhood in Philadelphia to a city sometimes described as “America’s whitest city,” resulted in her rarely
encountering other Black people in daily life. “I became interested in what it was like to be Black and grow up in this context,” she writes. However, she soon learned from speaking with longtime Black residents that Northeast Portland neighborhoods were once home to a thriving Black community. By 2015, the area was predominantly white.
Through in-depth interviews with Black adults who grew up in Northeast Portland and other qualitative research methods, Evans set out to learn how these residents experienced and responded to racial and economic displacement. In this deeply observed work of scholarship, we hear their voices, their memories, their feelings of belonging — and loss. Evans advocates for the framework of “White spacemaking” over “gentrification” for understanding this process. One respondent described it this way: “I’m from Portland, Oregon, but I can’t go home.”
Shani Adia Evans is an assistant professor of sociology in the School of Social Sciences.
Kiese Laymon; illustrated by Alexis Franklin Penguin Random House, 2025
For readers of Kiese Laymon’s lyrical, raw and fiercely loving memoir, “Heavy: An American Memoir,” the theme of “safeness” is ever present — in family and friendships, school and work, and especially in the world at large. So, it’s perhaps no surprise that the idea of safeness shows up in Laymon’s newest publication — “City Summer, Country Summer,” a children’s book published last spring by Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
The story evokes a day in the life of three Black boys during a Mississippi summer. One has been sent “down South” from New York for the summer. All three are under the watchful care of their elders, whose houses are separated by “the largest, greenest garden” in town. They build cardboard sleds, wander the woods, get lost and play Marco Polo in the lush garden. They tumble and laugh and find safeness in a summer idyll — “into the kind of freeing friendship that is love.” Young readers are bound to linger over the realistic illustrations by artist Alexis Franklin, who perfectly captures the story’s emotional range.
Laymon’s creative portfolio ranges far and wide, and includes essays, fiction, poetry, edited collections, television and film projects. He is the recipient of many honors, including a MacArthur Fellowship. Since 2023, he’s taught English and creative writing to Rice undergraduates who line up for his courses.
In a recent interview with NPR’s Michel Martin, Laymon says that he was drawn to children’s literature because he “wanted to create something that was softer and honest … what happens if we explore a culture and a society and grandmothers that help create safeness in spite of the unsafety of the world.”
Kiese Laymon is the Libbie Shearn Moody Professor of Creative Writing and English in the School of Humanities.
GLOBAL LEADERSHIP FORUMS
From London to Paris, Rice leaders spread the word about the university’s spirit of discovery, international footprint and collaboration.
IN JUNE , Rice teamed up with local and statewide partners to represent the university at back-to-back global innovation and trade forums. SXSW London (June 2–7) and Viva Technology 2025 (June 11–14) drew Rice faculty, researchers, entrepreneurs and thought leaders to two European capitals to showcase the university’s international reach, culture of innovation and collaborative partnership. What they found were like-minded attendees who shared a commitment to a mission of innovation.
From Austin to London: Rice Joins SXSW Showcase
In early June, Rice took center stage at the inaugural South by Southwest London, a conference and festival that channeled Austin’s legendary “South By” spirit in the heart of Shoreditch, East London. Much like its Texas model, SXSW London merged innovative programing in tech, creative industries, education and culture.
As part of the Texas House, Rice leaders showcased not only the university’s strength in business and innovation but also its deepening impact in Europe and beyond. For example, Paul Cherukuri, Rice’s chief innovation officer, laid out a bold vision for the future, positioning Rice as a driving force in discovery and impact.
“Higher education is really under a huge lens now,” Cherukuri said. “What we see is an opportunity — an opportunity to reinvent what higher education really means. And that’s what we’re doing in Texas.”
From cutting-edge biotech commercialization to global partnerships, Cherukuri emphasized that Rice is not just keeping pace — it’s setting the speed of innovation. That engagement is evident in initiatives like the Biotech Launch Pad and RBL LLC, aimed at accelerating the commercialization of biotech inventions, as well as the Ion, Rice’s flagship innovation hub at the heart of Houston’s growing Midtown innovation district.
“We’re wanting you all to know that Rice is actually engaged, not only in Houston, Texas, but globally. We are a global university. We bring the world to Houston.”
Cherukuri underscored Rice’s commitment to bridging the gap between research and real-world application. “When we create an invention, if we do not release it to the world … it is actually our responsibility to do so. Not doing so is actually a disservice to society.”
One of the university’s most ambitious moves is a partnership with Woodside Energy, launched in 2024, to create the Woodside-Rice Decarbonization Accelerator. The collaboration aims to bring advanced, lower-carbon technologies to market, starting with plasma-based material innovations.
Peter Rodriguez, dean of Rice Business, shared timely insights into why Texas — and Rice itself — are uniquely positioned to lead in global trade and economic collaboration.
“You need to think of an economy [Texas] — eighth largest in the world, 30 million people, a geographic footprint larger than France.” Beyond size, he emphasized, the real draw is Texas’ momentum: “Growth is the environment in which you want to invest. We see that in Texas in a very big way.” Rodriguez pointed to the state’s unmatched energy resources — “the No. 1 energy producer and exporter in the country” — as well as its growing renewable sector, diverse population
and business-friendly climate.
“We want to bring together smart minds working at the vanguard of their technological fields and commercializing those ideas into something that makes a really positive difference.”
In March, Rice served as the educational partner for the inaugural Texas House during SXSW in Austin. A firstof-its-kind unofficial, off-site activation, the Texas House brought together thousands of attendees to showcase the bold ideas, pioneering spirit and world-class collaborations that define Texas’ forward-thinking vision.
With startups on display, faculty in the spotlight and strategic partnerships underway, Rice made a powerful statement at Viva Technology 2025 — Europe’s largest technology conference — as co-leader of a historic trade mission to Paris. Rice joined the Greater Houston Partnership in hosting the first city booth at the global event, which drew more than 180,000 attendees from across the international tech ecosystem.
The Houston booth featured several
Rice-affiliated startups: Rugged Robotics, DirectH2, MCatalysis, XMAD.ai, and ThirdAI. The foot traffic was steady from the moment the door opened, and interest only grew as visitors engaged with Rice entrepreneurs, faculty and students.
“There’s real curiosity about what’s happening in Houston,” said John Cypher, GHP’s vice president of international investment and trade. “People are surprised in a good way by how fast we’re growing in AI, energy transition and health tech.”
VivaTech served as both an anchor and amplifier for the broader Houston trade mission. For example, Rice hosted a welcome event at its Rice Global Paris Center, where faculty, startup founders and Houston business leaders gathered to kick off the week.
The mission to raise global awareness for Rice’s capabilities was especially evident in fast-moving sectors like artificial intelligence. For Rice computer scientist Anshumali Shrivastava, co-founder of ThirdAI, the global attention on AI at VivaTech made it an especially relevant place to be. Rice’s presence at the event sent a clear message: “VivaTech is a great place to show that we are truly a global institution.”
“At every turn, whether on the showroom floor or at our receptions, it was clear that Rice and Houston belong in this space,” said Caroline Levander, Rice’s vice president for global strategy. “We’re leaving Paris with more than visibility; we’re leaving with momentum.” — BRANDI SMITH
Paul Cherukuri is vice president for innovation and chief innovation officer at Rice. Peter Rodriguez is professor of strategic management and Houston Endowment Dean of Rice Business and Virani Undergraduate School of Business. Anshumali Shrivastava is associate professor of computer science, electrical and computer engineering, and statistics at the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing. Caroline Levander is vice president for global strategy and the Carlson Professor in the School of Humanities.
Young Rice musicians join a worldwide orchestral ensemble in Tianjin and Beijing.
IN MUSIC , some of the most powerful connections are made without words. That truth resonated across the globe this spring when five students from the Shepherd School of Music — flutist Ryan Clever, clarinetist Jake Glaser, bassoonist Jackson Bernal, horn player Christian León and oboist Chiara Rackerby — traveled to China to take part in the inaugural Tianjin Juilliard Orchestral Symposium and Leadership Forum.
The weeklong event brought together students and leaders from 30 top music conservatories across Asia, Europe and North America. At its heart was the genesis of the NextGen Symphony, a first-of-its-kind international orchestra conducted by David Robertson. Before the week was over, this ambitious new ensemble performed a wide-ranging program, featuring works by Zhou Long, Hector Berlioz and Béla Bartók in two of China’s most iconic venues — the state-of-the-art
Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall and the world-renowned National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing.
“Playing in such beautiful venues in Tianjin as well as sharing my music with my peers in the program — who I now consider close friends — made for a fulfilling and unforgettable experience,” León says.
Beyond the symphony, the five Rice students also performed as a wind quintet in chamber concerts around Tianjin, including a standout
performance of Valerie Coleman’s “Afro-Cuban Concerto” at the historic Yao Hua High School Auditorium.
“They were great representatives — not just musically, but as cultural ambassadors,” says Emily Wells, the Shepherd School’s senior assistant dean, who accompanied the group alongside Lynette S. Autrey Dean of Music Matthew Loden.
Though the consortium drew from schools around the globe, the musicians quickly gelled — overcoming fatigue, language barriers and unfamiliarity. “We sort of had this expectation that since everyone was from different schools and because we all had a general sense of jet lag and summer tiredness, the orchestra would suffer,” says Glaser. “However, as we ran through the Bartók, I realized that the orchestra was [performing] at a uniquely high level.”
“Every time you’re in a new orchestra with different people, you learn something,” Loden says. “Our job is to provide those opportunities — it helps our students know where they sit among their peers.” In between rehearsals and performances, the students navigated the famous bullet train to explore both downtown Tianjin and Beijing, spending one memorable evening talking to a shop owner through Google Translate as he fed them various dishes.
“While language barriers initially proved difficult,” Bernal recalls, “our shared sense of musical artistry allowed us to communicate from inside the orchestra.”
— SARAH RUFCA NIELSEN ’05
The largest sample in the Kinder Houston Area Survey’s history reveals strengths and challenges facing the nation’s fourth-largest city.
THE ANNUAL 2025 Kinder Houston Area Survey, one of the nation’s longest-running studies of an urban area, was released in May. This year’s findings draw from the largest sample in the survey’s 44-year history, reflecting the growth of the Greater Houston Community Panel, which now includes more than 10,000 members from Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties. The results provide local and state leaders with significant data for address-
80% of residents across all three counties believe Houston is a better place to live than other major metropolitan areas. Why? The people, culture, economic opportunities and activities are what residents cited.
Percentage of county residents who rated quality of life as good, very good or excellent
ing key issues impacting the well-being of their communities.
“The Kinder Institute is committed to providing accessible data, research and engagement to help our community take action — that’s our mission,” said Kinder Institute director Ruth N. López Turley. “And with the growth of the Greater Houston Community Panel, we’re now able to study an even wider area with even more depth.”
The survey’s model of rigorous sampling around universal topics like economic opportunity, urban infrastructure, quality of life and immigration has served as a blueprint for cities around the world who value data-driven solutions that address the needs and aspirations of their own citizenry.
— KAT COSLEY TRIGG AND LYNN GOSNELL
Ruth N. López Turley is professor of sociology in the School of Social Sciences and director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research.
However, those earning below $25,000 are three times as likely as those earning $100,000 to rate their quality of life as poor or fair.
88% of residents want the government to ensure job access for all who want to work.
Harris County respondents (24%) marked crime and safety as the No. 1 problem impacting the Houston area; Fort Bend and Montgomery counties chose traffic as the biggest problem.
81% agree the government should act to reduce inequality between rich and poor — the highest levels of support recorded in survey history on both items.
More than six in 10 residents rated infrastructure as poor or fair Air and
More than 50% registered dissatisfaction (poor or fair)
71% of Harris, 72% of Fort Bend counties say immigrants contribute more than they take away from economy; majorities in Harris and Fort Bend counties agreed that undocumented immigrants contributed more than they take;
48% of Montgomery County residents agreed.
Two-thirds of residents rated public transportation as poor or fair
BY KAYT SUKEL
IT HAD BEEN 20 YEARS SINCE Paul Cherukuri ’08, Rice’s chief innovation officer, last set foot in India, the place of his birth. To say he found it much changed is a bit of an understatement.
“I was born in India. I went back every year as a child and spent quite a bit of time there,” he says. “But being there last year, I was struck by the remarkable growth all around me — so much opportunity and innovation. India has really become this incredible place where people are coming together to solve complex problems in very scalable ways.”
In November 2024, Cherukuri joined a delegation of prominent Rice researchers and campus leaders, including President Reginald DesRoches, to celebrate the formal launch of Rice Global India. This initiative is a new and distinctive chapter in Rice’s international plan, with a bold mission to develop strategic partnerships with India’s leading educational institutions and industry players. The partnership’s goal is to facilitate research, innovation and advanced educational exchange.
Centered in Bengaluru (Bangalore), an established technology and innovation hub often referred to as India’s “Silicon Valley,” the program builds on the success of existing partnerships between Rice and institutions like the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru and the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. Establishing the Bengaluru hub in India was the next logical step to expand the university’s footprint — and support the kind of groundbreaking research and unsurpassed education with the power to better the world, says Caroline Levander ’95, Rice’s vice president for global strategy. Levander is charged with leading the development of new research collaborations and partnerships and academic programs that will increase Rice’s global impact.
“We started by focusing on Europe to raise the academic reputation of Rice and increase our visibility as an institution in other parts of the world. But going into India allows us to put a greater focus on innovation and accelerating research commercialization,” Levander says. “They have the students and the expertise that allow us to build many meaningful joint activities there.”
For Rice faculty members who started their careers in India, the new hub will elevate existing relationships with colleagues in both academia and industry. Materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan, a pioneer in nanotechnology, received his bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering in India. After completing his doctorate and joining the faculty at Rice, he continued to build strategic partnerships there to facilitate his research in nanomaterials.
Ajayan took a leading role in the founding of a joint IIT Kanpur-Rice Collaborative Center, focused on research in sustainable energy and materials.
“This was the first formal connection we made with India — and, in the last few years, we had almost 10 projects focused on energy and sustainability,” he explains. “With those successes, Rice became more interested in engaging more with India, which led to the establishment of Rice Global India and now an office in Bengaluru.”
One of Ajayan’s former postdoctoral fellows, Soumyabrata Roy, is now an assistant professor of sustainable energy engineering at IIT Kanpur. While still at Rice, Roy served as a co-principal investigator on one of the joint Rice-IITK projects on materials for sustainable energy applications. Today, he continues to pursue joint research efforts in the areas of sustainable energy and advanced materials. He believes the creation of Rice Global India significantly elevates the collaborative and translational potential both of his work and those of his collaborators at Rice.
“This program enables access to a wide spectrum of expertise and infrastructure across both institutions, which is particularly valuable for advancing our work on carbon capture, green hydrogen and sustainable chemical transformations,” he says. “We’ve been enabled to pursue jointly funded bilateral projects, collaboratively mentor students, and explore scalable, crossborder technological solutions.”
Lane Martin, director of the Rice Advanced Materials Institute, adds that this more formal extension of Rice’s footprint into India will allow researchers to create truly “symbiotic” partnerships to accelerate state-of-the-art research, helping to move it from the laboratory into the real world.
“The faculty members in India that we partner with are interested in the same big problems we are trying to solve, but they approach them with a different point of view,” he says. “Our partners have great ideas, they are thinking about new ways to do things and they are bringing a depth of resources that are different than what we have in the U.S.
FACTS ABOUT BENGALURU
… and over 10K tech startups HOSTS
MILLION
Fourth most populous city in the country
Tech and startup hub, often called the “Silicon Valley of India” and headquarters of the Indian Space Research Organisation, India’s national space agency, which is currently working on a joint ISRO-NASA mission. 400+ F ortune 500 companies
BENGALURU
CAPITAL OF THE STATE OF KARNATAKA
Home to the Indian Institute of Science, an academic powerhouse
CENTERED IN BENGALURU (BANGALORE), AN ESTABLISHED TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION HUB OFTEN REFERRED TO AS INDIA’S “SILICON VALLEY,” THE PROGRAM BUILDS ON THE SUCCESS OF EXISTING PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN RICE AND INSTITUTIONS LIKE THE INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE IN BENGALURU AND THE INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY KANPUR.
Rice and partners at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and the Indian Institute of Science are collaborating on funded research projects in critical areas such as energy and the environment, health care, biomedical sciences and more with the goal of creating academic and societal impact. Here are a few examples:
Geoscientists Rajdeep Dasgupta at Rice and Debajyoti Paul at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur are combining experimental and geochemical approaches to study the genesis of rare earth elements. These critical metals play an important role in renewable energy technologies (think wind turbines, electric cars and solar panels). Most of the world’s REEs come from carbonatite, a unique product of magma or lava. The teams gathered natural samples of carbonatite rocks in field sites in western India, then conducted experiments to answer questions about the conditions that lead rare earth elements to form in these rocks.
Rajdeep Dasgupta is Rice’s Maurice Ewing Professor of Earth Systems Science in the Wiess School of Natural Sciences. Debajyoti Paul is professor of Earth sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.
When buildings collapse, emergency responders face enormous obstacles in identifying the location of individuals trapped under rubble or debris as quickly as possible. Rice electrical engineer
Ashutosh Sabharwal and IIT Kanpur computer scientist Amitangshu Pal are collaborating to develop a radar-assisted rescue-aid system that will more accurately locate and direct assistance to individuals in such emergencies. While radars can see in the dark and through dust, they struggle to see when the signal bounces off too many objects, as is true in a debris field. The team is developing a suite of physicsgrounded methods to “undo” the effect of multiple bounces from debris, aiming to achieve two goals simultaneously: finding if there is a living survivor by detecting their breathing and approximately localizing their position. The team has tested their innovations in a controlled experiment with people safely behind thick walls or emulated debris.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 32
By working together, we can find new paths forward. By combining our funding and our work, we can create a powerful research ecosystem and multiply our potential impact.”
As an example, Martin referenced some of the work he is doing with Bhagwati Prasad, an assistant professor of materials science at IISc. Prasad’s group takes a more “applied engineering” approach to microelectronics projects, he says.
“He’s looking at how we can make a new kind of logic or memory, working at this higher level,” Martin says. “And it’s not that I’m not interested in those things, but my group is really focused on the fundamental materials needed to enable those kinds of applications. By working together, we can get into the deep, deep details of a new material system with new and interesting functionality and get to a feasible solution faster.”
Cherukuri says that the growing economy of India has created an emerging innovation infrastructure that supports the scaling up of developing technologies. This will allow Rice’s scientists and engineers to prototype and test their ideas more rapidly. But, by and large, he says the biggest draw of Rice Global India is the people.
Martin agrees. He says that good research is “99% about the people,” and the right partnerships are going to help labs both at Rice and in partnered institutions and companies make good progress faster.
“When you can have brilliant minds, with different skills, different experiences and perspectives, come together to work on hard problems, you can find innovative solutions to really complex problems quickly and figure out how to scale them,” Martin says. “It’s invaluable.”
The program will facilitate graduate student exchanges so those students have the opportunities to work and learn from different laboratory settings. It will, says Sreya Ghose, a principal adviser for Rice Global India, give both Rice and Indian students a unique opportunity to “work across borders.”
“Partners can pull from the existing talent within Rice and partner institutions,” she says. “It enables students to grow and learn through exposure to new technologies, new mentors and cultures as they work on different projects.”
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 31
Ashutosh Sabharwal is Rice’s Ernest Dell Butcher Professor of Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing. Amitangshu Pal is an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.
In this research collaboration, biophysicist Raghavan Varadarajan at the Indian Institute of Science and bioengineer Kevin McHugh at Rice are working to encapsulate Varadarajan’s thermostable COVID-19 vaccine in McHugh’s pulsatile-release vaccine delivery system to create a single-injection COVID-19 vaccine that enhances and prolongs protection against the disease without the need for frequent injections. “Our biodegradable particles release the vaccine in a pulse after a period of time that we determine,” McHugh says. The hope is for such a system to be adapted broadly for many vaccines, thus overcoming barriers to vaccine accessibility and lowering health care costs globally.
Kevin McHugh is an associate professor of bioengineering and chemistry in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing and a CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research at Rice. Raghavan Varadarajan is professor in the molecular biophysics unit at the Indian Institute of Science.
3D printing of food is an emerging manufacturing technique that has opened new avenues for advancements in personalized nutrition, texture and taste. However, current 3D food printing research is often limited to trying new compositions and printing techniques without a deep understanding of food rheology (the study of deformation and flow of food when force is applied). Chemical engineer Yogesh Joshi at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and Rice mechanical engineer Daniel Preston aim to characterize the rheological properties of an array of food inks suitable for 3D food printing, along with the resultant food structure and mechanics. The goal is to achieve edible metamaterials with enhanced and tunable food properties unattainable through conventional food manufacturing methods.
Daniel Preston is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing. Yogesh Joshi is a professor and chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering at IIT Kanpur.
While Rice Global India is setting down roots, materials scientist Abhishek Singh, a professor at the Indian Institute of Science and chair of the Office of International Relations, says he sees both Rice and its strategic partners continuing to build more strength and capabilities, expanding into more fields.
Singh also knows Rice well, having spent several years in Houston as a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Rice materials scientist and nanoengineer Boris Yakobson. At IISc, he played a significant role in establishing the partnerships that led to the establishment of Rice Global India in Bengaluru. “That was a very proud moment for me personally and for IISc in general,” Singh says.
“We are really excited about the student exchanges and the continued high-level facility research collaborations,” Singh adds. “And, as we build this groundwork, there are many more interested people. We need to think about how to engage them jointly so we can keep this wheel rolling.”
Ghose says the initiative will continue to grow. “We have such great potential to scale, to build, and to tap into the ambition and aspirations that represent India,” she says. “We are being very deliberate about who we choose as our partners, focusing on those that can help us maintain our focus on entrepreneurship and innovation. But even as the program evolves, we want to ensure students have access to world-class talent and to the kind of research and industry infrastructure to deliver real results.”
Another critical aspect, says Roy, is the initiative’s focus on equity. By looking at how to benefit all partners, Rice Global India is redefining what global academic collaboration can look like, he says.
“It is not just about building international visibility — it’s about creating equitable, high-impact partnerships that draw on local strengths and global networks,” he explains. “This model prioritizes longterm collaboration over short-term visibility and values shared leadership, mutual benefit and deep academic integration.”
Last year’s visit to introduce the program in India resulted in a full circle moment for Cherukuri. His parents’ journey from India to the U.S. to pursue medical careers was transformative for him — and shaped who he is as both a scientist and a person. As he visited Bengaluru, as well as Hyderabad, the city where he spent
his summers growing up, he was inspired by the educational ecosystems that can work toward a common mission: advancing innovation to develop solutions for a better world. That, he says, is the power of higher education and collaboration.
Earlier this summer, Levander returned to Bengaluru and Hyderabad to continue building upon established partnerships and to lay the groundwork for new collaborations. With prime office space newly secured in Bengaluru’s IT corridor, Rice Global India stands to be deeply integrated into the city’s dynamic startup environment. “We’re within walking distance to Chevron’s new engineering and innovation center,” Levander says, noting that global giant InfoSys has a campus nearby. “With this space, we can convene many Rice communities — including academic, industry and alumni.”
“India is central to our efforts,” she said in an interview with the media network Times News Now. Already, there are active educational and research collaborations between Rice and faculty at IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras and IISc in Bengaluru — with more on the way. Levander adds, “We believe the future of education is cross-border, interdisciplinary and inclusive.”
Pulickel Ajayan is the Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor of Engineering and professor of materials science and nanoengineering, chemical and biomolecular engineering, and chemistry in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing at Rice. Paul Cherukuri is vice president for innovation and chief innovation officer at Rice and an associate research professor of electrical and computer engineering in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing. Caroline Levander is vice president for global strategy and a professor of English and the Carlson Professor in the School of Humanities. Lane Martin is the Robert A. Welch Professor of Materials Science and NanoEngineering and professor of chemistry in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing, and he directs the Rice Advanced Materials Institute. Soumyabrata Roy is an assistant professor of sustainable energy engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. Abhishek Singh is chairman and professor at the Indian Institute of Science’s Materials Research Centre and an adjunct associate professor of materials science and nanoengineering in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing at Rice.
LAST YEAR’S VISIT TO INTRODUCE THE PROGRAM IN INDIA RESULTED IN A FULL CIRCLE MOMENT FOR CHERUKURI. HIS PARENTS’ JOURNEY FROM INDIA TO THE U.S. TO PURSUE MEDICAL CAREERS WAS TRANSFORMATIVE FOR HIM — AND SHAPED WHO HE IS AS BOTH A SCIENTIST AND A PERSON.
Paris is Europe’s intellectual center of gravity: it’s a city dense with political, artistic, literary and religious history, home to cutting-edge scientific research facilities and universities hundreds of years old. It’s the ideal place for Rice Global to make its international debut. Building on the success of the longestablished Rice School of Architecture Paris, the university established the Rice Global Paris Center in 2022, a beautiful space in one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods that hosts classes and academic gatherings. Being in Paris “puts us at the epicenter of energy in our industry,” says Caroline Levander ’95, vice president for global strategy. The following pages offer a glimpse of Rice’s strategic engagement in Europe’s capital of culture.
BY ROBYN ROSS
FOR THREE YEARS , the Rice Global Paris Center has hosted summer courses for undergraduates. Unlike traditional study abroad, in which students transfer credits from an overseas university, these programs are managed entirely by Rice: the three-week courses are taught in English by Rice faculty, the price of tuition includes housing and a Metro card, and students can use financial aid. Such arrangements make international education accessible for more students, and over four sessions this past summer, 200 Owls took a dozen courses in anthropology, neuroscience, Black American performance and even the chemistry of cooking.
“One of our philosophies for hosting courses in Paris is to take advantage of the city,” says Meredith Bonner,
director of operations for Rice Global. “Whenever possible, we encourage faculty to think about using the city as part of their classroom.”
The dozen students enrolled in Romanticism: Ruins, Race, Revolution, taught this June by English professor Alexander Regier, used the city as their classroom virtually every day. Regier describes romanticism as both a concept that informs literary and artistic movements and the historical period from roughly 1750 to 1850. That century saw the American, French and Haitian revolutions; the advent of the abolition movement and the end of slavery in France; and elevation of the role of the individual, human rights, beauty and the natural world.
Regier has taught the course in Houston but says the class is entirely different
in Paris: seeing a painting or visiting a building in person reveals far more than reading about it. Early on, the students visited the opulent royal palace of Versailles, an object lesson in the power and wealth imbalances that helped spark the French Revolution of 1789.
“Being there, you’re literally, physically overwhelmed by the space,” Regier says. “The relation between power and the representations of power in buildings — there’s an extra dimension to it that you cannot replicate in the classroom.”
Walking through room after gilded room, Isabella Regan ’27 craned her neck to take in the palace’s lavishly painted ceilings. “The first thing I said is, ‘I have never felt this minuscule in my life,’” she remembers. “And Dr. Regier said, ‘That is the point. You are meant to feel this small. You are not important in comparison to the power that these people had.’”
The class later visited the Pantheon, constructed in the late 1700s as a church but repurposed during the Revolution as a secular memorial to significant figures in French history. Monuments have been added — and sometimes deleted — up to the present, provoking questions about which people are honored and why.
The excursion “challenged us to think about how France constructed its rhetoric,” says Mia Baumann ’26. “We talked
about how many people were added to the Pantheon posthumously and then removed, depending on how the society’s values changed. You can see how there’s a certain portion of society that curates how they want to be viewed by others and how their citizens interact with their history.”
As an Indian American woman attending a traditional Texas high school, Antara Varma ’28 often perceived the Western canon as something she was obligated to study but that felt tangential to her own life. She longed to learn about race, colonization and revolutions but didn’t have the chance until Regier’s class. In Paris, she developed a genuine curiosity about the ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire and Edmund Burke and their influence on present-day France.
“The most special part of this Paris experience is that it taught me not only the material, but why I should care about the material,” Varma says. “I got to see it not as something I just have to know so I can get a literature degree, but as something that is in conversation with the country as it is right now.”
Alexander Regier is the William Faulkner Professor of English, chair of the Department of English, and professor of modern and classical literatures and cultures in the School of Humanities.
The Paris Center is a stone’s throw from famous attractions in the City of Light, among them Notre-Dame Cathedral, Sainte-Chapelle, the Seine River, the Musée Picasso Paris, Maison de Victor Hugo, and the Shakespeare and Company bookstore, once frequented by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway.
Rice’s Paris location is, like its Houston flagship, in the center of the city and near significant research and education institutions. The building is tucked in Le Marais, a historic neighborhood in one of the most central arrondissements in the city. The district was excluded from many of the changes that remade Paris in the 19th century, preserving “a very ancient and in some places medieval street fabric, which makes it fascinating to explore,” says center administrative director Garry White. “It’s quite a condensed neighborhood, but it’s the kind of place you can get lost in, even if you’re familiar with it — in a nice way.”
Up to 50 students, faculty and conference guests can stay in singleoccupancy apartments in five townhouses Rice has leased in the Butteaux-Cailles neighborhood in the 13th arrondissement. The residential area is a half hour from the Paris Center via Metro. Thriving Asian restaurants and grocery stores here are a product of waves of Vietnamese immigration in the 1970s.
Living in one district and attending class in another “introduces the students to how many identities are present in Paris and how different each neighborhood is,” says Camille Evans, Paris Center program coordinator.
TO ENSURE RICE is a participant in the most significant academic conversations globally, the university is creating partnerships with the top institutions in France. “It’s just the highest density of world-class faculty,” says Caroline Levander, who forged the agreements. The first such arrangement is with Paris Sciences and Letters, a 15-yearold “super university” consortium of 11 smaller but much older higher education institutions. Levander is now establishing similar connections with Paris-Saclay and Sorbonne University. She says the French institutions want to build international research programs and are eager to work with Rice and, by extension, the leading medical, energy and technology institutions of Houston. Rice and PSL jointly fund faculty from their respective institutions to develop research collaborations. In early summer, quantum scientist
Junichiro Kono, who heads the SmalleyCurl Institute at Rice, spent a month in Paris collaborating with Carlo Sirtori, his counterpart at École Normale Supérieure, part of PSL. The two work at the frontier of an emerging subfield of quantum physics called solid-state cavity quantum electrodynamics (the study of how light confined in a reflective cavity interacts with matter). They had met at conferences but had never spent extended time together.
Kono stayed in one of the apartments Rice leases in Butte-aux-Cailles. Every morning, he went for a run, either in the vast Parc Montsouris or along the Seine, before taking the Metro a short distance to École Normale Supérieure. Kono spent the first half of the day in Sirtori’s office, talking through equations and ideas with Sirtori and his students. In the afternoons, Kono visited other researchers’ labs and offices, and he ended most
Conferences and classes meet in the Leebron Room, named for Rice’s former president David Leebron, who opened the center. Guests marvel at the carved and painted ceilings, a feature common to private mansions in the 16th century but rare to find in excellent condition.
The basement level includes two rooms with barrel-vaulted stone ceilings. Such rooms were once used to store grain or wine, as they stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Today they host meetings, classes and film screenings.
days at one of Paris’ many jazz clubs. In addition to touring the Rice Global Paris Center, he visited colleagues at the universities of Toulouse and Montpellier in southern France, Johannes
Seating in the garden surrounds a central enclosure for plants and a dry well. A grapevine-covered arbor along one wall provides shelter and shade.
Gutenberg University Mainz, and the University of Konstanz in Germany. Kono emerged from his month in Paris with several projects to pursue with Sirtori and many connections within and beyond École Normale Supérieure.
Even in the Zoom era, he says, there’s no substitute for meeting colleagues in person — at their labs or at a café on a summer evening for a glass of beer or wine. “That kind of thing is very important for science.”
The Paris Center and Rice’s partnership with PSL have enabled biogeochemist Caroline Masiello to collaborate with Samuel Abiven, a professor of terrestrial biogeochemistry at PSL member institution École Normale Supérieure. Abiven directs CEREEP-Ecotron, a one-of-a-kind field station for ecological research located roughly an hour from the city.
At the field station, researchers can conduct controlled experiments in both terrestrial and aquatic facilities at increasing environmental complexity. At the intermediate level of complexity, CEREEP has 22 “ecotrons”: large cham-
bers similar to greenhouses that allow scientists to set temperature, rainfall and atmospheric gas composition. By using the ecotrons in conjunction with the field station’s laboratory facilities, researchers can study ecological processes at any scale between individual organisms and entire ecosystems.
One overarching goal in climate science research is to understand the relationship between processes that unfold at the cellular or molecular level and changes at the ecosystem scale, Masiello says. But it’s difficult to isolate biological processes to understand which ones are most influenced by climatic changes and which have the greatest impact on larger ecosystems.
“The advantage of a place like CEREEP is it gives you the opportunity to do experiments at the molecular or genetic level, and also carry those experiments all the way through to the ecosystem level,” Masiello says. She and graduate student Julia Seay visited the field station last year, and Seay has begun a collaboration with Abiven’s group as part of her thesis.
Summer students cook in their apartments or dine out; many restaurants offer breakfast and lunch specials or student deals. In the fall, occasional group meals will be provided, but students can cook in their apartments and use restaurant vouchers, a dining system that is well established in France. Camille Evans, the center program coordinator, shared favorite spots in the neighborhood, including Hanoi Street, a Vietnamese café with a 9€ lunch; Panozzi, offering Italian sub sandwiches; and l’As du Falafel, one of many falafel spots in the Marais — historically the city’s Jewish quarter — but it might be the best. Mia Baumann, who recently wrapped up a summer class at the Rice Global Paris Center, recommends the combos or “Formule Midi” from La Charrette à Crêpes, where they offer a sweet and savory crepe and a drink at a discount. “The flavors are somewhat unexpected, but the combination was incredible.”
Caroline Levander is vice president for global strategy and the Carlson Professor in the School of Humanities. Junichiro Kono is director of the Smalley-Curl Institute, the Karl F. Hasselmann Chair in Engineering, professor of electrical and computer engineering and materials science and nanoengineering in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing, and professor of physics and astronomy in the Wiess School of Natural Sciences. Caroline Masiello is the director of the Sustainability Institute; the W. Maurice Ewing Professor of Biogeochemistry, Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences; and professor of chemistry and biosciences in the Wiess School of Natural Sciences.
The Rice Global Paris Center is a former grand townhouse, or mansion, called the Hôtel de La Faye. Built in the 1540s, it was renovated and restored in the late 1990s. The center sits behind a separate residential building that fronts the street; visitors enter via an unassuming door in the front building and walk through a passageway into a courtyard, where they find the entrance to the Paris Center.
The building encloses a peaceful and elegant garden completely hidden from the street. Both Houstonians and Parisians who have seen it all are charmed and amazed by the space, says Garry White. “The location is fantastic, it’s so pleasant to walk around the area, and you’re so central to cafés and bars, ice cream and cultural opportunities all within walking distance. But when you enter, you’re actually withdrawing from the city into a very intimate and private space.”
PHOTO BY JEFF FITLOW
PARIS IS AN ACCESSIBLE , appealing destination for scholars from around the world, and Rice-convened gatherings in the city elevate the university’s international profile. The Paris Center generates “opportunities for collaboration with all of Europe, and access to and proximity to some of the best researchers in the world,” says Meredith Bonner.
In fall 2024, the Paris Center hosted the inaugural symposium on the Art and Science of Total Synthesis of Natural and Designed Molecules for Biology and Medicine. The event convened many of the world’s top experts in synthetic organic chemistry, including K.C. Nicolaou, the Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of Chemistry at Rice, whose pioneering research has contributed to the development of cancer treatments; Ben Feringa, a Dutch chemist who won the 2016 Nobel Prize in chemistry; and Morten Meldal, a Danish professor who won the 2022 Nobel Prize in chemistry. The symposium “not only celebrated the achievements of leading chemists but also explored the future of total synthesis in addressing global challenges in medicine and beyond,” said Angel Martí, who chairs Rice’s Department of Chemistry.
In April, the Paris Center hosted The Brain Economy: Empowering Minds, Transforming Economies, an executive education program of the James A. Baker III Policy Leadership Program. The event brought together researchers in neuroscience and leaders in both startups and
major corporations, such as Shell. Participants learned about the brain economy, a framework for developing economic strategies that prioritizes the cultivation of cognitive, emotional and social skills, and the prevention of dementia and other neurodegenerative disorders.
Europe is leading the conversation about the brain economy, says program director Victoria Jupp, but the work is accelerating in Texas with the spring 2025 passage of the Dementia Prevention Research Institute of Texas, which, if approved by voters in November, will significantly expand brain-health research. Meeting in Paris made the event accessible to participants from around the world and allowed the group to tour the Paris Brain Institute, France’s leading neuroscience research center and a Rice partner.
Also in April, a dozen top scholars in religious pluralism attended New Directions for Global Research on Religious Pluralism and Violence, convened by the Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance. The Paris Center served as a “third place,” a neutral ground where academics of all nationalities felt comfortable meeting to share ideas, says Elaine Howard Ecklund, director of the Boniuk Institute. Participants included scholars who were ethnically Israeli and Palestinian and researchers from Ukraine and Singapore. “The Rice Global Paris Center provided a place for really top-
In September, a dozen delegates from the Rice Neuroengineering Initiative and the Texas Medical Center will meet counterparts from the Paris Brain Institute for a joint symposium on Translational Neurotechnologies. Rice neuroengineering and the Paris Brain Institute have a natural synergy, says Rice’s Behnaam Aazhang, director of the initiative. “What we bring to the table is our engineering and our translational view of this space, and they are the scientists. This symposium is to find common ground to actually develop projects.”
For the first time this fall, the Paris Center will host undergraduates for a semester. The program is designed with students in the life sciences and health professions in mind, whose highly structured curriculum typically doesn’t allow the flexibility to study abroad. Rice faculty in Paris will teach cell biology and biochemistry — two courses in the pre-health sequence — as well as courses in psychology and French language and culture that fulfill social sciences and humanities requirements. On tap are guest lectures from researchers at Paris Science and Letters and excursions to the Museum of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, the History of Medicine Museum, and the lab of Pierre and Marie Curie. The experience can enhance the students’ applications to healthprofessions schools, says Rice bioscientist Edward Nikonowicz, department chair and professor of biosciences in the Wiess School of Natural Sciences. “Medical schools are looking for people who have experiences outside the classroom,” he says. “This program allows students to learn in the context of a different culture, contributing to a broadening of their life experience.”
notch academic diplomacy, in the sense that the academy is able to bring together people who wouldn’t in political contexts even be able to interact,” she says.
K.C. Nicolaou is the Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of Chemistry in the Wiess School of Natural Sciences. Angel Martí is director of the Rice Emerging Scholars Program, chair of the Department of Chemistry, and professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, bioengineering, and materials science and nanoengineering in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing. Victoria Jupp is policy assistant to the director of the Baker Institute and director of the James A. Baker III Policy Leadership Program. Elaine Howard Ecklund is director of the Boniuk Institute, the Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences and professor of sociology in the School of Social Sciences.
BY SARAH RUFCA NIELSEN ’05
Whether for a week, a semester or a year, Rice students are seeking — and finding — new opportunities for international learning.
A PASSPORT doesn’t guarantee perspective — but when it comes to diverse learning opportunities, it’s a good place to start. Whether classifying chameleons in Madagascar, joining a university’s swim team in Singapore or learning how to tackle maternal mortality in the Dominican Republic, Rice students are increasingly in search of notable, hands-on experiences and deeper cross-cultural understanding.
On an institutional level, Rice is investing in making global experiences more accessible, more integrated and, critically, more meaningful. “Our hope is that every student at Rice has an opportunity to engage in a global experience,” says Leslie Schwint-Bayer, the Thomas Cooke and Mary Elizabeth Edwards Chair in Government and Democracy in the School of Social Sciences and associate dean of undergraduate education at Rice. “We’re working to reduce barriers, expand opportunities and build the infrastructure so these experiences are supported, not siloed.”
We spoke to eight Owls who sought out various paths to expand their educations through international experiences, from fellowships to field schools, a cross section of how Rice students are exploring the world while learning to see themselves as global citizens and scholars.
BRAZIL LOEWENSTERN FELLOW
Cognitive sciences major Arryana Lyon (Jones) spent this summer in São Paulo, Brazil, through the Loewenstern Fellowship. She studied Brazilian culture and infrastructure to inform a social impact project addressing local access to clean water, sanitation and recycling.
Why did you decide to study here? I study how both the natural and built environment can affect our way of life and wellbeing, especially in the face of climate change. This program was a great opportunity to learn how other places in the world are dealing with environmental issues.
What is something about your experience that you wouldn’t have been able to replicate at Rice? My fellow Rice classmate and I were the only na tive English speakers in our classes. The other students were Brazilians who enrolled in the course to improve their English skills and learn about different topics. It was an invaluable experi ence learning not only Portuguese from them as they learned English from us, but also to learn
about Brazil, its history, its people and its rich culture.
How did this experience influence your future career goals? This experience has definitely complemented my ultimate career goal of being an urban planner.
Top recommendation for future travelers? I’d say they absolutely must go to a futebol match. The stadiums are electric when fans go to cheer on their favorite teams. I had the privilege of attending a match in
Offered every other year, the Department of Art History’s popular HART in the World course includes both a spring seminar and a two-week trip to a related location the following May. This summer, Jessica Shi (Brown) joined associate professors of art history in the School of Humanities Lida Oukaderova and Farshid Emami and classmates to explore Uzbekistan and the region’s art and architecture from the pre-Islamic era to the post-Soviet and contemporary periods.
Why did you decide to study here? I have taken a Rice Global Paris summer course with the art history department and really enjoyed it. I have also taken a course with Professor Lida and totally loved it. So, I was excited to hear about HART in Uzbekistan. I had never studied that part of the world before, and probably won’t have much chance to travel there on my own, so it was a great chance to learn about that part of the world with a group of people who share similar interests.
How did this experience influence your future career goals? It showed me how to conduct effective site visits and how to generate
A highlight of your trip? On the fourth day of our trip, we drove almost the whole day to the Aral Sea and stayed in yurts overnight. Crossing through the desert, we saw the different landscapes formed by the shrinking sea; we visited a museum and local village; and we watched the most beautiful sunset while swimming and floating in the sea, as well as see
TAIWAN
RICE IN COUNTRY
From the start, studying abroad was high on Cory Voskanian’s college bucket list. This summer, the Martel resident traveled to Taipei, Taiwan, as part of Rice in Country. In addition to the program coursework, the statistics and social policy analysis double major spent a month as a research assistant at National Taiwan University, working as part of an international team of scholars exploring AI’s potential to prevent natural disasters.
Why did you decide to study here? I had a really cool experience the second week of my freshman year when my teacher invited me to visit the Taiwanese economic and cultural center in Houston. I was able to hear from students who went on the trip last year and meet with Taiwanese youth ambassadors. These interactions made studying through Rice in Taiwan a priority.
What is something about your experience that you wouldn’t have been able to replicate at Rice?
spent the summer in Santo Domingo on an internship with Rice 360 Institute for Global Health Technologies. She joined a group of students who are gaining on-the-ground insights to better understand local health challenges and identify opportunities for impactful engineering solutions.
Studying intercultural communication has exponentially improved my Chinese through open conversations and experiences with local Taiwanese people, whether it be learning about the intricacies of the Chinese language over hot pot with our Taiwanese teacher, or hourlong discussions with our language partners (local students).
A highlight of your trip?
Tell us about your Rice 360 project. Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world, but it’s also one of the most preventable. Through my research I found that the Dominican Republic has a high [cervical] cancer rate and risk, with uterine cancer being almost as high; however, most hospitals can’t afford many training models to teach residents or primary care providers how to properly perform screening procedures. Without this training, cervical biopsies are either done poorly or not done at all.
My project was creating a training
biopsies by making an anatomically realistic uterus and cervix model that can be attached to the LUCIA, a lowcost cervical biopsy training model made by Rice 360. We worked in collaboration with the Dominican Foundation for Mothers and Infants to bring our project to public maternity hospitals, where doctors try them out and see if they work.
Top recommendation for future travelers? Every weekend we tried to visit a new place. My favorite was Saona Island. You take a boat to the island, and there are iguanas all over and the water and the
REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE
REPUBLIC OF MADAGASCAR
SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL TRAINING
Ananya Rao (Jones), who is majoring in computer science with a minor in data science, spent the spring 2025 semester enrolled at the National University of Singapore through a student exchange program. In addition to living in dorms and taking classes full time, Rao joined the NUS swim team and made the most of her time abroad, traveling to Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia.
Why Singapore? I wanted to be in a program with local students. And I wanted to be in Asia, and in Singapore there’s no language barrier. A big part of what made the Singapore experience unique is that you have access to people all over the world — the exchange community at NUS is super diverse, from all over Asia as well as Australia, Canada, Germany, etc.
Top recommendation for future travelers?
A highlight of your trip? I went to northern Vietnam with some friends. It was a mix of backpacking and homestays in various villages. It was incredible and really cool to be present in that experience with people whom I had
Singapore has food centers called hawker centers — kind of like food courts where each stall specializes in one or two dishes and everyone picks a stall and then eats together in a communal setting. Go to one for breakfast and order kaya toast covered in butter and
A double major in integrative biology and French studies, Maddie Jeffery (Baker) spent fall 2024 deep in the rainforests of Madagascar studying biodiversity and natural resource management with the School of International Training. In addition to taking classes in both English and French, her program included a monthlong research project spent backpacking through Marojejy National Park, where Jeffery identified 15 species of chameleons.
Why did you decide to study here? With a dual degree, it’s tough to squeeze in a whole semester abroad on a four-year plan, so I needed a program that could combine my niche interests into one package. I also wanted to go somewhere I could never just travel to, and I knew Madagascar was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
What is something about your experience that you wouldn’t have been able to replicate at Rice? Madagascar is a country that’s incredibly diverse in geography. It’s also a biodiversity hotspot, so I got to see lemurs, chameleons and rare species of fish and marine animals. For many, it’s the only place to study them in their natural habitat.
How did this experience influence your future career goals? It sparked even more passion for studying the postcolonial period of [former] French colonies, especially in women’s roles in forwarding those countries. And it definitely refined my love of animals and animal conservation.
Top recommendation for future travelers? Anyone visiting Madagascar should go to Lake Itasy. I will never forget days spent cliff jumping, exploring geysers, bathing in waterfalls, eating mangos and nights spent watching the stars.
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
English major Connor Findley (Martel) spent his entire junior year at the University of Exeter, taking English literature courses alongside local students. Between classes, he made time to explore the U.K., proving that studying abroad can be both intellectually and geographically expansive.
Why did you decide to study here? My greatest passion is creative writing and literature in the English language, so I wanted to pick a program that would allow me to develop these skills in particular.
What is something that complemented your Rice studies? The university offered several subjects that I’d never heard of before — for example, there was one on the surrealists that was a great passion of the professor who taught it. Surrealist art is particularly challenging in its explorations of the ‘nonsensical,’ the dreamlike, the taboo and more, which exposed me to new and uncommon ways of thinking. I’ll be thinking about surrealism for the rest of my life.
How did this experience influence your future career goals? What I learned in Exeter has already enriched my creative and career pursuits and also my general perspective on life. I’ve written a short story I’m proud of that is set at a bus stop in Exeter and makes use of surrealist methods.
A highlight of your trip? During Reading Week (a weeklong fall break), I traveled by train to Edinburgh. As an author, it was an especially inspiring city — the Writer’s Museum memorializes three of the most important Scottish writers. Perhaps the highlight of that whole visit was a bus tour up to the Scottish Highlands. The city is one thing, but the majesty of those hills is entirely different.
A philosophy major with a minor in politics, law
A highlight of your trip?
Why did you decide to study here? Since I am a native Arabic speaker with Lebanese origins, I already had ties to the language and culture; however, I recognized that there is much more learning to be done.
How did this experience influence your future career goals? I am currently pursuing an oral history research project that explores the philosophy of life and death within the Druze community, a religious minority mostly residing in the Middle East. The Rice in Jordan program allowed me to strengthen my language skills, which will help me document and translate the Druze perspectives better.
My most memorable highlight was being invited to celebrate Eid El-Adha with a friend’s family. I ate traditional Palestinian food for the first time, met their relatives and got to learn more about their way of life in Jordan. This filled in a small homesick spot I had and gave me a deeper appreciation for the hospitable customs and sense of community that define life in Jordan and Arab culture as a whole.
Top recommendation for future travelers?
You must visit Wadi Rum, Petra, one of the seven wonders of the world, and the Dead Sea. We got to experience the desert landscape through a camel ride and jeep tour, and at night, there were performances of traditional Bedouin music and dance, followed by stargazing.
AT CERN, RICE RESEARCHERS ARE PART OF A DECADES-LONG, INTERNATIONAL
SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENT PEERING INTO THE BEGINNINGS OF THE UNIVERSE.
PAGE 48
BY SILVIA CERNEA CLARK
To study the smallest constituents of matter, you need an instrument as powerful as the most advanced telescope: At the subatomic scale, matter plays by different rules, and the phenomena observed are as difficult to obtain and interpret as glimpses of deep space. The European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, runs the world’s most powerful instrument for studying subatomic matter — the Large Hadron Collider.
The collider is installed across a region including both French and Swiss territory. On the map, it traces a circle undiscerning of the border between the two countries. In a sense, the collider’s 17-milelong circular track enacts a symbolic act of erasure that CERN replicates in respect to borders more generally: CERN is a singular place — a multidecade, multigenerational collaboration running an experiment comprising about 12,000 scientists from more than 70 countries.
The collider’s ring of superconducting magnets propels a beam of particles at near light speed, causing them to smash into each other and shatter into cosmic debris. Physicists study these events for answers to fundamental questions: What is the universe made of, and what are the rules and principles that govern its existence? What is matter, and how did it come to be?
There are four sites along the circular track of the LHC where collisions are made to occur. Built at and around these sites are detectors — giant machines designed to act as traps or sieves that capture and sift through the subatomic debris emanating from the collisions. The Compact Muon Solenoid is one of two primary detectors at CERN — and one of Rice’s global outposts.
Though it is only about one-fifth the size of the International Space Station, the CMS detector is 33 times heavier: a 14,000-ton layered apparatus packed tightly inside and around a cylindrical magnet 100,000 times stronger than the Earth’s magnetic field. This magnet bends the trajectories of charged particles emanating from the collisions, giving scientists clues about their identity and behavior.
Back in Houston, on the ground floor of Herman Brown Hall on Rice’s campus, a tiny owl adorns a green circuit board. On a desk beside it glistens a tiny chip spliced into even tinier squares — each bonded with a delicate gold filament finer than human hair, like some strange insect robot. These, along with other instruments — some still in the design stage, some already sealed up and packed neatly in a box ready for transport — will soon make their way to the experimental cavern, and, eventually, become incorporated into the CMS.
Rice has a long history of participation at CMS. Rice faculty, students and staff have worked on the design, assembly, testing, integration, and operation of critical hardware and software components of the CMS experiment from its earliest stages, helping overcome challenges and sharing in its successes. Today, there are 35 Riceaffiliated researchers working on the experiment, 10 of whom are stationed at CERN.
In 2012, CMS, together with its sister experiment, ATLAS, confirmed the discovery of the Higgs boson — a historic breakthrough that resolved one of the last standing gaps in the Standard Model, a theory that predicts the existence of different kinds of subatomic particles and the fundamental forces that govern their behavior and interactions.
There are four sites along the 17-mile-long circular track of the LHC where collisions are made to occur. Built at and around these sites are detectors — giant machines designed to act as traps or sieves that capture and sift through the subatomic debris emanating from the collisions.
THE CMS DETECTOR
Though it is only about one-fifth the size of the International Space Station, the CMS detector is 33 times heavier: a 14,000-ton layered apparatus packed tightly inside and around a cylindrical magnet 100,000 times stronger than the Earth’s magnetic field.
This achievement would not have been possible without the work carried out at Rice and in hundreds of laboratories around the world: A global effort with a historic mission spanning decades and generations, CERN is a “model of knowledge stewardship and international scientific collaboration,” says Frank Geurts, a Rice particle physicist who is one of five Rice faculty who are co-investigators at the LHC.
Established in the mid-1950s in the wake of World War II, CERN was envisioned as a peace-driven alternative to national nuclear programs.
“When CERN was formed in the 1950s, having French and German scientists work together was not something you could take for granted,” says Paul Padley, a Rice particle physicist known for his contributions to the experimental efforts at CERN. “CERN’s mission is as much about physics as it is about international collaboration.”
The war left European countries reeling, triggering a brain drain on the continent. Europe’s best-and-brightest were drawn to the U.S., where the war effort had incentivized government support for scientific research in recognition of the critical role of a scientific and technological edge for national security and economic growth.
To counter this exodus of talent and rebuild European science, 12 European countries signed the CERN Convention in 1953, committing a portion of their gross domestic product to support the development and operation of high-energy physics research infrastructure and programs. The U.S. provided critical, though indirect, support to the initiative, in line with its commitments under the Marshall Plan and spurred by the advocacy of U.S. scientists like Isidor Rabi. Today, CERN numbers 25 member states, with the U.S. and Japan holding observer status.
CERN explicitly excludes “work for military requirements” from its statement of purpose and designates “the results of its experimental and theoretical work” as beholden to no proprietary claims other than those of the public good.
one of the first prototype components designed for a new system
Though its scope is “nuclear research of a pure scientific and fundamental character,” innovations stemming from CERN have a profound societal impact: The world’s first website and server went live at CERN; medical technologies such as Magnetic Resonance Therapy, positron emission tomography and hadron therapy also derive from the work of CERN scientists and engineers; CERN technologies inform applications in environmental monitoring and aerospace, art restoration and more.
Currently, Rice members of the CMS collaboration are focused on the next stage of the detector. In 2026, the LHC is scheduled to go on a three-year hiatus, time in which both the collider and the detectors and experiments it feeds, are scheduled to undergo a significant upgrade. Wei Li, a Rice physicist who is a co-investigator on the CMS experiment, leads a team working on a new detector component called the endcap timing layer.
“The current detector tells us where something hits, but we also want to know when,” Li says. “That will give us a much fuller picture.”
You are contributing to something you might not live to see finished, like the buildings that used to take one or two hundred years to complete. We measure things no one has measured before, and sometimes, it’s exactly what theory predicted. But sometimes it’s not — and that’s what we hope for, the surprises.”
KARL ECKLUND, PHYSICIST
Darin Acosta, a Rice physicist whose team works on the electronics and online system that analyze and filter collision data in real time, says the upgrades will generate 10 times more data.
“We have to be highly selective,” Acosta says. “We have special electronic chips to do the first kind of pattern recognition and processing. We even use machine learning to help us reduce the amount of data selected for analysis by a factor of 100,000 or so. After this initial culling, the data is sent to computing centers that filter out even more of it.”
Watch a video about CERN at magazine. rice.edu/ CERN .
Rice physicist Karl Ecklund likens the CMS to a kind of modern cathedral. He also points out that the open-ended nature of fundamental research is closer to aesthetic pursuits, where the outcomes of artists’ travails are never prescriptive or entirely predictable.
“You are contributing to something you might not live to see finished, like the buildings that used to take one or two hundred years to complete,” Ecklund says. “We measure things no one has measured before, and sometimes, it’s exactly what theory predicted. But sometimes it’s not — and that’s what we hope for, the surprises.”
Frank Geurts, Wei Li, Darin Acosta and Karl Ecklund are professors of physics and astronomy in the Wiess School of Natural Sciences. Paul Padley is the former vice president for information technology and chief information officer and current adviser to President DesRoches and Kelly Fox, executive vice president for Operations, Finance and Support.
WE ASKED A GROUP OF RICE RESEARCHERS TO TELL US ABOUT THEIR CURRENT RESEARCH AND RECENT EXPERIENCE AT CERN. HERE’S WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY.
AT THE HEART OF THE DETECTOR
Born in Hawaii but raised in Indonesia, Muti Wulansatiti navigated the liminal identity of being technically a U.S. citizen but feeling “100% like an international student” during her time as a Ph.D. student at Florida State University. She always enjoyed math and physics, but the moment she realized her calling for the field of high energy physics coincided with a significant historical event: As a teenager, she followed various science channels on YouTube, and in 2012, when the Higgs boson was announced, she got to learn about CERN.
“I found things that they do at CERN really fascinating,” Wulansatiti says. “To be honest, it was less about the physics and more about the technology, the really big machines and the collaboration.”
Even after three and a half years at CERN, seeing the CMS detector in person still inspires awe. “It’s so complex, no one person can explain what every single component does,” she says. “It’s a privilege to be involved in something of this scale.”
Now a Rice postdoctoral researcher working with Ecklund, she helps manage operations for the pixel detector — the innermost layer of the CMS, closest to the particle collisions. This involves attending morning meetings to review calibration and data-taking schedules for the day, and coordinating with colleagues at CERN and around the world. The rest of Wulansatiti’s time is devoted to physics analysis: She examines data collected by the CMS experiment in search of a hypothetical particle called a composite pseudoscalar — a “lighter cousin” of the Higgs.
During the upcoming shutdown of the collider, Wulansatiti will help disassemble the old detector and commission the new one. By the time operations resume, “it will be the beginning of a new era in high-energy physics,” she says. Her long-term goal is to return to Indonesia as faculty and “help build the highenergy physics community there.”
It’s so complex, no one person can explain what every single component does. It’s a privilege to be involved in something of this scale.” MUTI WULANSATITI
Collin Arbour started out interested in biology but kept zooming in — through genetics, biochemistry and chemistry — all the way down to a metaphorical bedrock: particle physics.
“I just kind of cascaded my way down,” he says. “And now I’ve kind of hit the bottom, I guess — the most fundamental parts.”
Arbour chose Rice for his doctoral studies in part because he knew the university “had a good presence on the CMS experiment, and that it was common for them to send students over.” As one of Padley’s Ph.D. students, Arbour is spending a couple of years in Geneva, at CERN, where he splits his time between physics analysis and hardware work with the cathode strip chambers — gaseous detectors that measure the tracks of passing muons. The length of his stay is typical, with most CERN graduate or postdoctoral research experiences lasting anywhere from a few months to a few years.
“Everyone’s kind of transient,” Arbour says. “But people are eager to meet and socialize.”
His daily rhythm shifts depending on the work at hand: simulation, analysis and coding at one site; benchtop lab tests at another; or full-on hardware interventions deep underground at the CMS cavern, where the solenoidal magnet is so strong that your laptop might stop working unless you duck behind a pillar.
Being on shift means taking responsibility for the cathode strip chambers around the clock — sometimes responding to 3 a.m. phone calls.
“It’s kind of a stressful week when you do it,” Arbour says. “I don’t sleep so great. You don’t want to miss a call.”
Arbour is helping prepare the detectors for the next phase of the experiment, the high-luminosity upgrade, which will drastically increase the number of collisions. He is also running sustainability tests, searching for greener gas mixtures that could replace the current ones without compromising performance.
“It’s super exciting to be contributing, even if it’s just a small part, to such a monumental effort,” he says. “It’s kind of a dream come true … diving into something so fundamental. It’s a realization of the human spirit.”
‘THE FINGERPRINTS OF WHAT GOT US HERE’
As a scientist with a fine arts background and a side gig as an aerial dance choreographer and instructor, Taylor Carnahan’s path to particle physics stands out as unconventional. However, she sees an underlying continuity between artistic and spiritual dimensions and the practice of science — all are imbued with creativity. “The beauty and the order in the math of quantum physics is really intriguing to me,” says Carnahan, who describes herself as “an artist by trade.”
Carnahan, a graduate student in Padley’s group finishing up her dissertation work this summer, studies the Higgs boson. The high-energy collisions in the LHC, or “atom smasher” as she calls it, give us a baseline idea of what the moments right after the big bang might have looked like, and thus an opportunity to look for traces of the Higgs and learn about its properties.
“We try to figure out why things are the way they are. We kind of poke and prod the beginning a little bit [looking for] the fingerprints of what got us here today. The electrons and the protons and neutrons, and you and I have a certain amount of mass, and we have no idea why. We believe it is the Higgs that causes that.”
Carnahan spent several months at CERN in summer 2022. She recalls arriving on the bus, croissant and espresso in hand, entering the sunlit plaza with the flags of member countries waving above, badging in — and then getting lost. “It happens to everyone,” she says. Eventually, she learned her way around and made friends from countries all over the world. Going for coffee is a periodic, collective ritual, she says, and “there are espresso machines sitting in the corner of the most esoteric building.”
Carnahan’s work leans more theoretical and involves modeling and checking that the physics showing up in the detector make sense. Even though the data people work with may be the same, she says, nonetheless, it is a generous canvas that allows for creativity in choosing how to handle and interpret it.
“People come with different assumptions, different interpretations — it is important to have a lot of minds come to bear when you are working on such foundational questions for humankind — it’s beautiful,” she says.
WORKING AT CERN FROM HOUSTON
Patrick Kelling grew up in Clear Lake, “right down the road from NASA.” But despite what he calls a “similar vibe” between the two places, working at the world’s largest particle physics laboratory was not something he set out to do.
“I had left school and was just working in restaurants for a while,” he recalls.
It was not until he re-enrolled at San Jacinto Community College in Houston that he met a professor — a former Rice postdoc — who mentioned something that sounded almost mythical: a student opportunity at CERN.
“I was like, ‘That sounds amazing. CERN?’” Kelling says. “I feel like people hear about CERN, but it seems … I don’t know — far off.” He followed up a year later, by then an undergrad at the University of Houston. To his surprise, they still needed help. So, in fall 2019, Kelling landed in Geneva and was soon commuting out to the CMS experiment site in the French countryside.
“I had no clue what I was getting myself into,” he admits. “But it’s kind of funny — the stuff I learned there, I still use today.”
Kelling now works full time as an engineer on Acosta’s team. He is excited to see the new upgrades to the system get implemented starting in 2026.
“CERN is a really special place,” Kelling says. “You have people from all over the world, from countries that don’t get along, just working together on science.” He remembers an office shared by two interns: one from India, one from Pakistan. “It’s probably unique in the world, that kind of collaboration,” Kelling says.
How Opeyemi “Ope” Amosu used his MBA training to create culinary cred with his Montrose restaurant, ChòpnBl k.
BY ALICE LEVITT
THE WARM AROMA
of deviled Scotch eggs — spiced ground turkey surrounding a yolk-y, creamy fi lling — wafts through the dining room as O peyemi “Ope” Amosu ’14 serves a dozen guests what will become one of his specialty dishes. It’s October 2018, and the setting is an apartment complex in Uptown, one of the “Chopd + Stewd” pop-up dinners that would introduce Houstonians to Amosu’s vibrant new take on West African cuisine.
Six years later, Amosu’s West African fusion concept has grown from a pop-up dinner series to a downtown Houston food hall to a buzzy restaurant in Montrose thoughtfully infused with West African flavors, designs and storytelling. At its helm, Amosu has already been honored twice as a James Beard Award semifinalist, revered as the Oscar of the hospitality industry. Back in 2018, after each dinner, Amosu had diners fill out comment cards with their thoughts, conducting what can only be described as a culinary focus group. This is not how
most restaurants are created. But most chefs don’t hold an MBA from Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business. In fact, Amosu wasn’t even the one doing the cooking at first. Though he had experience as an ambitious home cook during his undergrad days barbecuing for his fraternity brothers at Missouri’s Truman State University, he didn’t yet think of himself as a chef. Early on, Amosu had no plans to open this kind of elevated, awardwinning restaurant. When the idea for ChòpnBl k first gelled for him in 2017, the inspiration was Italian fast-casual restaurant Piada. So it made sense when he started out by serving his flavorful creations at POST Market, known for its range of international food stalls. But there was one tiny problem with his concept.
Amosu’s West African fusion concept has grown from a pop-up dinner series to a downtown Houston food hall to a buzzy restaurant in Montrose thoughtfully infused with West African flavors, designs and storytelling.
“The guests didn’t want to get up,” Amosu jokes. Designed as a quickservice space where diners would only spend 45 minutes, ChòpnBl k instead became a culinary sensation. Diners planned date nights around their artfully presented bowls of rice, seasonal vegetables and liberally spiced halal proteins, and Amosu’s creations were spotlighted by The New Yorker, Essence and Southern Living and noted chef Marcus Samuelsson.
By 2024, the first standalone ChòpnBl k restaurant debuted with similar fanfare. According to Amosu, the most popular dish is the Golden Bowl, which combines smoky jambalaya fused with West African jollof rice, coconut milk curry with black-eyed peas, grilled Blok chicken, vegetables and stewed plaintains, while his go-to order is the Buka Bowl: meaty boneless short ribs with rice and beans and
sweet plantains.
Rice students have enjoyed both dishes — not to mention those surprisingly elegant deviled Scotch eggs — as ChòpnBl k guests. Amosu makes a point of hosting student events as part of his commitment to mentoring young Black men on campus. “I very rarely say ‘no’ when I get a call or a request from Rice or any other part of my network,” he says. He’s currently in the early phases of creating a philanthropic arm of ChòpnBl k called the FELA Initiative (Finance & Entrepreneurship Literacy Academy), which he hopes will help to support Rice students, among many others.
Though he didn’t do much cooking while at Rice, Amosu says it was his role as “Chief Party Officer” for the Jones Student Association that may have best prepared him for his second career, which has brought him out of
the boardroom and into the kitchen.
“I was the one who handled all the ordering for catering. That was my first time dealing with placing large orders of catering and so understanding how that works and how much we were spending on those types of things — it definitely came in handy,” he recalls.
Amosu envisions a future for ChòpnBl k that goes well beyond Houston — and acknowledges that growth means focusing on operations, not orders. “It can’t depend on me making everyone’s Golden Bowl to be successful,” he says. All the better for food lovers around the country who would love to see a ChòpnBl k on their block.
Acclaimed mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke finds a home on the international stage.
CLAD IN A BLACK and gold brocade evening gown, Sasha Cooke ’04 commands the stage at Santa Cecilia Hall, joining Italy’s Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia to perform — in German — Austrian composer Gustav Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony, a meditation on death, judgment and eternal life.
The mix of languages, cultures and countries is standard fare for the Grammy Award-winning opera singer of Russian ancestry who’s performed in 11 countries and 25 cities this season alone, including firsts for her in Slovenia, Belgium, Norway and Poland. “That’s one of the greatest parts of this job — the travel,” she says.
Cooke fell in love with Mahler’s music at Juilliard and wrote her master’s thesis on the composer. An early job offer from the Colorado Symphony was to sing “Resurrection,” Mahler’s Second Symphony. It’s a piece she’s returned to often during her 19-year career. In May, the “Mahler Queen,” as she’s called on social media, visited the composer’s grave outside Vienna and one of his
compositional huts near Salzburg.
“There are pieces that go straight into your bones, and they stay,” Cooke says. “‘Resurrection’ is about nuance and pitch and artistry — there’s not a showy high note. It’s about being part of the emotional fabric of the piece. I sought Mahler out. I think he sought me out too. He’s one of the ingredients that’s taken me around the world.”
In Europe, Cooke appreciates that being an artist isn’t overly idealized. Rather, it’s considered a valuable profession that’s part of everyday life. That’s different from the U.S., where she’s sung at venues including the Metropolitan Opera and San Francisco Opera. “Here, it’s more about identity and ambition and excellence.”
“People imagine singing as glamorous,” says Cooke, “but that’s a very small percentage of it. The rest is booking flights, hotels or Airbnbs, attending rehearsals, coping with jet lag, and juggling relationships with family and friends from afar.”
No matter where she travels, Cooke
Mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke will take center stage at the Shepherd School of Music’s 50th Anniversary Gala on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025. She will be the featured vocal soloist in the premiere of “Another Starry Night,” a work for mezzo-soprano and orchestra by Shepherd composition professor Pierre Jalbert, commissioned in honor of the school’s milestone anniversary. The performance will be held in Stude Concert Hall with a gala dinner to follow on the Morrison Theater stage in Brockman Hall for Opera. She will also perform at the Houston Grand Opera in January and February.
has a habit of seeking out “third places” like coffee shops. “It’s a way of feeling like a local,” she says. “You end up talking to someone, having a human interaction, and that’s a direct line to your mental health.”
This fall, she’ll sing in six countries and 22 cities, debuting in the Sydney Opera House with music by English composer Edward Elgar. She’ll also perform “Of Thee I Sing,” a recital celebrating composers who shaped and were shaped by America, in five U.S. cities. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately about who we are,” Cooke says, “about the dream of America, and if we’re achieving that dream.”
Cooke says she wouldn’t be a musician if not for the personal attention she got as “a shy kid” at the Shepherd School of Music — where she ended up performing opera leads. It built her confidence. “I was seen and honored and taken care of,” she says. Early on, she told her Rice voice teacher she wanted to sound like other Rice female singers. “She told me, ‘It’s good to be different.’ And a light bulb went off. I’m a case of it is good to be different.”
— DEBORAH LYNN BLUMBERG
Submit news and updates to your class recorder listed below or owlmanac@rice.edu.
Retiring class recorder George Laigle (BA; BS, 1952) writes: My decades-long friends and classmates, Joe Clegg (BA; BS, 1952) and Gene Langworthy (BA; BS, 1952), have gone on to the next world within the last year. My doctors tell me I will follow this year. Rice changed my life — I entered in fall 1947 at age 17 — straight off the farm, just 21 miles south of campus, from the prairie of Brazoria County. I was 100% pure country bumpkin, in every sense
A couple of these smiling faces from the Class of 1975 are celebrating their 50th reunion this fall. Do you recognize one or all of them? Find out on Page 84.
No classnotes for your year?
Become a class recorder and keep classmates informed. To volunteer, email owlmanac@rice.edu.
of the term. My relationships with girls had been, up to that point, a total of zero (but I was in extreme awe of their beauty!) My only redeeming quality, which proved incredibly important in my life, was an insatiable curiosity about everything. I found learning to be rewarding and even fun at times. So, I was valedictorian of my high school class of 1947 in Alvin, TX, and I think, at that time, Rice was taking new students from all over Texas if you were at the top of your class. So, believe it or not, when my father deposited me on campus, I had never seen any college and
Joe Clegg had a similar experience. He was two years older than me and wise enough to join the Army in 1945 so the GI Bill would pay for his education. After he had done his two years, he said he took a bus south out of downtown Houston and got off at the Rice gate. He walked in, went to the residence on campus, had a talk with the man who lived there and was personally accepted as a new student on the spot! Joe went on to become a world-known “Legend of Lift” with Shell Oil because of his innovations, which led to increased
Board members meet with university leaders and administrators and make recommendations regarding programming for alumni both inside and outside of Houston.
Dear Fellow Owls,
I’m honored to serve as current president of the Association of Rice Alumni. I want to begin by thanking David Mansouri ’07 for his outstanding leadership and dedication over the past year. His thoughtful stewardship has strengthened our alumni community and set a strong foundation for the year ahead.
I’m also pleased to welcome our new ARA board members and alumni trustee. Their energy, insight and commitment will help guide our work and strengthen our efforts to serve the entire alumni community — be sure to read more about them in the following pages.
There’s never been a more exciting time to be part of the Rice community. From the bold Momentous strategic plan to our rising athletics programs and groundbreaking research, Rice continues to grow in ways that inspire pride and belonging. But what makes Rice truly special is the enduring spirit of its people — a community that values curiosity, collaboration and lifelong bonds.
As we look ahead, I’m especially excited to gather with many of you at Alumni Weekend, Nov. 6–9. It’s a time to reconnect with classmates, celebrate our shared experiences and welcome new faces into the fold. Whether you’re returning to campus for the first time in years or you never really left, I hope you’ll join us for a weekend full of memories, laughter and Owl spirit. Visit alumni.rice.edu to discover ways to get involved — whether by mentoring students, attending events or reconnecting with fellow Owls. And if you have ideas or questions, we’d love to hear from you at alumni@rice. edu. Every connection you make helps strengthen the fabric of our alumni community and ensures the spirit of Rice continues to thrive for generations to come.
Go Owls!
David Leal ’03
The Association of Rice Alumni (ARA) Board is a diverse group of volunteers who serve three-year terms, engage with alumni and stay connected to Rice. Apply to the ARA Board at alumni.rice.edu/board-applications.
David Leal is co-founder and CEOin-residence at Gulmohar Capital Partners. He has advised on over $200 billion in M&A and capital markets transactions, including landmark deals in tech, media, telecom and energy transition. At Rice, he has served on reunion committees, volunteered with the Rice Alumni Volunteers for Admission and is a member of the Society of Latino Alumni of Rice.
Lanham Napier earned his B.A. in economics from Rice and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is executive chairman and co-founder of BorderPlex Digital, a Texas-based company that owns and operates vertically integrated digital infrastructure campuses. He is also co-founder and chairman of BuildGroup, an operating company that builds and funds technology businesses with modern business models. Previously, Napier served as CEO of Rackspace, where he led the company’s growth from $1.5 million to $1.5 billion in sales. Outside of his professional endeavors, Napier has served on several nonprofit boards including St. Mary’s Hall, St. Mary’s University Forum on Entrepreneurship and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. He and his wife established the Napier Family Foundation to provide financial support for first-generation Americans to attend university.
Bethany Andell earned her B.F.A. from the University of Arizona and her MBA from Rice, where she served seven years on the Rice Business Alumni Association Board, including as president. Andell is CEO of Savage Brands, a firm specializing in brand strategy, marketing and internal communications. She co-authored “Get Your Head Out of Your Bottom Line: And Build Your Brand on Purpose” to help executives focus on long-term impact. She serves on the advisory boards of First Horizon Bank’s Houston market and Sustainability and Energy Value Advisors. She is a member of Vistage and a founding member of Houston’s Conscious Capitalism chapter.
Burns-Wright ’08 Washington, D.C.
Alicia BurnsWright earned her B.A. from Rice in 2008 and her law degree from Harvard Law School in 2011. Since November 2023, she has served as competition policy counsel at TikTok. Prior to that, she was part of the competition legal team at Meta, investigated mergers and acquisitions at the Federal Trade Commission, and defended mergers and acquisitions at Vinson & Elkins. Burns-Wright lives in
Washington, D.C., with her fiancé, Thomas Willis ’06, and their dog, Rufus.
Jun Gu ’09
Houston, Texas
Jun Gu earned her MBA from Rice and her B.A. in journalism from Fudan University in China. She is a partner and head of manager research at Corient, where she leads research for the firm’s $180 billion national investment platform and serves on its national investment committee. Previously, Gu was chief investment officer at Stavis & Cohen and worked as a financial journalist. A Chartered Financial Analyst, Gu is a member of the CFA Institute and CFA Society Houston, where she served as president from 2020–21 and now serves on the board. She also serves on the advisory board of the Rice University Wright Fund.
Steven Jamail ’02
Jersey City, New Jersey
Steven Jamail is a proud graduate of Rice’s Shepherd School of Music and is associate artistic director for Rosie’s Theater Kids in Manhattan. His music has been performed on Broadway, at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the
White House and other major venues. His TV credits include original music and lyrics for “Rachael Ray,” “The Martha Stewart Show,” and NBC’s tree-lighting at Rockefeller Center. He has conducted Broadway tributes for Chita Rivera, Cyndi Lauper and Queen Latifah; wrote the opening music for the 9/11 Memorial and Museum benefit; and recently orchestrated Lea Michele’s sold-out Carnegie Hall debut. Jamail regularly conducts for Opera Saratoga.
Lafayette, California
Amy Mellor Thompson earned a B.A. in political science from Rice, where she held several leadership roles at Wiess College, including O-Week co-chair, social vice president and Tabletop Theatre director. After graduation, she helped launch Interliant in Houston before moving into strategy consulting at PwC in New York. She later served as director of communications for Asia Pacific at JWT in Singapore. Thompson has worked with Rice Alumni Volunteers for Admission since graduation and currently supports the Bay Area Alumni Group and the 30th Reunion Committee.
ASSOCIATION OF RICE ALUMNI BOARD 2025–2026
Chris Noble ’00 Bellevue, Washington
Chris Noble graduated with a B.A. from Rice in political science. He is a seasoned marketing leader with more than 20 years of experience. Founder and head of operations at Consiglieri, Noble helps modernize marketing for large organizations by prioritizing essential strategies over outdated practices. Prior to his role at Consiglieri, Noble served as the managing director for T-Mobile’s internal content and creative studio. He has also managed renowned brands including Southwest Airlines, Lowe’s, Domino’s Pizza, Texas Lottery, Heinz Ketchup and MLB at top agencies such as Razorfish, Third Ear and Cramer-Krasselt.
Houston, Texas
Pretta VanDible Stallworth holds a B.S. and M.S. in chemical engineering from Rice, a B.S. in chemistry from Texas Southern University, and an MBA and Ph.D. She also has certifications from the Project Management Institute and
Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business. She represents District IX on the Houston Community College Board of Trustees, previously serving from 1989–93. An educator and consultant for Witty Inventions, VanDible Stallworth has taught over a dozen courses, developed the LEAP emotional abuse awareness programs and supported national health initiatives. She serves on the boards of the Association of Rice University Black Alumni and Rice Engineering Alumni.
Houston, Texas
Deborah Williams received a B.A. in psychology from Rice and remains active in the community as committee chair of the Rice Alumni of Houston. She is an assistant vice president and client operations manager at Bernstein Private Wealth Management in Houston, where she partners with financial advisers to support clients through personalized strategies. Before joining Bernstein in 2018, Williams held management roles in the health care and food service industries. An active member of the Junior League of Houston, she volunteers at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center.
PRESIDENT David Leal ’03, Sugar Land, Texas PRESIDENT-ELECT Alicia Burns-Wright ’08, Washington, D.C. PAST PRESIDENT David Mansouri ’07, Nashville, Tenn. ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR James Hurley BOARD MEMBERS THROUGH 6-30-26 Rushi A. Bhalani ’19, Evanston, Ill. Anna C. Stepp ’98, Centennial, Colo. Joe C. Savery ’08, Houston, Texas Jamila S. Mensah ’00, Houston, Texas Ted A. Adams ’86, Alexandria, Va. Sarika D. Tyagi ’11, Palo Alto, Calif. Carlos A. Linares-Garcia ’00, San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo León BOARD MEMBERS THROUGH 6-30-27 Wanda P. Pan ’77, ’09, Houston, Texas Norman W. Hale ’76, Friendswood, Texas Sacha B. Abinader ’05, Houston, Texas Paula M. Desel ’81, Richmond, Va. June L. Marshall ’00, Washington, D.C. Tawfik Jarjour ’12, Sugar Land, Texas John S. Sneider ’94, Houston, Texas BOARD MEMBERS THROUGH 6-30-28 Deborah Williams ’06, Houston, Texas Jun Gu ’09, Houston, Texas Bethany Andell ’01, Houston, Texas Amy M. Thompson ’95, Lafayette, Calif. Steven T. Jamail ’02, Jersey City, N.J. Christopher A. Noble ’00, Bellevue, Wash. Pretta L. VanDible Stallworth ’83, ’85, Houston, Texas Alicia Burns-Wright ’08, Washington, D.C. ALUMNI TRUSTEES Claudia G. Vassar ’99, Houston, Texas (term expires 6-30-26) Cathryn Selman ’78, Houston, Texas (term expires 6-30-27) Vinay S. Pai ’88, ’91, Los Altos Hills, Calif. (term expires 6-30-28) A. Lanham Napier ’93, San Antonio, Texas (term expires 6-30-29)
Kerim
Miskavi and his
firm design a vibrant, modern, sustainable campus on the Aegean coast.
ARE ARCHITECTS born or taught?
According to Kerim Miskavi ’14, architecture is in his DNA. As a child, some of his earliest memories involve spending time with his grandfather, an architect in Miskavi’s hometown of Mersin in southern Turkey, eagerly learning the family trade.
“He used to have this really amazing drawing table with pens and a sketch pad and the T-ruler and everything,” Miskavi recalls. As a 6-year-old, Miskavi was so fascinated by the subject that his grandfather taught him to sketch — first two-point perspectives, then three-dimensional shapes. “And I just kept going from there,” he says.
Now based in Istanbul, Miskavi is founding partner and design lead of MAS Architecture Studio, which specializes in local and international projects across the globe. “In terms of visual style, I don’t really adhere to any kind of specific aesthetic,” Miskavi says. “Whenever I start a new project, I have no idea what the outcome is going to be, but I have a process that I follow that leads us to pretty exciting outcomes.”
Miskavi’s own education included attending an American high school in Istanbul. It was an easy decision, he says, to head to Rice to pursue his Bachelor of Architecture: In addition to the opportunity to join a small group of similarly focused architecture students, Miskavi was drawn to the city of Houston itself. “I was pretty much fully immersed in the lifestyle and the culture of Houston,” he recalls.
Today, Miskavi stays connected to the Rice community by hosting architecture students at MAS for internships. “It’s really nice to have someone who is going through the same education because you develop such a common language and common culture in what you do,” he says.
firm’s founding, MAS won a national competition to design a new campus of the Izmir University of Economics, located on the Aegean coast about three hours from Istanbul. The firm is responsible for “the whole shebang,” ranging from dorms to the library to the sports complex. The award committee noted the firm’s emphasis on sustainability as well as their forwardthinking architectural approach. The buildings use natural light to brighten everything from skylit hallways to boxy blue-and-white lab spaces lined with windows. Sunny outdoor walkways are surrounded by greenery to bring nature into the urban environment.
Miskavi’s laurels continue to roll in. This year, he was invited to take part in the Biennale d’Architecture et de Paysage d’Île de France, where participants addressed the convergence of architecture and climate change.
“Architecture is considered to be a very slow profession, and anyone under the age of 40 is a young architect,” he says. As a decidedly young architect with a growing international reputation, both Miskavi and MAS are just getting started. — ALICE LEVITT
recovery of crude oil from old wells. I was one of maybe 110 new engineering students, from all over Texas and the U.S. — about equally divided amongst the mechanical, civil, electrical and chemical aspirants. We were blessed with some of the finest professors that I ever got to know — men like Claude Heaps in physics, John Trainer Smith in chemistry and Alan Chapman in thermodynamics.
But my greatest personal blessing was having an adorable, beautiful girl, Elisabeth Dreaper McGinty [Laigle] ’53 (BA), a Rice freshman co-ed, fall hopelessly in love with me on our first meeting and second dance, during the first week of school in 1949, when I was a junior. Over our 72 years together, she gradually molded me into the life mate she had always known I would become. She was the finest, wisest mentor of my life, and I lost her to Alzheimer’s in 2021.
As you who read this might suspect, we are almost all gone and I’m no longer able to contact any of us who are still alive and kicking. So, this will be our last contribution to Owlmanac.
Class Recorder: Peter Shannon 972-239-3227 newpeterb@gmail.com
Class recorder Pete Shannon (BA) writes:
The use of this space to innumerate ways to tell you’re getting really, really old continues. As our class’s age in decades rolls past seven since 1953, antiquated Owlmanac reporters like me have become so desperate for classmate news that we’ll even grab folks from other years to write about.
Case in point: The other day I spotted a guy’s hand bearing a Rice ring at our local senior center when it rose to stroke his chin — and before he could turn away, I stepped
forward and spoke up, “That sure looks like a Rice ring to me!” Poor guy. He looked at me, sighed, then grinned and nodded.
I introduced myself and quickly became new friends with Bart Huemmer ’63 (Hanszen: BA; BS, 1964), a mere child — a full decade behind us and looking like it, believe me. After a few minutes of chat, he seemed like another good candidate for an Owlmanac piece.
But conscience being too often in short supply around here, I reluctantly decided that Bart’s news properly belongs with his class and not ours. So, after I helped Bart construct some words for his classmates, we agreed they should appear a few pages hence — and thus I direct your attention to the Class of 1963.
And so … there it is. But one other thing: if any of you younger owls spot a 1953 Rice grad who is vertical or not, or wearing a Rice ring or not, grab on tight and squeeze out some news or mostly true old Rice yarns. Then either email them to me or have them email owlmanac@ rice.edu.
Frances Jacobson Rickard writes: “Elizabeth Frances Bess Jacobson (BA), 93, died at home in La Marque, TX, on April 26, 2025. Born in Ardmore, OK, on April 10, 1932, Betty grew up in Houston, graduating from Lamar High School in 1950 and from Rice in 1954. At Rice, she was a member of the Owen Wister Literary Society, participated in Rice’s first physical education program for women, was active in Canterbury and obtained her degree in English. On April 24, 1954, Betty married John W. Jacobson of Texas City. They made their home in Texas City until 1985, when John’s job with Amoco took them to Naperville, IL, where they lived until returning to Texas in 1991, settling in Richmond. An Episcopalian, Betty was active in church ministry and
volunteered with public schools as well as nonprofits devoted to feeding ministries, children and caring for those in need. Betty’s husband of 65 years preceded her in death, as did her parents and her sister. She is survived by her children, Frances Rickard (John) of Austin, Beth Rogers (William) of La Marque and John Jacobson (Dru Forrester) of Lawrence, KS; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren, with another on the way. A complete obituary is available at www.emkenlinton.com.”
Marianne P. Canter writes: “I want to notify you of my husband’s passing Nov. 1, 2024. My husband, Charles S. ‘Chuck’ Canter (BA; BS, 1957), received a BA from Rice in 1956 and a BS in 1957 in chemical engineering. He spent his career with Exxon in New York and Europe. We retired to Savannah, GA. He is survived by Marianne Payne Canter, two sons, one daughter, 13 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. Our son, Douglas Canter ’79 (Hanszen: BS; MChE, 1980), and grandson, Rowan Canter ’12 (Brown: BA), also graduated from Rice. Chuck was 90, and we were married for 69 years.”
Class Recorders: Anne Westerfield Brown brownaw57@gmail.com LaNelle Ueckert Elston elstonl@att.net Shirley Dittert Grunert sdgrunert@sbcglobal.net
Class recorders Anne Westerfield Brown (BA), LaNelle Ueckert Elston (BA) and Shirley Dittert Grunert (BA) send the following: Art Nolting (BA; BS, 1958) writes: “On Dec. 2, 2024, we observed my 90th birthday with a trip to the Rice campus. My wife, Pam, daughter Dianne Nolting
’84 (Baker: BS) and her husband, George, toured the campus starting with a nice lunch at Brockstein Pavilion. We visited the newly redesigned central campus mall [Academic Quadrangle] with space for lingering on benches and a tribute to John Kennedy’s speech sending us to the moon.
“After graduation with a BA in 1957, a BS in 1958 in mechanical engineering and spending several years with aerospace companies, I joined NASA in 1963 with initial assignments in developing rendezvous flight crew procedures and crew training man-in-theloop simulations, which are key activities enabling a ‘safe return’ as Kennedy directed in his speech. This was by far the most interesting and challenging time in my professional career.
“Rice roots run deep in our family as Dianne graduated in 1984 with a BS in electrical engineering and my granddaughter, Miriam Wolter ’20 (McMurtry: BA), graduated in 2020, majoring in history and political science with a minor in global health.
“As we pondered the fate of the statue of William Marsh Rice in a corner next to Lovett Hall, we realized the drastic changes that have occurred at Rice since I arrived in 1953, a wide-eyed freshman from Ponca City, OK. Many new buildings, new departments, a much more diverse student body over three times the size of my class and the introduction of the college system in 1957 replacing studentled ‘freshman guidance.’ Massive and welcome change has come to Rice in these 71 years.
“I retired in 2002 after a 44-year career in the aerospace industry as a dedicated NASA and contractor engineer and manager. Life since then has continued to provide numerous opportunities to continue my lifelong intellectual and spiritual interests as well as travel, leading to visiting 46 states and 20 European countries as well as Canada and Mexico. Travel
has been a wonderful growth experience by air, sea and land in Rice groups, church groups and just Pam and I as ‘world explorers.’ There are many other trips we want to take as health and time permit.
“Best wishes to all my classmates wherever they may be.”
This quarter, we also received the obituaries of four classmates:
Brian Miller sent me word of his father’s passing. Hugh Miller (BA; BS, 1958) passed away peacefully Sept. 9, 2024, in Coatesville, PA. After graduating with a degree in chemical engineering, he began a career that took him as far away as Brussels before returning to stay in Pennsylvania. He and wife Angela Jones Miller (BA) traveled the world together, skiing, hiking, golfing, hiking and cruising. They hosted an annual family reunion, faithfully attended by their four children and spouses, plus nine grandchildren (who called him ‘Elmo’). Hugh retained his gift for funny storytelling and was a noted public speaker.
Jim “Pete” Peters (BS) died Oct. 1, 2024, with his wife, Mary Beth Harris Peters ’58, at his side. His professional life was spent as a commercial real estate broker, retiring from Cushman & Wakefield as managing director. He served as chairman of the Board of the Houston Association of Realtors in 1996. He is survived by his wife, Mary Beth, son Mark and his wife, Anne, daughter Susan Swank and her husband, Chris, four grandchildren and spouses, and four great-grandchildren. “He will be remembered as a man of great integrity, a good friend, a wonderful husband and father, and an exceptional grandfather and great-grandfather.”
Pauline Applebaum Stark (BA; MA, 1960), she of beautiful voice, ready laugh and quite a sense of humor, passed away Feb. 6, 2025, in Amherst, MA. Paulina (her preferred name) was professor emeritus in the Department of Music and Dance at the University
of Massachusetts, where she was on the faculty from 1985–2005. She had an international career as a soprano in opera, oratorio and recital. She entered Rice at 16 from San Jacinto High School, graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in Romance languages. She continued at Rice, earning her MA in French literature. Her husband, Herbert Stark, predeceased her. She is survived by her sons, Philip, Jonathan and David Stark, two granddaughters and one great-granddaughter.
Due to space constraints, Betty Jane Russell Bernshausen’s (BA) obituary will be included in the next issue.
Class Recorder: Jim Greenwood 713-898-2293 jmgrnwd@aol.com
Class recorder Jim Greenwood (BA) writes:
The one response I received was from Sharon Palmer Mountford (BA), who has lived in the same house in West Hills, CA, since 1969. Her husband, Lou Mountford, has been living in a memory care facility for a few years. Her favorite Rice memory was being one of the first residents in the brand-new Jones College and helping prepare it to become the first women’s residence on campus. Her most “pivotal memory” is her biology instructor, Joseph I. Davies ’28 (BA; MA, 1929; PhD, 1937), occasionally throwing a frog across the front row of students to recapture their attention.
My fondest and most unforgettable recollection was of meeting the beautiful Rose Colleen “Cody” Caldwell (BA), who changed her last name to Greenwood when she and I married June 1, 1958, shortly after our graduation from Rice. We had multiple decades of a wonderful, happy life together,
that included one son and four daughters. Sadly, she passed away in March.
I cherish my Rice education, wear my 1958 Rice ring and my wedding ring everywhere. I attend as many home football games as I am able to and hope that in the next edition of Owlmanac I will be able to include current news and recollections of as many men and women from our class as possible. I hope to receive news from Frank Emery (BA; BS, 1959; MS, 1962; PhD, 1965) and Joan Busby Ryan (BA).
Those names should bring back a lot of memories for Rice classmates. Thanks. GO OWLS!
Class Recorder: Marilynn Revis Wait mwrice1959@gmail.com
Class recorder Marilynn Revis Wait (BA) writes: Hello, classmates. I haven’t heard any news from our class lately, so here is a small update from me.
My dear granddaughter, Madeleine Lucid ’25 (Will Rice: BA), just graduated in the Class of 2025. This is so hard for me to believe. It seems like yesterday that her mother, Dr. Rosalind Martz ’92 (Will Rice: BA), dropped her off to start her freshman year. This fall, she will go to Northeastern University in Boston to work on a master’s degree in psychology. She follows in the footsteps of her grandfather, our classmate Dr. David Martz (BA), whom some of you may remember. He went from Rice to Baylor Med and practiced psychiatry in Houston until his early death in 1986. Madeleine hopes to work as a clinical psychologist. She has some of David’s old psychology textbooks from 1958. And she is getting ready to acquire some winter clothes for her new winter climate.
Please do send me some updates whenever you can. People always tell me how much they enjoy hearing about people in the class that they remember, even if they did not know them well.
Class Recorders:
Barbie Scott McKittrick
bmck4827@comcast.net
Trudy Abel Hester
TrudyHester@alumni.rice.edu
Class recorder Barbie Scott McKittrick (Jones: BA) writes:
Mike Beldon (Baker: BA) wrote that he and his family sold Beldon Roofing Company after almost 80 years of family ownership. His son, Bradford, will continue in senior management with the new company. Mike sent a picture of a baseball cap he found while cleaning out his desk. The inscription? “Southwest Conference Champions, Rice 1957.”
In April, Florida State University sponsored the Saltiel Symposium, honoring Jack Saltiel (Wiess: BA) for 60 years of teaching, research and mentorship. Speakers included distinguished academics who had studied under him.
Mary Lacey Butler (Jones: BA) died March 26, 2025, in Clemson, SC. Edited excerpts from her obituary read: “Mary was always a proud native Texan and had many fond memories of growing up in East Texas with her older brother, Trammell ‘Cal’ Lacey ’55 (BA; BS, 1956). Perhaps her favorite memory of early childhood was riding their horses to school every day. Riding a horse to school was no longer the norm, but she and Cal did so happily, leaving the horses outside the schoolhouse to patiently graze until the end of classes.
“At Rice, Mary excelled academically and was a true leader. She served as president of Jones College and was named Phi Beta Kappa and one of the 10 outstandCONTINUED ON PAGE 69
ALUMNI BOOKS
A decade ago, physicist Larry Goeller revved up his 2010 Honda NT700VA for an awe-inspiring 18,000-mile journey from Key West to the Arctic Ocean.
IN 2015, Larry Goeller took a solo motorcycle trip from Key West to the Canadian Arctic on a quest for moments of awe — the types he had previously experienced on backpacking trips as a young adult. Goeller, a now-retired government analyst who earned his Ph.D. in physics from Rice in 1986, considered the context in which the intense, ephemeral experience was most likely to strike, concluding that the right conditions “typically include a vast investment of time and effort; a lot of solitude; novel and out-of-one’s-comfort-zone environments; and a letting go of ego.” He discovered these conditions on the road and wrote about his journey in “You Are Here: My 18,000-Mile Motorcycle Ride in Search of Awe.” We spoke to him about the joys and the perils he encountered along the way.
Describe one of your encounters with awe on the road. By the time I got to the Yukon River, I had been riding for about a week on these unpaved roads that are really treacherous. It was stunningly gorgeous, but also very stressful. There’s something about extended periods of stress that make you feel very alive and grateful to still be alive. I reached the top of a flood plain and found myself on
this bluff overlooking a valley, and I could see there was a river down there. I looked down and said, “I am standing here, looking down at the Yukon River.” I was just blown away by that. If I had flown out there and seen the same river, I wouldn’t have had that same experience.
What challenges did you face? I spent six days on the Dempster Highway, a 450-
mile stretch from Dawson City, Yukon, to the Arctic Ocean. On my way back, it rained, and it turned the road into this muck that was extremely slick. I ended up having to pull off to the side of the road about 50 miles from the halfway point in this little village called Eagle Plains. I waited 45 minutes for the first vehicle to pass, a long-haul trucker, and he stopped. He took me back to Eagle Plains, where I met another motorcyclist, and he said, “Let’s go back tomorrow and get your bike, and we’ll ride out together.” We went back and the roads were no better than they had been, but we made it. It’s not like I magically became a better rider, but the fact that we were doing it together helped.
How can people infuse more awe into their own lives? Is a cross-country road trip necessary? Absolutely not. But generally speaking, to feel awe it helps
to put in a lot of time and a lot of effort into something you think is worthwhile. Feeling awe is a gift; it’s not something you can expect; it’s not something you can schedule. If all the stars come together just right, you might be touched by the muse. Or you might not. It helps to be exhausted. You have to wear down this armor that we wear all the time to protect ourselves, so you can let the awe in.
— INTERVIEW BY JENNIFER LATSON
BY JENNIFER LATSON
Harry Adams ’04 Lexington Books, 2023
Who is to blame when children become criminals: the children themselves or their parents? Neither — or at least not entirely, Harry Adams argues in “High and Low Corruption: Children, Capabilities, and Crime.” He looks instead to political and social systems that allow corrupt public officials to flourish while neglecting to support and protect at-risk youth.
Adams, a philosophy professor at Prairie View A&M University, makes the case that good policies, including strong social safety nets and early crime prevention programs, can deter children from starting down a path to juvenile delinquency and adult criminality. But politicians aren’t likely to enact just policies, and Adams posits that “high corruption,” or white-collar crime, and the not-technically illegal shady dealings of the rich and powerful, fuel the “low corruption” of juvenile delinquents and street criminals. “Even if corrupt elites and supposed leaders of society don’t intentionally or directly harm at-risk youth, their culpable failure to protect them from needlessly arrested development can nonetheless be debilitating and permanent,” Adams writes.
Reducing Risk and Maximizing Performance
Edited by Jeffrey A. Russell ’81 Human Kinetics, 2025
Elite dancers undergo rigorous training, pushing their physical and mental limits as they compete for sought-after spots on the stage and in professional dance companies. Overuse injuries, stress fractures and chronic pain come with the territory, and many dancers expect their bodies to wear out sometime in their 20s. This doesn’t have to be the case, Jeffrey Russell writes in “Dance Injuries: Reducing Risk and Maximizing Performance.”
“Dancers are in a unique position as artists because their own bodies are their primary tools for expression. Therefore, injuries to their bodies affect both art and life. Unfortunately, sometimes the opportunity to perform overrides their instincts for self-preservation,” Russell and his colleagues write. In this textbook, Russell, an associate professor of athletic training and the director of the Science and Health in Artistic Performance Clinic at Ohio University, compiles insights from 53 dance medicine experts to help dancers perform at their best and reduce the likelihood of injuries, so they can keep dancing for the long run.
Essays by Nancy Bunting ’74, Seamus Hamill-Keays and Toby Widdicombe Walking Tree Publishers, 2024
In 1904, when J.R.R. Tolkien’s mother was 34 and dying from Type 1 diabetes — then largely untreatable — 12-year-old Tolkien was her “ceaseless companion, the silent witness” to her suffering. The experience had a profound effect on him, shaping both his life and his art, posits Nancy Bunting in “Celebrating Tolkien’s Legacy.” “The indelible experience of watching his mother deteriorate … may have fueled his fairy tale creation of the seemingly ageless, never infirm Elves,” Bunting writes.
During his lifetime, the author of “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” discouraged attempts to write his biography. Now, more than 50 years after Tolkien’s death, scholars continue to scrutinize the father of modern fantasy. Bunting and her co-authors, Seamus Hamill-Keays and Toby Widdicombe, have contributed their own analysis in the form of essays exploring Tolkien’s upbringing, family relations and home environment, and their influence on his literary creations. They also offer suggestions for the future direction of Tolkien studies, arguing that there are still gaps worth mining in our understanding of his life and work.
ing seniors. After Rice, Mary obtained an MA in French at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In Madison, she met Chalmers Butler, a PhD candidate in electrical engineering. Close friends said Mary had the difficult challenge of finding a man who was as smart as she was, or at least smart enough, to be her husband.
“In 1985, Mary, Chalmers, and their son, Hardy, moved to Clemson, SC. Mary found a new passion, gardening, landscaping, and sharing plants with her friends and neighbors. She gave countless hours of her time to volunteering at the South Carolina Botanical Garden and at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, advocating for at-risk school-age children, and seeking ways to support those who were less fortunate.”
We received news that Carolyn Midkiff Strange (Jones: BA) died in September 2024. Carolyn and husband Jim Strange ’59 (BA) were committed to education and ministry in many forms. They co-founded a Montessori school in New Jersey and later the PAGE Academy in Tampa, FL, where Jim taught at the University of South Florida. Carolyn taught at both schools and served as PAGE’s principal.
Carolyn, Jim and their children spent the 1970–71 school year in Israel when Jim received a fellowship for archaeological research in Jerusalem. It was there that Carolyn began lasting relationships in the archaeological community with Israelis and Palestinians of all faiths. She became a staff member of digs at sites in Galilee for more than 40 years. She was Mater Castrorum (“Mother of the Camps”) at the sites of Sepphoris and Shikhin in the 1990s and 2000s, being responsible for just about every aspect of the camp.
After Jim’s death, Carolyn joined the board of trustees of ASOR (now the American Society of Overseas Research). She remained to become an agent of progress and
fundraising for the organization. She served on the Development and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committees, frequently encouraging ASOR to “aim high” and to “be positive.” Guided by her passion for social justice and anti-racism, she championed and donated to many similar scholarships and educational initiatives at ASOR and at USF in Tampa.
Now a bit about the olden days. Jim Kitchell (Hanszen: BA) and his wife, Sherry Lundstrom Kitchell ’64 (Jones: BA), are now back in Montana for the summer. At the May Class of 1960 monthly breakfast, Jim told me that he was waitlisted at Rice and had already enrolled at Lafayette College when his acceptance letter arrived. When his father called with the news, Jim said he was happy at Lafayette and didn’t want to withdraw. “You already have,” his father replied. Jim hurried home, packed again and took a red-eye flight to Houston, arriving the day before classes began. He was met by his new roommate, Wallace Fowler, who helped him drag his trunk up the stairs and then showed him where to buy books. The transfer portal is nothing new! Space doesn’t permit, so ask Jim about his experiences with sophomore hazing.
For more timely news of our classmates, please send your email address to Trudy Abel Hester (Jones: BA) at tahester@gmail.com.
Class Recorder: Nancy Thornall Burch 713-781-3634 nburch2@juno.com
Class recorder Nancy Thornall Burch (Jones: BA) writes: Lila Fitzgerald Laux (Jones: BA; PhD, 1986) reported that she is still living in Denver and working at her own business, Home Factors Consulting, although she has cut back. She retired from Alion in 2020 but
hasn’t been able to completely quit working. Jim ’60 and Sherry Kitchell ’64 visited her recently.
Barry (Baker: BA; MA, 1963; PhD, 1965) and Martha Lee Barnes (Baker: BA; MA, 1965) now live in New Hampshire, moving from Texas a few years ago to be close to their children who live in New Hampshire, Connecticut and New York. They retired more than 20 years ago after working for the United Nations in Vienna, Austria. They have a condo by the Merrimack River in Manchester but go south during the winter to their place in Myrtle Beach, SC.
Pat Groves ’62 (Will Rice: BA and BS; MS, 1964; PhD, 1967) and wife Kathy celebrated 51 years of marriage and are both still doing well. They live in Menlo Park and play golf regularly and volunteer weekly at the Hiller Aviation Museum, plus attend their grandson’s sporting events. Both still fly, although they no longer work as professional pilots. He says they fly down to Palm Springs each month in their “little plastic four-seater plane.”
He and Kathy recently attended a Rice Engineering Society event at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. It featured exhibits from Silicon Valley companies, including those started by Rice graduates, among them Tandem (Jim Treybig ’63 [Baker: BA; BS, 1964]) and ROLM (Gene Richeson ’62 [Baker: BA; BS, 1963], Ken Oshman ’62 [Wiess: BA; BS, 1963], Walter Loewenstern ’58 [BA; BS, 1959], Bob Maxfield ’63 [Hanszen: BA; BS, 1964] and Burt McMurtry ’56 [BA; BS, 1957]).
Pat mentioned that when he moved to the area in 1968 after leaving active duty in the Navy, he worked for a defense contractor along with 25 other Rice engineering alumni.
Congratulations to Dr. John Wolf (Baker: BA) on being honored with the creation of the John E. Wolf, Jr., Endowed Chair in Dermatology at Baylor College of
Medicine. A former patient also endowed the John Wolf Innovation Fund, and the Wolfs themselves established the John and Brandy Wolf Lecture in Dermatology. Although he stepped down as chair of dermatology after 40 years, he remains active as a professor with special interest in medical humanities.
The always entertaining John said that was all the news he had since they have no grandchildren and their cats are dead!
Ann McNeill Goldstein (Jones: BA; PhD, 1969) moved in January to the Hallmark, a senior residence in the Galleria area. Retired from her long career at Baylor College of Medicine where she did extensive research on the impact of long-time exposure to zero gravity environment on astronauts. She remains involved in the medical community although she no longer spends time in specialized research at Cambridge University in England.
She noted that a fellow resident at the Hallmark is classmate Robert Estill (Hanszen: BA).
Harry Lawson (Wiess: BA) and wife Sue still live in their home on South Boulevard, the site of so many of our wonderful class reunion parties. Both have experienced some health issues but have recovered and continue to stay active and involved in the community.
Ken Albers (Baker: BA; PhD, 1969) brought us up to date on what he’s been doing since his Rice days. After graduation, he served in the Navy as a damage control assistant on the USS Collett, homeported in Yokosuka, Japan. They traveled from the Indian Ocean off to Siberia with a lot of time off in Vietnam.
After two years, he returned to Rice to obtain his doctorate in organic chemistry and spent 10 years as a research chemist at Eastman Chemicals, obtaining 11 U.S. patents. While there, he obtained his MBA from SMU and
then returned to Houston. After a stint in corporate planning at Gulf Oil Chemicals, in 1983 he became a financial adviser and continues to work in this role.
He and his wife, Patty, have been married for 59 years and have two married sons and two grandchildren. He says he has been blessed with good health, marred only by infrequent surgeries to repair accidental injuries. His hobbies include working out, traveling and collecting.
It was wonderful to hear from those of you who responded and continue to be active and involved in your communities. I encourage more of you to send me updates on what you are doing. As for me, I’ve been in the same home for 56 years and remain involved with Owl athletics, as you probably suspect. I also have become a supporter of the Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance at Rice, and I enjoy attending various lectures on campus.
Class Recorder: Eleanor Powers Beebe 713-526-5424 ebeebe@yahoo.com
Class recorder Eleanor Powers Beebe (Jones: BA) writes: James McCullar (Baker: BA; BArch, 1963) reports: “Like a Buddhist returning to Afghanistan to find the great Buddha statue destroyed, as an architect I returned to Houston to find the Rice quad was gone, replaced by a new design that to my eye could be found in any new campus.
“I first saw Rice with my parents from south Texas when I was interviewed in Lovett Hall that overlooked a quad of hedges and clay paths lined by Tuscan cypress trees. It was a magical experience, like a scene from ‘Chariots of Fire!’ For me, Lovett and the quad was
the most beautiful place in Houston, a place I always returned to, like the Place des Vosges in Paris or the Campidoglio in Rome.
“The quad’s central axis with minor cross axes to adjacent courtyards anchored by Lovett was the centerpiece of the Mediterraneaninspired campus plan by Cram Goodhue & Ferguson. It was a masterpiece set in the Texas prairie, a crown jewel of a new Houston.
“When the protests began, I recall the whole alumni voted 2:1 to retain the founder’s statue with an explanation, but apparently not on disposition of the quad. I had thought like St. Paul’s epiphany that transformed the early church, the founder through the individuals he entrusted and their successors had transformed Rice into the liberal university it is today, a dramatic if slower epiphany.
“I am reminded of when the Emperor Charles V was shown the addition of a cathedral in the center of the Great Mosque of Cordoba after the Spanish Reconquest, he remarked, ‘They have taken something unique in all the world and destroyed it to build something you can find in any other city.’ Perhaps after a reconciliation, the original quad can be restored in a manner that honors the historic Rice plan.”
I received information from my friend, Richard Harris, brother-inlaw of George Fisk (Hanszen: BA), that George died Dec. 10, 2024, at home in Saddlebrooke, AZ, of complications of a fall that re-broke his hip. He was 83 at the time.
Richard writes: “After Rice, George married Mary Frances Harris Fisk ’63 (Will Rice: BA), earned a PhD from UC Berkeley, held a postdoctoral position at Harvard for two years, and was on the faculty of Cornell for five years before joining Sandia Labs in Albuquerque in 1975, doing basic research on combustion. In 1984, he transferred to Sandia Labs in Livermore, CA, serving as head of the Combustion Sciences Department from 1993 until his retire-
ment in 1996 to the Tucson area. He and his wife of 61 years have a son, Harold, married to Jennifer Yucel and living in Hilliard, OH, and a daughter, Vali, also living in Saddlebrooke, both of whom survive. He is also survived by Mary Frances, his sister, Norma Jean Fisk ’65 (Jones: BA), and by his brother- and sister-in-law, Richard and Mary Harris. He was predeceased by his mother and father, Emma Ayrs Fisk and Harold Norman Fisk.
“In addition to his scientific career, George was very interested in how things worked, which led to his rehabilitating several sports cars (and trying them out, with Mary Frances, in the Autocross competition) and restoring several working models of old engines. He participated in drives with Tucson’s off-road driving community (not in a sports car). He would also point out to visitors the dozen or so varieties of agave growing in Saddlebrooke, explaining why cacti were wearing sunshades.”
At a recent gathering of Lamar High School alumni, I enjoyed visiting with Ingrid and William Brooke Hamilton (Hanszen: BA; BS, 1963) and Larry Moore (Baker: BA). The Hamiltons live in The Woodlands, and Larry and his wife, Lauris, live in Ithaca, NY. Larry is professor emeritus of history and American studies at Cornell University and has published several books, including “Selling God: American Religion in the Marketplace of Culture” (Oxford University Press, 1994).
I’m very sad to report that Dick Wright (Wiess: BA), our indefatigable Class of ’62 agent for many years, died May 19, 2025, of pneumonia, shortly before this deadline. I will include more information on Dick in my next report.
Class Recorder: Kathleen Much much.bookdr@gmail.com
Bart Huemmer (Hanszen: BA; BS, 1964) writes: “In 1959, after I graduated from Sunset High School in Dallas, my pal Robert Bluethman (Hanszen: BA; BS, 1964) and I made our way to Houston to share a Hanszen College dorm room as Rice freshmen. Because Robert and I had lettered in football at Sunset, I decided to try out for the team at Rice. Bad mistake. After one day of battering and bruises, I concluded my opportunities for fame and fortune lay elsewhere. Robert wisely chose a different course: his clarinet and the Rice music program.
“But Robert and I did team up to play handball and racquetball. We entered some student tournaments, but although we competed furiously, we only managed to have some more great times together.
“At Rice, I selected chemical engineering as my major because I believed it would be a solid preparation for the oil and gas industry, which in those days had a very promising future. However, after my fifth-year graduation in 1964, I returned to Dallas and went
into sales with my father. We were manufacturer representatives for several electrical equipment companies. My dad was a great mentor and inspiration, and I had a satisfying and lucrative career with him that carried me all the way to retirement.
“A couple of years after I finished at Rice, I married a former classmate and we had four wonderful daughters together before we split up. Later, I met my current wife, Margie, who already had a son and a daughter, so we blended our tribes to include five girls and one boy. Today, we share 11 grandchildren.
“I still keep up with Robert, and I’ve attended a few Rice Dallas alumni events. I always enjoy learning about the doings on campus, although it’s been maybe 10 years since I’ve visited.
“These days I lead a quiet life, often playing bridge with Margie at the senior center or visiting family and friends. Although I no longer drive, I have learned a great lesson about Uber, which I regularly use to visit one of my daughters: Don’t be in a hurry.”
Class Recorder: Lucy Meinhardt 510-220-3459 lmeinhar@pacbell.net
Class recorder Lucy Meinhardt (Jones: BA) writes:
A few weeks after the deadline for the previous Owlmanac in Rice Magazine, I received the following: “My name is Joel Tigett (Will Rice: BS). My roommate at Rice was Larry Phillips (Will Rice: BS). Larry passed away Jan. 27, 2025. Larry was an extremely good basketball player, being mentioned on the All-Southwest Conference team and being drafted by the Detroit Pistons of the NBA. He was also extremely intelligent. After earning his doctorate, he went on to
become the president of Angelina College in Lufkin. He retired after 25 years. Larry loved all sports and would be in the stands at many events at Angelina College.
“His wife, Thresa (that is the correct spelling), and I agreed that it was only fitting that he would have the stroke that led to his death while sitting in the stands at a basketball game. He was a good person and a very good friend. I will miss him.”
On Jan. 9, 2025, we lost another classmate, Dr. Counce Harrison Hancock (Hanszen: BA). He died in his home in Avon, CT, where he lived with his wife, Dr. Caron Pilbeam. Counce grew up in Texas. After graduating from Rice, he earned his medical degree from Southwestern Medical School in Dallas in 1969. He did his postgraduate work at West Virginia Hospital from 1969–73, including a fellowship in pediatric hematology-oncology. Wishing to give back to the town that had supported him, he returned to Pittsburg, TX, of his youth and established a private pediatric practice from 1973–79. His interest in developing new medical therapies took him to Memorial Sloan-Kettering and the New York Hospital/Cornell University Medical College. He eventually worked with companies that manufactured those medical therapies and coordinated their clinical trials globally. According to his obituary, “Counce married his high school sweetheart in January 1995, resulting in 30 happy years, shared with two Airedale Terriers — Raleigh and Maleigh. Counce loved to play the piano and listen to classical music. He was a voracious reader, usually having two books open at the same time. Like the rest of his family, he was a passionate Houston Astros fan and a competitive New York Times Spelling Bee player. Counce was a unique person, brilliant, funny, kind, compassionate, always ready to help.”
Class Recorder: Cordell Haymon cordell.haymon@pscgroup.com
Class recorder Cordell Haymon (Will Rice: BA) writes: Catherine “Trinka” Blaffer Taylor (Jones) let me know that she was recognized by her congressman with a Congressional Patriot Award. Here is the text of his presentation: “Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Ms. Catherine ‘Trinka’ Taylor of Dallas, TX, and present her with the Congressional Patriot Award. Trinka has dedicated herself to faithfully serving our community.
“A sixth-generation Texan, Trinka was born in Dallas and grew up in Houston. She attended Rice before transferring to the prestigious Cornell University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in architecture. Her passion for architecture pushed her to pursue opportunities to work in some of the biggest cities nationwide, including New York, Boston and Dallas. No matter where she lived, her dedication to upholding conservative values never wavered. For many decades, Trinka served in several leadership roles as an election judge, precinct chairman, executive committee member of Southern Methodist University, board member of the Southwestern Medical Foundation and as president of the Park Cities Republican Women.
“Trinka has continued to stay involved in our community as a member of the Texas Federation of Republican Women, Dallas County Republican Executive Committee and the Dallas County Council of Republican Women. Her passion for freedom, opportunity, patriotism and our nation’s values has pushed her to drive us forward to a better tomorrow. In her free time, Trinka enjoys fly fishing, canoeing and spending time with
her children and grandchildren. She is a devoted woman of faith and attends Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Dallas. Trinka has made a positive impact on the world around us, and I wish her continued success for many years to come.
“It is an honor to bestow Trinka with the Patriot Award for her exceptional service to the people of North Texas.”
Congressman Pat Fallon
Lynn Russell ’64 (Jones: BA) sends the following obituary for Barbara Barrow Spence (Jones: BA): “A beloved Rice friend, Barbara Barrow Spence, was born in New Orleans, LA, on Sept. 8, 1943, and died in Humble, TX, on March 21, 2025. She is survived by her husband of 59 years, George W. Spence ’62 (Will Rice: BA; BArch, 1963); her children Alan (Yvette) and Ardith (John); grandchildren Danny, Phoebe and Miranda; nieces Michelle and Sharon and their husbands; and a loving, extended family. Barbara and George met at Rice and began their life together beyond the hedges following her graduation in 1965. At work and at home, Barbara aimed for perfection. She was an accomplished and published historian, a paralegal par excellence at BakerBotts, and an active and contributing member of her church. A master cook, she embraced Julia Child’s view that one can never have too much butter or cream. Barbara was the
center of her family.
“A memorial service was held at Christ the King Episcopal Church in Humble on March 29, 2025.”
Class Recorder: Jim Bearden jbearden@ieee.org
Class recorder Jim Bearden (Will Rice: BA) writes:
My wife, Sallie Whiteside Bearden ’68 (Brown: BA), and I celebrated our “Heinz” wedding anniversary (number 57) on June 3 this year. We were talking a while ago about how, if we had both been going to a college other than Rice, especially one with a bigger student body and less on-campus activity, we might never have met as we did, since we were two years apart and had very different majors (physics and English). In fact, we were never in the same class for any course. But I got to know her through a friend of mine, a senior whom I’d known since my freshman year, who dated her in her freshman year. Not wanting to intrude on that, I waited until he left for graduate school the following year to ask her out, and that relationship turned into one that has now lasted almost 60 years.
It didn’t happen all at once, of course. When I graduated in 1966 and left to pursue a PhD in biophysics at the University of Pittsburgh, I was so uncertain about my own future that I wasn’t ready to think about a lifelong relationship. But after a lot of thinking on long walks to classes (my apartment was more than a mile from my building, and I walked there and back because oncampus parking was impossible), including some very cold ones in the winter (15 degrees below zero at times), I decided that she was “the one” for me. By spring 1967, I had sold my car, a 1962 Chevy Impala Super Sport, because it got
stolen often enough in Pittsburgh that I never got to use it anyway. I bought a motorcycle, a Honda CB-160, and decided to ride that to Houston, with my guitar strapped on the back, for a spring vacation visit with Sallie. On my long solo trip, I wrote a marriage proposal song in my head, which I hoped would convince her to marry me. It worked — she said “yes” immediately — but we knew we would have to wait until she graduated to actually get married. That happened, as mentioned above, June 3, 1968, just two days after she graduated from Rice (we had to have a wedding rehearsal on the day in between), and we left for Pittsburgh, where she got a Master of Social Work from the School of Social Work while I finished my doctorate. Since then, we’ve lived in four different states (Texas, Hawaii, California and now New York), had three children (two genetic, one adopted), and now four grandchildren, so it’s been a long and rewarding life together, and it probably would never have happened if we hadn’t been at Rice.
So, one of the reasons I’m writing this account is that I think there must be other long-lasting relationships that also started at Rice (Sallie’s parents, for example, met there and their marriage lasted for over 64 years), and I’d like to invite anyone else who has a similar story to write about that, also.
Perry Onderdonk ’68 (Brown: BA) writes: “My ex-husband, R. Keith Dennis (Will Rice: BA; PhD, 1970), passed away Dec. 12, 2024. Here’s the link to his obituary: bit. ly/keith-dennis. Burial was Jan. 14, 2025, in his hometown of Quanah, TX. Despite our divorce, Keith and I remained in touch since we had joint custody of our four children. In recent months, he reached out to many people he had known during his lifetime, as we shared memories which were sometimes blurred by aging. Often if one couldn’t recall precisely, the other could, and thus the mental photo
sharpened for everyone. He was a unique talent and will be sorely missed by many.”
Excerpted from his obituary: “R. Keith Dennis, 80, a titan in mathematics and benefactor to Cornell and the greater Ithaca, NY, community, died following a prolonged battle with metastatic prostate cancer. He was known and loved for his quirky personality and sense of humor.
“Born in Vernon, TX, to parents Johnnie Fred and Maggie Dennis, Roger Keith grew up on a rural farm in Quanah, TX, and showed a dynamic aptitude and passion for mathematics from an early age. His sister, Barbara Gayle Dennis Kolkhorst ’62 (Jones), recalls him sprawled on the floor as a preschooler, joyfully counting and writing out numbers into the thousands on the back of old wallpaper rolls. He excelled academically, graduating as valedictorian of his class in 1962. In addition to his intellectual pursuits, Keith worked on the family farm, driving tractors, managing heavy irrigation and exploring the woods — a balance that shaped his character and resilience. He was an avid reader, a curious inventor interested in electronics and air-powered vehicles, and a proud participant in the Texas Interscholastic League, where he consistently placed top three in the state for Number Sense and Slide Rule. Keith’s parents made significant sacrifices to ensure both he and his sister had the opportunity to pursue higher learning.
“Keith earned a bachelor’s and doctorate in mathematics from Rice, with his doctoral work focused on algebraic K-theory and group theory. He spent a year working with Fields Medal winner, John Milnor, at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study from 1970–71. He joined Cornell’s Department of Mathematics in 1971, became associate professor in 1976, full professor in 1981, served as the department’s chair from
1987–93 and retired as professor emeritus in 2019.
“During his tenure at Cornell, Keith prospered, mentored, lectured, theorized, published and pursued the greater reaches of intellectual ability throughout the remainder of his career, including winning the Humboldt Award in 1987, and being named an inaugural Fellow of the American Mathematical Society in 2013. His academic legacy includes 25 published papers, a graduate textbook, and an enduring influence on the fields of algebraic K-theory and group theory. Keith, a lifelong bibliophile, was a pioneer in transitioning mathematical resources to the digital era. As executive editor of Math Reviews (MR) from 1995–2001, he oversaw its shift from print to digital, and later contributed to projects with the AMS, Project Euclid and AIM, ultimately playing a pivotal role in advancing mathematical libraries, digitization and the accessibility of mathematical knowledge on a global scale.
“Keith is survived by his partner and colleague, Michelle ‘Mikki’ Klinger; his children Erick (Cristina), Robin, Lydia (Kris), and Susan (Justin); and his beloved grandchildren Emma, Richard, Lucia, Nerea, Orion and Haley. He is also survived by his sister, Barbara Gayle Kolkhorst (Harry), of Texas; her children Meason Kolkhorst (Regina) and Charissa Hawryluk (Myron); and her grandchildren Tatum Moore, Michael Hawryluk and Mandryk Hawryluk. He is also survived by his former wife, Perry Elizabeth Onderdonk, mother of his four children, to whom he was married from 1968 to 1987.”
1967
Class Recorder:
Michele Stojan Roberts P.O. Box 271611 Houston, TX 77277-1611 owlmanac@rice.edu
1968
Class Recorder: Bruce Morris blmorris46@gmail.com
1969
Class Recorder: Linda Wald Gibson lindawgibson@gmail.com
1970
Class Recorders: Ann Olsen ann.olsen@alumni.rice.edu Mike Ross 408-221-3359 mikeross2@prodigy.net
Class recorder Mike Ross (Baker: BA; MS, 1974) writes:
Classmates, please consider attending Homecoming — our 55th — Nov. 6–9. If the schedule is like last year’s, our class will be celebrated at receptions on Friday (Golden R) and Sunday (Platinum).
Lillie Ruth Frank (Brown: BA) wants classmates to know: “I am still a Rice alum, mostly alive and kicking.
“I was married for ever so long to Phil Crowley ’68 (Wiess: BA; MS, 1972). We had two children: Sarah (Princeton grad/Columbia law school), who lives in Berkeley, CA, and Martin, who lived with us. Phil and I retired from the University of Kentucky. I ended up with degrees in mathematics and a doctorate in math ed research from Warwick University in England.
“We got Rice alumni stuff sent to us together in Paris, KY, (a bit up the road from Lexington) where we lived in a very old lovely house on a farm until three years ago.
“There was a fire in our house! I woke up to noise and smoke at 2 a.m. Martin’s bedroom was upstairs. He didn’t get out. I got out more or less intact. Phil was not at home.
“I got a divorce, so I’m once again Lillie Ruth Frank. I’m currently living in Oakland, CA, not far from Sarah and her family. I admit that I am not thrilled living out here, but it has a few compensations. Like they say, you can take the girl out of Texas, but you can’t take Texas out of the girl.
“I would love to hear from old friends. My email is lrfrank7881@ gmail.com.”
Earl Rodd (Wiess: BA and MChE) sends this update: “In 2000, I retired from a 30-year career with IBM (Houston, Melbourne, Australia and others) as a programmer and systems engineer specializing in communications. I then began teaching at the Malone University in Canton, OH, until I retired in 2013.
“Lately, I’ve also returned to my lifelong passion, the Personality Assessment System. Developed in the 1950s by John Gittinger, the PAS is a sophisticated way of assessing personality which excels in understanding and predicting behavior based on a person’s intellectual strengths and weaknesses, including their development with maturation and life experiences over time.
“My uncle introduced PAS to me when I was a senior in high school, and I’ve been fascinated by it ever since. At Rice, I tested a number of Rice students and wrote a couple of PAS-related papers for psychology classes.
“Since the early 2000s, I’m the volunteer webmaster and digital archives director for the Personality Assessment System Foundation (www.pasf.org), which provides education and encouragement to those wanting to learn about and use PAS. The foundation has archived original material with University of Akron’s Cummings Center for the History of Psychology.
“Gittinger worked for the CIA when he developed PAS. Its details were never classified, although
some of its applications were. PAS’s complexity, however, was an impediment to its wider adoption and academic study. For example, Gittinger identified 512 fundamental personality profiles, compared with just 16 of the later/simpler Myers-Briggs test.
“With most of PAS’s pioneers now deceased, I see my role as archivist as preserving for future researchers and practitioners this central source for the wide range of information about PAS. I hope this amazing, although currently underused, tool is never forgotten.
“Friends and others interested in chatting with me, my email is earl@rodd.us.”
Donna Misner Collins (Jones: BA; MA, 1973; PhD, 1976) died unexpectedly Jan. 11, 2025. She entered Rice as a math major but switched to sociology and anthropology. During a Mardi Gras band trip in her junior year, she met George Collins ’72 (Baker: BA; MEE, 1973; PhD, 1977). They married in the Rice Chapel just after Donna graduated.
Donna received advanced degrees in behavioral science from Rice and taught sociology at the University of St. Thomas for 14 years while also earning a second bachelor’s in computer and information sciences from UH-Clear Lake. She then worked in the industry, where she used her diverse skills to create compassionate gas pipeline safety videos.
Donna was an adventurous lifelong learner and explorer. She visited more than 130 countries. Her travel photos won awards.
Among others, Donna is survived by her sons, Nicholas Collins ’99 (Baker: BA; MCS, 2002), Andrew and Benjamin; three grandsons; and three sisters. Her husband, George, died in 2020.
Her full obituary can be found here: bit.ly/4khAuCn.
Class Recorder: Ann Patton Greene
713-899-7433
annpgreene@gmail.com
Class recorder Ann Patton Greene (Brown: BA) writes:
The Jones/Brown group met in May in Houston and focused on priceless memories of our years at Rice with the assistance of Portia Hopkins, university historian. One participant said this time together reminded her of the girl she was back then. Classmates attending were Lucretia Knox Ahrens (Brown: BA), Mary Lewis Barone (Jones: BA), Elaine Cogswell ’78 (Brown: BA), Barbs Divine (Brown: BA), Lucy Ferguson Galbraith (Jones: BA), Ann Patton Greene, Jane Hamblen (Jones: BA), Kathy Lewis Amen (Brown: BA), Trudy Butschek Lewis (Jones: BA), Mary “Christy” Thomas (Jones: BA) and Laura Garcia Weston (Jones: BA). Robert Jahn ’72 (Lovett: BA) responded to Elaine Frank’s (Jones: BA) passing and summarized his life since Rice as follows: “Following a checkered career (trucker, building contractor, more school and 26 years as an engineer), we finally retired a few years past and fled the Bayou City for the Hill Country west of Austin. Retiring was difficult. It took me three tries, but now, FREE AT LAST! Bucket list filling since has included: designed and built our new home, multiple EU river trips and knee replacements (LOL), endless piddling around my shop. Icing on the cake is that my two sons seem to be thriving in Houston and lower Manhattan. One recently turned me into a grandpa. Cheers to all!” Mark Gross (Baker: BA) also wrote about life since graduation. Due to my word count, I’ve had to edit, but his saga is fun, so please ask me for a complete copy. His girlfriend turned down his marriage proposal, his best friend
and roommate Bill Haymes (Baker: BA) left for the Navy, and he had no place to live and no job. He parked cars at Ye Olde College Inn and then had 15 jobs in four years, spending 12 months unemployed. He then sold his car, quit his job and traveled around for six months with Bill, who was out of the Navy. They wound up in Baltimore where he met his wife (married 46 years this December). Mark got a teaching certificate from UH; worked his way from waiter to TGI Friday’s corporate office; sold personal computers and managed ComputerLand in Austin; arranged the lease financing for Michael Dell’s first automated assembly line; managed the computer help desk at Tracor Aerospace; and then took a similar job at the Texas Association of School Boards, where he retired 25 years later. As he says, he graduated from Rice into a recession but retired into a great bull market and made more money in two years in the stock market than he did all 39 years of working. Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last spring, he had a successful operation in June but still had to undergo chemotherapy. He’s in remission and is hopeful. Mark tells this so much better.
I can’t do classnotes without the loss of classmates — Jer Mardis (Jones: BA; MBPM, 1982) and Whatley Langham (Lovett). Re: Jer, I can’t honor her life as does the program for the memorial service her husband, David
Merritt (Wiess), coordinated, so please contact me if you’d like a copy. A teacher at Lee High School urged Jer to apply to Rice, where she earned a bachelor’s and a Master of Business and Public Management, thus leading to a 50-year relationship as student, alumna and faculty member. As the latter, she taught at the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing, the Program in Writing and Communication, the Wiess School of Natural Sciences and the Jones Graduate School of Business. Writing and theater were her passions; she studied painting, she traveled, she learned languages, she enjoyed wine and good food. But David was her greatest love. When Jer first met him at a Rice reunion, she casually suggested they meet up again, igniting 28 years of true love. They shared business and personal lives, a difficult combo they made look easy. David was her most ardent admirer and devoted caregiver 24/7 during her brave and difficult year of cancer treatment in 2024. Jer died Nov. 24, 2024.
James Whatley Langham Jr. was born in Houston on Aug. 7, 1949, to James Whatley Langham and Virginia Noak Langham. Whatley, as he insisted on being called at age 4, passed away on May 14, 2025, with wife Sophi and daughter Rachel present. Whatley was known to his friends, family and coworkers as a cheerful, resolute and caring person. The family requests that those who would like to honor Whatley do so by donating to an NPR station or to the World Central Kitchen.
1972
Class Recorder: Tim Thurston 614-486-4846
timthurston@hotmail.com
Class Recorder: Mike Alsup malsup2020@outlook.com
Class recorder Mike Alsup (Wiess: BA) sends the following: Kerry Kimbrough (Hanszen: BA) writes: “When people ask if I play pickleball, I say, ‘Maybe when I’m old.’ But I was having so much fun in Bend, OR, that I made an exception. I was there to hang with Hanszen buddy Dave Norton ’74 (Hanszen: BS) and former fellow Austinite Robert Anderson ’74 (Wiess: BA; BArch, 1977). Dave is finally fully retired from his engineering career that began with the birth of the Alyeska pipeline. Robert has moved on from building architect to software architect to basso profundo with the Central Oregon Mastersingers. Happily, Jane Dingus ’74 (Baker: BA) also rolled in from Portland, bringing her encyclopedic knowledge of the social networks of Holcombe House. For a moment, the Owls outnumbered the ospreys. Pictured below L–R: Robert Anderson, Dave Norton, ospreys, Kerry Kimbrough and Jane Dingus.”
Walter Buenger (Will Rice: BA; MA, 1977; PhD, 1979) writes: “I retired in August 2024 after 45 years of teaching history in large
public universities: 1979–2017 at Texas A&M in College Station and 2017–24 at the University of Texas at Austin. Along the way, I did the usual things that historians do. I wrote and edited books and articles, served a term in purgatory as a department chair, edited a scholarly journal, taught a huge number of undergraduates, helped graduate students write worthwhile dissertations and promoted history done right to the general public.
“My wife, Vickie, and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary last October and have two children, Carl ‘Davis’ Buenger ’10 (Will Rice: BA) and Erin. Erin died of cancer when she was 11, and Vickie, especially, has devoted much time and energy to advocating for those who suffer from pediatric cancer and promoting collaborative research.
“In retirement, as Vickie advised, I do more of what I like and less of what I do not like. I am writing another book, volunteering for a new organization (the Alliance for Texas History), helping Vickie end childhood cancer, traveling and playing with our grandson.”
Mike Schwartz (Will Rice: BA and MEE) writes: “My wife and my cardiologist had both been trying (for years) to convince me to have something done about a leaky valve (mitral valve) in my heart. But I kept waiting, partly because I was having zero symptoms. Well, this
year I started having some symptoms related to AFib. AFib stands for atrial fibrillation, which can be linked to a higher risk of stroke and can be very serious or fatal.
“They scheduled me for a heart operation on March 10, 2025. I think it was open-heart surgery and was surprised to find that my scar (near my heart) is only about 6 to 7 inches long. On the other hand, a broken bone takes longer to heal than a flesh wound, and they had to break a bone, the sternum, which is near the heart, between the ribs. I started ‘cardiac rehab’ last week, and it is supposed to continue for 12 weeks. They do not stress my heart ‘too much’ ... just the right amount.”
Dr. Jim Touchstone (Sid Rich: BA) writes: “I marked my 73rd year by scuba diving in Fiji, where the ocean still looks relatively healthy despite foreboding changes. And I just attended my first Coachella, seeing Lady Gaga and my favorite EDM artist, Ben Bohmer. I will be helping with the last AIDS Lifecycle from San Francisco to LA, 545 miles on your bicycle to raise money and awareness of HIV. Although I am no longer able to ride the route, I can still contribute in meaningful ways. Mostly cooking and traveling these days but also a lot of nesting in my San Francisco ‘perch.’ San Francisco is a great place to be retired because I have access to so much so easily. I really understand gratitude at this
point in my life since I know how lucky I am to still be here and have reasonably good health, at least for now. I only wish my senior years are not going to be marred by the disarray in our leadership.”
Class Recorder: Cathy Cashion cathy.cashion@gmail.com
Class recorder Cathy Cashion (Brown: BA) writes:
Our classmate Malcolm Waddell (Sid Rich: BA) died May 11, 2025, after a two-year battle with cancer. He is survived by his spouse Dr. Suzanne Bruce ’77 (Hanszen: BA). Dr. Doug Appling (Hanszen: BA) sent this tribute: “Malcolm had lots of friends, and I was fortunate to be one of them. When working together on a project as undergraduates, I would tell him I was worried, but he did not have that word in his vocabulary. As I was with him in this last year, I saw him face the certainty of his own mortality with faith and courage. Malcolm, I am glad you befriended me and taught me such a powerful lesson.”
Dr. Milton Shaw (Lovett: BA) remembered: “When I first met Malcolm in 1970, I had no idea of the lasting friendship that was to come or of the lasting impression he would make on my life. He was and remained full of the joy of life, and was always a beacon of positivity, no matter the circumstances. We bonded over music and music trivia, then later over travel and other things. I will miss him, as will his family and friends, but his memory will be etched in my soul forever.”
Lee Silverthorn (Hanszen: BA) wrote: “Malcolm was a lifelong friend. At Rice, we skied together, double-dated together and traveled together. A music savant, he easily quoted year, artist, label and recording studio. Eternal optimist, dedicated family man and social Dr. Jim Touchstone
advocate: all characterize his life. The last few years, we continued to explore the world together with our wives. Malcolm’s parting words to me were that he accepted his fate without sadness, knowing that it is much harder for those he leaves behind. So true.”
Dr. Bill Bell (Hanszen: BA) added: “Malcolm is a best friend of mine, and there is no love higher than friendship. Malcolm became beloved by befriending others. At Rice, Malcolm was like an island of extroversion in an ocean of introverts. It was his laugh that first attracted me and a shared love of music that sealed the deal. As the friendship grew, I learned Malcolm’s other attributes: courage, integrity, faithfulness, kindness, creativity, etc. Of course, he was very smart. After all, he went to Rice. I look forward to buddying up to him in the great by-and-by.”
Stephen Moskowitz (Will Rice: BA; BArch, 1976) writes: “I am very sad to report that Father Michael Garcia (Will Rice: BA) passed away unexpectedly Jan. 29, 2025. Two years after graduating from Rice, he entered the Dominic Order in Dubuque, IA, and earned a Master of Theology in 1981 and a Master of Divinity in 1982. He spent the entirety of his priestly ministry in the Chicago area working with youth, as well as working as a social worker in his community in later years. He was especially known for his empathetic pastoral work and kindness.”
Brenda James (Brown: BA) writes: “Hello, fellow 1974 classmates. Here’s a quick note from me after so many years. I worked at Prudential in Houston after graduation until I quit to take a job at the IRS. I was chosen to work at the American Embassy in Bonn, Germany, to help taxpayers who were still required to file tax returns. What a great six-month experience that was. I also got to visit Belgium, Paris and Switzerland.
“After returning to the U.S., I got a position at IRS headquarters
in Washington, D.C. This gave me the opportunity to visit states along the East Coast. I retired in 2007 and ultimately moved back to Crowley, TX, outside Fort Worth. I still visit Houston and Rice for special events and reunions. I recently attended the Rice event for the Rice Laureate Awards where my friend Jan West ’73 (Brown: BA) was one of the honorees. It’s great to see former roommates and friends whenever I get back to my second home.
“The campus has changed so much but I always enjoy visiting there. If I lived in Houston, I would be at Rice all the time.”
Class Recorders:
Sharon Readhimer Kimball 703-965-3360
sharonrkimball@gmail.com Tom Gehring 619-206-8282 tom@tsgehring.net
Class recorders Sharon Readhimer Kimball (Jones: BA) and Tom Gehring (Hanszen: BS; MEE, 1976) send the following:
Susan Perry Alexander (Hanszen: BA) writes: “After Rice, I spent three years at Columbia working on my doctorate in comparative literature. In 1978, I married Ken Alexander (Sid Rich: BA) after he finished law school and we relocated to Houston. I finished my degree and taught for a few years at universities in Houston but was surprised at how much more I enjoyed raising our three sons and supporting their activities. Now that they’re grown, I pursue my interests in photography, adventure travel and golf.”
Teveia Barnes (Baker: BA) writes: “After graduation, I attended NYU School of Law and practiced in law firms in New York and California and as associate general counsel at Bank of America. In 2012, I left the private sector to lead,
first, the California Department of Financial Institutions and then the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank. I retired in 2018. I’m finding joy in friends and family, especially my husband of 50 years, Alan, and our two children, Aaron Sankin ’06 (Martel: BA) and Zachary (CU Boulder, 2011). This year, I’ll be walking Aaron’s best friend, Brendan, down the aisle as his honorary mother; officiating the wedding of my nephew, David, to his fiancé, Amanda; and walking Aaron down the aisle when he marries his fiancé, Kelly, in December.”
Danny Carroll (Will Rice: BA) writes: “After graduation, I played a season of basketball with Athletes in Action. I attended Dallas Theological Seminary from 1976–80, majoring in Old Testament. After a year in Costa Rica, I taught at a seminary in Guatemala City and then moved with my family to the University of Sheffield in the U.K. for my doctorate. While there, I played basketball again. We won the national championship, and I was named All-U.K. In 1996, we returned to the U.S., where I taught at the Denver Seminary until 2016. I have held an endowed chair in Old Testament at Wheaton College since 2016 and will retire as an emeritus professor next year. I have authored seven books on Old Testament studies and Latin American and Latino/a matters and co-edited 12 others. I have been married to
Joan for 48 years; we have two adult sons and five grandchildren.”
Alessandro Faraggiana (Hanszen: BA) writes: “I attended Rice’s School of Architecture from 1972–75 as an international student. I went on a preceptorship program in Milan and obtained a degree in architecture. In 1977, I was called into the Italian Army and served along the border with Yugoslavia. In 1979, I obtained another degree in architecture at Iuav University of Venice and started practicing in Italy. In 1985, I became the city architect in Turin, where I was responsible for mobility, related infrastructures and special events, such as the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. In that position, I traveled extensively, following international programs and projects coordinated by the European Union. I retired in 2015 and am now living in the Ligurian Riviera, where my family roots lie.”
Cecil Fong (Will Rice: BA; MChE, 1976) and his wife, Betty, are happily retired in Houston and make frequent trips to the Bay Area to visit their two sons and families, including a grandson (age 2) and a granddaughter (age 6 months). They love cruising and have visited Asia, Europe, Alaska, Panama Canal and the Caribbean.
Mark Williams (Lovett: BS; MEE, 1976) writes: “For the next four decades following my time at Rice, I worked at six startups in Cal-
ifornia’s Silicon Valley and the D.C. area, retiring in 2015. Beyond work, I thrived in my hobby of stage rally. For 25 years, I was one of the most sought-after co-drivers in North America. I wrote ‘A Guide to Rally Co-Driving in North America’ to share the tips and lessons I learned. Since retiring from competition in 2008, I’ve remained active in rally organization. I married Donna two years after leaving Rice. We’ve been married 48 years and have two grown daughters.”
Bruce (Hanszen: BA; MA, 1978; PhD, 1981) and Katherine “Kitty” Curlee Darlow (Brown: BA) write: “We just celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. We are retired and have lived in the Houston area since starting at Rice, except for two years in Saudi Arabia. We have two daughters, one in Michigan with our two granddaughters, and one in Austin.”
Thomas David Hayes (Will Rice: BA) writes: “My career in forest and landscape ecology after Rice includes a master’s (Yale), a doctorate (UC-Berkeley), a postdoc (UW-Madison) and several university teaching and research positions. For the last 14 years, I’ve been the executive director and senior scientist for Texas Conservation Science. My wife, Hanh Duong, and I have two kids in college, Amy (piano and child psychology) and
Jeff (pre-med). Hanh is the chefowner of Hanh’s Homemade, serving Mekong Delta cuisine in south Austin. Very much looking forward to catching up with old friends at our 1975 class reunion! Cell: 512439-9597, Tom@TCScience.org, P.O. Box 150894, Austin, TX 78715-0894.”
Tom Hayes with wife Hanh Duong
Randall Isenberg (Hanszen: BA) writes: “After SMU Law School, I worked for the Dallas District Attorney’s Office, served as a Dallas County judge and state district judge, then retired from the bench and opened a law firm in Dallas. My wife, Lori, and I have two daughters, graduates of Harvard/ Harvard Law School and Penn/ Georgetown Medical School.”
Class Recorder: Michael Hindman
615-370-3252 (office) 615-373-1450 (fax) mhindman@hmharchitects.com www.facebook.com/ groups/349670321737395
Class recorder Michael Hindman (Lovett: BA) sends the following: Dr. Ali Choucair (Hanszen: BA) writes: “I sold my house in Austin in summer 2022 and left for over two years on overseas charity care. I was in Lebanon until August 2024 when our State Department asked that all U.S. citizens leave due to the war between Israel and Hezbollah. I was sad to leave; these two years were the pinnacle of my 37-year career. I had planned on doing this many years ago to be the end of my practice journey as a physician. I was able to teach neurology and neuro-oncology to students and residents. I also volunteered for a weekly charity clinic. Additionally, I was seeing patients in my apartment as well as doing phone consultations.
“The work never seemed to stop as the need was great. It was all on a volunteer basis. Gratefully, I was able to use my own money to support myself. It was expensive but no money could buy such an experience. I am now back living close to my three children and
the three grands. I’m looking to do more volunteer work, but this will be nonmedical. I was told that to do charity medical work in the USA I must purchase malpractice insurance.”
My wife, Suzan McCorkle Hindman ’77 (Jones: BA), and I continue to live and work in Brentwood in Nashville, TN. Life is good. We like to travel, last fall in Egypt and this fall in eastern Europe, with mission trips to Jamaica and Rwanda in between.
Our true joy is our daughters and grandkids. Michele Hindman Emrath is an executive producer for TV news at NY1. She and her family split their time between New York City and Raleigh, NC.
Daughter Melissa Hindman ’05 (Lovett: BA) is a federal prosecutor in Denver, CO, where her free time is spent kayaking, hiking or skiing. Reminder to the Class of 1976, be sure and join our Facebook group “Rice University Class of 1976.”
Class Recorder: Connie Dressner Tuthill connie.tuthill@gmail.com
Class recorder Connie Dressner Tuthill (Baker: BA; MAcc, 1978) sends the following:
Tom Lewis (Lovett: BA) writes: “One of my recent joys has been to give back to my beloved Lovett
College by offering summer scholarships to current Lovett students, inviting them to join us on one of our biannual charity mission trips to Sierra Leone, West Africa. Cathy (my sweet-love ophthalmologist) and I have been missioning in Africa since 1988, and in 2005 we established a fulltime medical-surgical eye clinic in the remote village of Serabu, Sierra Leone. To date, three Lovett students have joined us, including Siddhant Patil ’25 (Lovett: BA), Celeste Wang ’24 (Lovett: BA) and Anish Attarde ’25 (Lovett: BA and BS). Our amazing Lovett apprentices have been spectacular, eagerly immersing themselves in a foreign culture, living and working among some of the poorest people in the world. They assist in sight-saving clinic activities and participate in numerous community development programs to feed, educate, clothe and joyfully nurture our needy neighbors. They humble themselves and embrace the Ministry of Being Present, which through the years, has touched millions of lives. I am so proud of our young Lovetteers (see Serabu.com).
“Our mission work continues thanks to our dedicated volunteer network, but for Cathy and me, this summer will be very dif -
ferent. We are preparing to say goodbye. My soulmate, my lover, my beautiful Cathy, will soon die from glioblastoma (brain cancer). Our 48-year adventure began on our first date, one week before my best friend, Tom Ritter (Lovett: BA), and I graduated from Rice. Blessed with a deep, exceptional, passionate and unconditional love, our spirit-led path has included adopting eight abandoned and abused children as well as pioneering a multitude of African mission campaigns. I cannot imagine my world without her, even while morphine injections and catheter insertions have become part of our expanded intimacy. Cathy continues to inspire all who know her, offering up all her painful suffering as a prayer-gift for the benefit of our family and friends, so that they may grow closer to Jesus Christ. For my part, my emotions are shifting away from wanting her to stay to wanting her not to suffer. We pray only to know and love God’s will and by His grace, help each other get to Heaven.
“Hopefully, I will see you at our 50-year anniversary homecoming in 2027. In the meantime, I offer you Cathy’s gift of love and my wish for peace.”
Class Recorder: Chris Lahart clahart@earthlink.net
Class recorder Chris Lahart (Lovett: BA) sends the following: Faith Stovall James (Jones: BA) writes: “Greetings from the Maldives!
“I’m writing from the Maldives, one of many bucket list trips since my days at Rice. I became a lawyer (UT Class of ’81) and worked for the Texas Attorney General, the SEC in Washington, large Dallas law firms and several Fortune 100 companies until I retired from Microsoft in early 2022. In 2021, I started Faith James Coaching, LLC, an executive coaching firm that allows me to help executives and young professionals close the gap between the life they have and the one they want. I love it, and I’m fortunate to be able to do it on my own schedule! I earned my coaching certification through the Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice and my credentials from the International Coaching Federation, two stellar organizations in the field.
“I have a wonderfully witty daughter, Evan, and a caring son-in-law, Barry, both psychotherapists in the LA area. In July 2021, they gifted me with the cutest, feistiest granddaughter you could ever imagine — little Maya. You only think you know love until you have a grandchild (just call me Chou Chou, pronounced ‘shoo shoo’). I spend time traveling from Dallas to LA for visits, and the rest is spent coaching, relaxing, genealogy sleuthing and exploring the world. It’s been a pretty charmed life so far: I’ve run a marathon, watched a president take the oath of office, attended the Rio Olympics and journeyed back to Gundershoffen, France, where I traced our ancestors back to the 1600s. Not to mention having traveled to about 20 countries
so far. All in all, this stage of life is amazing!”
Mike MacDonald (Baker: BS) writes: “About five or six years ago, I became fascinated with ‘quantum entanglement,’ the phenomena that claims faster than light influences as its only possible explanation. Many calculations later and it dawns on me that entangled photons are merely synchronized light waves. Which means, of course, there’s no such thing as instantaneous action or faster than light signals or spooky action at a distance. As a bonus, this unifies classical and quantum physics since it’s a mechanical solution to a quantum problem. How cool is that?
“The observed ‘Bell test’ probability results are Pc( ) = cos2( ) and Pc( ) = (½) cos2( ) + (½) (½). The first is for entangled photons and the second is local realism from Malus’ Law. The second, being a probability, is clearly saying that half the time we have photons that are identical to entangled photons, and the other half of the time we have a coin flip. Two random waves oscillating in the same plane have four equally probable pairings, two being synchronized and the other two 180° out of synch. Hence the half and half and entangled = synchronized. A wave has to start waving on one side or the other of neutral.
“I didn’t know what to do with
this knowledge since I don’t know anyone in the field, so I began making videos and posting them to YouTube. ‘Einstein was right. There ARE local hidden variables’ is epistemologically thorough. ‘Fixing Quantum Mechanics with Algebra and a Spreadsheet’ is a quicker view. I’m working on others for easier understanding and demystifying quantum mechanics.
“I know a lot of smart people went to Rice, so I thought some might be interested as this is a significant departure from the current thinking. We should embrace, not renounce, local realism.
“This is how I’ve been occupying my time recently.”
Class Recorder: Terrell Benold tbenold@ricealumni.net
Class Recorder: Kathy Behrens 909-307-1228 310-871-3791 kathybehrens@verizon.net
Class Recorder: Gloria Meckel Tarpley 214-763-0008 gloriameckeltarpley@ricealumni.net
Class recorder Gloria Meckel Tarpley (Brown: BA) writes: I was delighted to hear from a classmate out of the blue (the rest of you, follow his lead, please!) and what he sent follows here: Mike Mason (Wiess: BS) writes: “It’s been many years since I wrote in an update — actually I’m not sure if I ever have, though I maintain friendships with a number of old Rice friends.
“I married my high school sweet-
heart my senior year at Rice. We have been married 44 years, have five brilliant kids and 10 beautiful grandkids. Life is very, very good.
“My career has been primarily in the aerospace industry. I spent 12 years as an aerospace engineer with Boeing in Seattle and Lockheed in Silicon Valley. At some point I realized that I was a much better leader and manager than engineer, so I went back to school and got an MBA in corporate finance from UT Austin. I worked my way up the ranks at American Airlines, then left for more entrepreneurial ventures. Over the past 15 years, I have been chief financial officer of three aerospace companies; I am currently CFO of Howell Aerospace and Defense in Fort Worth. We are a rapidly growing company specializing in glass cockpit avionics modernizations for both fixed wing and rotor-wing aircraft. Our customers include all branches of the U.S. Defense Department, as well as numerous airlines and foreign militaries.
“I remember my time at Rice very fondly and very proudly. I hope you are all happy and well and would love to hear from any of you. I am at Mikecmason@gmail.com.”
1982
Class Recorder:
Susan Stone Woodard 270-303-1173 suz.woodard514@gmail.com
Class recorder Susan Stone Woodard (Baker: BA) writes: I’m enjoying retired life at Kentucky Lake in west Tennessee. Widowed two years ago, I’m continuing to adjust after 34 years of marriage to Rex. I’m still an avid sports fan, following NFL, NHL and MLB, especially invested in the Titans. Being Nana to Dane and now Tori brings me much joy. In May, my son, George, and family welcomed their baby daughter, Victoria Stone Woodard, in Lexington, KY. Meanwhile in Nashville, my daughter, Allie, works in retail as well as in security for music venues and festivals.
Victoria
Class Recorder: Jennifer S. Sickler 713-665-7469 j.sickler@hotmail.com
1984
Class Recorder: Gretchen Martinez Penny gretchen.penny@gmail.com
Julie Allen writes: “ Doug H. Allen (Hanszen: BA), who graduated in May 1984, has died. His Hanszen College ‘Room 252’ roommates Henry Bourne (Hanszen: BA), John “Jack” Rubarth (Hanszen: BS) and Bob Gardner (Hanszen: BS) made the trek to south Alabama for the funeral.”
Blake Whittington (Sid Rich: BS; MEE, 1987) and Garrett Biehle ’85 (Lovett: BA) lost their home in Altadena, CA, in the Eaton Fire. “We and our kids escaped with our lives, laptops and extra underwear. The rest became ashes soon to be swept away. We have landed in a townhouse in nearby Temple City while we rebuild. We are managing as well as possible.”
Class Recorder: David Phillips
202-374-4787 (cell) 929-432-4453 (office) bigolpoofter@alumni.rice.edu david@agilelama.com
The State Bar of Texas awarded Crain Brogdon, LLP partner, Quentin Brogdon (Lovett: BA), the 2025 Gene Cavin Award for Excellence in Continuing Legal Education. The award is the highest honor given by the State Bar for lifetime contributions to continuing legal education for lawyers.
Class Recorder: Greg Marshall 713-666-RICE (home) 713-348-6782 (office) gm@rice.edu
Class recorder Greg Marshall (Baker: BA) sends the following:
Larry Lesser (Hanszen: BA) writes: “My 21st year in El Paso as a UTEP professor culminated with being elected a fellow of the
American Statistical Association.
“Other recent meaningful moments include my son, Judah (who also works in a STEM field), marrying in 2024, and my mom establishing a Rice undergraduate scholarship named for my late father, Herbert A. Lesser ’59 (BA; BS, 1960).
“More Lesser at LarryLesser. com.”
Chris Kohnhorst (Sid Rich: BA) writes: “I turned 60 in May 2024 and to celebrate that birthday, I took my family on an Alaskan cruise in July 2024. This was just after my daughter-in-law, Rachael Hunt, joined Edward Jones as a financial adviser in my branch office located in Spring, TX. My daughter, Rachel Kohnhorst, and Rachael Hunt were married in Dallas in October 2023. The two girls joined me on a bucket list excursion where we caught many fish, including my king salmon.
“Carolyn and I still live in The Woodlands — we are now going on 18 years since our move back to Texas from Denver. I have been at Edward Jones for almost 15 years. Carolyn and I feel very blessed to have our three girls living within 45 minutes and try to see them as much as possible. Robin Kohnhorst, our younger daughter, is working as a pediatric dietician at Texas Children’s Hospital in the Medical Center. In January 2025, we all got together at a Rice women’s basketball game with
Janice Rudd ’87 (Brown: BA). Carolyn and I also had the pleasure of hosting Janice at our house just prior to her departure for her trip to India and Asia recently.”
Chris continues: “Several former Rice Naval ROTC students who were commissioned in either the Navy or the Marines in the late 1980s/early 1990s met in mid-May for a weekend event arranged and hosted by retired Marine officer Nick Slavik ’88 (Sid Rich: BS).
Joining Nick at his home on the Naval Station Norfolk were retired Marine officer Robert Lain ’85 (Sid Rich: BA), former Navy surface warfare officer Chris Kohnhorst, former Marine officer Tom Jagiella ’88 (Will Rice: BA), retired Navy submarine officer Drew St. John ’91 (Will Rice: BA) and former Marine officer Philip Schwarz ’91 (Lovett: BA). Other NROTC alums from that time were invited but couldn’t attend due to personal or work conflicts.
“We had a great evening Friday night catching up after several of us dined on seafood at a local restaurant. Later that night, we were joined at Nick’s home by three active-duty admirals who are neighbors (but unfortunately, didn’t have the distinction of graduating from Rice).
“On Saturday, we cruised around Norfolk Harbor and got a great view of the Navy ships home-ported or in the shipyard there. We saw aircraft carriers, cruisers and destroyers in addition to supply ships. After we ate some fried alligator at the Bayou Festival, we toured the USS Wisconsin (BB 64) with its 16-inch guns — it is now a museum permanently moored in Norfolk. We finished off the day with a great cookout and more time to catch up on our recollections from our time in the service and our lives.
“We hope to make this weekend a more frequent event and wish to include even more NROTC alumni at future events, potentially held in different locations and possibly with spouses. We have standing
offers from hosts in Hawaii, among other sites. Chris Kohnhorst, who lives in The Woodlands, encourages any NROTC alums from that era who are planning to attend Rice Homecoming in November 2025 to contact him at chriskohnhorst@ yahoo.com to get together that weekend and to learn about future events with this group.”
Class Recorder: Syd Polk sydpolk@alumni.rice.edu
Class recorder Syd Polk (Hanszen: BA) writes:
Hello. I am Syd Polk, and I am proud to be the new class recorder and am looking forward to your updates.
After a long career in all aspects software in Silicon Valley and Austin, I returned to being a software developer at Indeed in 2016. It’s a fantastic job, and I have learned more in the last few years at Indeed than any period since I left Rice. I also continue playing saxophone, clarinet and flute around Austin.
I married Jade Camille York Burns ’86 (Will Rice: BA) in 2002. We moved to Austin in 2006 to raise our two lovely children, one of whom is finishing her freshman year at UT Arlington, and the other just graduated and will be going
to Mass College of Art and Design this fall. We don’t know exactly what our long-term empty-nest plan is, but we do know we need to be in Bowling Green, KY, for a few years to take care of Jade’s nonagenarian mother, and her estate and assets. Jade will be moving there this summer; I will be moving there next summer or fall.
So, if you are in Austin, I will be around for a while longer. Feel free to get in touch!
Class Recorder: Sonu Thukral Keneally 713-432-7668 sonuk@alumni.rice.edu
1989
Class Recorder: Sten L. Gustafson 281-701-4234 stengustafson@icloud.com
1990
Class Recorder: Gilbert Saldivar 832-341-0694 saldivar@alumni.rice.edu facebook.com/ groups/294713521722
Class recorder Gil Saldivar (Sid Rich: BA) writes:
Thanks again for arriving at this space to stroll through your classmates’ lives. Please consider letting us share some part of your journey, having emerged victorious from the crucibles of our undergraduate experiences.
Let’s applaud Katie Fleming Carmona (Baker: BA), who writes: “I am still living in Austin with my husband, Paul, and youngest child, Josh, who just graduated from Westlake High School and will be attending Rice in the fall. Needless to say, you likely will be able to find me at every reunion event for the next four years.
“Our eldest, Kate, graduated from Auburn University with an international business degree and is working and living in Austin. We are happy she owns her own home and lives in the same city.
“Our middle child, Caleb Dukes ’22 (Lovett: BA), just earned his Master of Fine Arts in playwrighting from Pace University in New York and has no intention of leaving anytime soon.
“I retired from the federal government in 2023 when the judge I was working for retired from the bench. After leaving the court, I joined the litigation section at Jackson Walker LLP, where I work on almost anything in federal court.
“Paul and I are still running and singing. In April, Paul completed the Boston Marathon for the 15th time, and I completed my sixth world major in Tokyo last year. We are still recording music for the Bar & Grill Singers, although Paul does most of the work, including the writing, arranging and editing.
“I just discovered that David French mentioned the Singers’ song ‘Appointed Forever’ in an opinion article published in The New York Times on June 1, so at least one person is listening to our music.
“I hope everyone from the Class of 1990 is well, and I especially hope to see many of you at our
35th reunion this fall.”
Beyond a wonderful lunch at the House of Pies on Kirby with Joe Carl White ’89 (Sid Rich: BA), Chris Godinich (Sid Rich: BA) and Myra Rucker ’91 (Sid Rich: BA), I also ask you to share my joy in celebrating my oldest child Khalil’s graduation in May 2025 with a degree in visual communication from Luther College, where he maintained a contributing role in one of the nation’s most decorated division-III wrestling programs. His little sister, Mia, is on track to graduate in May 2026 from Mount Holyoke with a degree in anthropology with a concentration in Chinese culture; she is participating in a paid summer internship at the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan.
Please consider contributing to the next issue!
Class Recorder: Phil Miller
612-385-5891
phil_miller_98@yahoo.com
Class recorder Phil Miller (Baker: BA) sends the following:
Jim “Bud” Weisser (Sid Rich: BS) writes: “I’ve spent more than 30 years in Tokyo after coming here for a brief ‘break from chemical engineering’ after Rice, and am working on my fifth tech startup, SignTime, after leaving Cisco Japan in 2019. My elder daughter, Aya, has spent the past year in the greater Boston area living with Byron ’92 (Sid Rich: BA; BS, 1993) and Molly Neff Elliott ’92 (Sid Rich: BA) and attending public school — a big change from the Japanese school she had attended previously. She will be going to Northfield Mount Herman in Massachusetts in the fall, so she will unfortunately have to miss the Texas summers that I enjoyed growing up. My younger daughter Rei is 11, heading into sixth grade and living with me full time.
“I also had the opportunity to visit with Michael Burkart ’94 (Sid Rich: BA) when he visited Tokyo earlier in the year for a conference. Mike is the chair of the UC San Diego chemistry department and is also involved with several startups.
“I’d encourage all my friends who might be ‘in the area’ to drop me a note in the event they find themselves in Tokyo!”
Tiffani Cook Greene (Baker: BA) writes: “After graduating from Rice, I went on to get a PhD in cell biology. I worked at a biotech company in Philly for seven years, then took 14 years off to raise my kids and dogs. My daughter is now attending RIT and my son is in high school. I started a new career last year ... I just completed my first year as a biomedical sciences teacher at a VoTech/STEM high school in New Jersey. Challenging but fun.
“Hoping my son will apply to Rice!”
Brian “Binkley” Oxley (Baker: BA) writes: “At Rice, I was a music major with a side of physics. Married twice: first wife Hanszen study abroad from Russia, second (separated) a published poet; steam tunnel spelunker, bridge team captain at nationals, Owlcon, Club ’13.
“Post Rice: Texas on/off — Boston, Philippines, Singapore and back. Consultant in IT after stints in investment banking and software startups. Working on a book. Two great sons, one in Ireland, one with a new PhD in chemistry.”
1992
Class Recorder: Alison Cohen 909-213-7789 (cell) ERISAgirl44@yahoo.com
1993
Class Recorder: Jamie Nelson 646-505-9990 jnelson0612@hotmail.com
1994
Class Recorder: Tom Harris 205-721-3713 wthmd@yahoo.com
1995
Class Recorder: Francisco Morales texasliberal@hotmail.com
1996
Class Recorder: Brooke Johnson Borden 919-455-1057 borden.brooke@gmail.com
Class recorder Brooke Johnson Borden (Wiess: BA; BArch, 1998) sends the following:
Dr. Pam Carlson Theriot (Sid Rich: BA) writes: “As a proud Rice alumna and an optometrist specializing in dry eye disease, I had the honor of taking the TEDx stage to speak on a growing concern in our modern world: digital eye strain and how to preserve your vision in our screen-filled lives. The Ted Talk title is, ‘Seeing Clearly in a Screen-Filled World: Three Tips to Preserve Vision.’ The talk combines science, clinical experience and personal insight.”
Joe Bourland ’64 (Will Rice: BA; BS, 1966). Her grandfather, F. Barry Dunning, is proudly in his 54th year as faculty at Rice. Rice has given us all a strong foundation for life, and we are excited to see where Michelle’s path takes her next!”
1997
Class Recorder: Sara Chiu drsarachiu@gmail.com facebook.com/RiceUniversity1997
Class Recorders: Ria Papageorgiou Stella Hines ricegrad98@gmail.com
Class recorders Ria Papageorgiou (Lovett: BA) and Stella Hines (Baker: BA) send the following: Dr. Sarah Dunning Bourland (Brown: BA) writes: “Proud to have another owl in the family! Michelle Bourland ’25 (Lovett: BA) graduated this year, joining her owl parents, Steve Bourland ’94 (Brown: BA; BS, 1995) and Sarah Bourland; uncle, Mark Dunning ’00 (Jones: BA); aunt, Stacey Bourland ’92 (Hanszen: BA); and grandfather,
Class Recorder: Stephanie L. Taylor 415-350-0467 whereisstephanietaylor@gmail.com
What are the chances that two Rice alums would both end up being high school teachers at the same California school? Angi Chau (Will Rice: BS) and Mark Hurwitz ’82 (Wiess: BA) have been working together as colleagues teaching teens at The Nueva School in San Mateo, CA, for the last few years. Mark is part of the founding faculty of Nueva’s high school and has been teaching physics there for the last 12 years. Angi joined seven years ago as the director
of Innovation Labs and teaches engineering and coding. Nueva is nationally recognized as a school for gifted learners. Every year, both end up sharing Rice stories with the current class of seniors as they consider Rice as a college option.”
Class Recorder: Felisa Vergara Reynolds felisavr@gmail.com
Class recorder Felisa Vergara Reynolds (Will Rice: BA; MA, 2002) writes:
Greetings from London, where I sit sipping a cocktail and working on this note. Jay Reynolds (Lovett: BA) and I are still in Urbana, IL, and
we recently celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary (GASP). Our daughter, Lourdes, just completed her junior year at Urbana High School and our son, Santiago, just finished kindergarten.
We also have exciting news from Rod (Hanszen: BA) and Katie Hollingsworth Ganske (Baker: BA) in this note.
Lastly, as hard as it may be to believe, our 25th college reunion is this year! Please join us in Houston to catch up with friends and classmates, and for many exciting events. Our 25th reunion will take place on Nov. 6–9, during Alumni Weekend. We hope to see you all!
Rod and Katie Ganske are proud to share that their daughter, Lela, graduated from North Atlanta High School in May. She will be attending Washington & Lee University as a Johnson Scholar. The Johnson Scholarship is awarded to students based on academic achievement, demonstrated leadership and integrity. Rod continues his career as a lawyer in Atlanta and Katie is a psychologist in private practice. Their younger daughter Ruthie just completed eighth grade.
Class Recorder: Kristin Johnson Aldred kris.layne@gmail.com
Class Recorder: Scott Berger csberger@gmail.com
Class Recorder: Julie Yau-Yee Tam 713-828-4062 julietam@alumni.rice.edu https://bit.ly/rice-class-2003
Class Recorder: Kate Hallaway katehallaway@gmail.com www.facebook.com/ groups/1425217191026994
Class Recorder: Alex Sigeda alex.sigeda@gmail.com
Class Recorder: Hugham Chan hugham@gmail.com
Class recorder Hugham Chan (Lovett: BS) sends the following: Brandon Mack (Wiess: BA) would like to announce the start of his business, B. Mack Strategies, LLC. Mack is using his experiences from 13 years in the Rice University undergraduate admissions office and 20 years as a community activist and sociologist focused on racial justice, education and LGBTQ+ issues to provide college admissions counseling and consulting, equity/inclusion/ diversity training and education, and advocacy. His business is dedicated to building unapologetic equity in all spheres of life and
the world. For more information, visit bmackstrategies.com or email brandon@bmackstrategies.com.
Class Recorders: Clint Corcoran clintc@alumni.rice.edu
Becky Thilo Tuttle 713-412-4030 becky@alumni.rice.edu
2008
The Class of 2008 needs a new class recorder. To learn more about this volunteer position, please email owlmanac@rice.edu.
2009
Class Recorder: Gina Cao Yu 713-870-9218 ginacaoyu@gmail.com
Class Recorder: Emily Zhu Haynie emilyahaynie@gmail.com
Class Recorder: Alex Wyatt 281-623-8438 awyattlovett@gmail.com
2012
Class Recorder: Daphne Wert Strasert 832-986-3210 daphnestrasert@gmail.com
Class Recorder: Matt Mariani-Seltz 908-328-6632 mmariani16@gmail.com
Matt Mariani-Seltz (Brown: BA) graduated from The George Washington University Law School in May. He earned his Juris Doctor with honors after four years of study in the part-time law program and full-time employment as a government relations professional.
Class Recorder: Molly Richardson Krueger Mollykrueger03@gmail.com
Class Recorder: Qizhong Wang qizhong.wang2011@gmail.com
Class recorder Qizhong Wang (Lovett: BS; MS, 2016) writes: I have received news from Christal Porter (Lovett: BA) that our class member, Folasade “Maya” Adetula (Brown: BA), passed away in May.
Christal shares: “Folasade ‘Maya’ Adetula, a Rice women’s basketball team player and Brown College resident, passed away May 7, 2025. Maya was a team captain of the Rice women’s basketball team for two years and was an avid supporter of all Rice athletic teams. Maya was also a regular attendee of the Baptist Student Ministries weekly luncheons. Maya will be remembered for her boisterous and contagious laugh, her big emotions and unwavering loyalty. Maya was the kind of friend to have around who made life worth living and any moment exciting. She had the unique ability to make any ordinary day or experience into a treasured
memory. Her Rice family and friends will certainly miss her presence and will hold dear the special memories and moments shared with her on the Rice campus.”
Class Recorder: Michaela Dimoff 414-629-5270
michaeladimoff@ricealumni.net
Class Recorder: Margaret Lie margaret.lie@ricealumni.net
Class Recorders: Meg Brigman 713-569-7015 megbrigman@alumni.rice.edu Haley Kurisky 713-817-6344 haley.e.kurisky@gmail.com facebook.com/groups/rice2018
The Class of 2019 needs a class recorder. To learn more about this volunteer position, please email owlmanac@rice.edu.
Class Recorder: Adria Martinez 713-459-4483 adria@texascres.com
Class recorder Adria Martinez (Duncan: BA) writes:
After graduating from Rice, Dylan Silcox (Brown: BA) attended Baylor University and completed his MBA. He began his career as a credit analyst at a Dallasbased bank in 2022. Dylan was
recently promoted to assistant vice president. Dylan’s greatest accomplishment was meeting and marrying his wife, Anna. They met at work in 2022 and tied the knot on May 2, 2025. They currently live in Addison, TX, together.
After graduation, Kimberly Evelyn Olea Rodriguez (McMurtry: BA) attended SMU Law. She graduated with her Juris Doctor from law school in 2023, passed the bar exam that same fall and was licensed by October 2023. Kimberly worked at the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office for about a year and a half as a prosecutor and now practices family law at Oosterhof Law Office in Dallas. She married her college sweetheart, Eric Adrian Rodriguez ’21 (Will Rice: BA), in November 2024.
Alex Yang (Hanszen: BA) and Rebecca Liu (McMurtry: BS) were married April 20, 2024. They met during freshman year as stand partners in the Campanile Orchestra violin section. Their wedding featured several other Rice alumni, including Jakob Grzesik (Hanszen: BA and BS), Rachel Bui ’22 (Baker: BS), Ben Lanners (Hanszen: BMus; MMus, 2022) and Jarod Yap ’21 (Jones: BMus) with many more in attendance.
Class Recorder: Kevin Guo guokevin1@gmail.com
Class Recorder: Ben Li Zaltsman zaltsmanben@gmail.com
Class Recorder: Jonathan Lloyd 914-217-5568 jonathan.sc.lloyd@gmail.com
Class recorder Jonathan Lloyd (Will Rice: BS) writes: After bouncing around the U.S. in a rotation program at work for the last two years, I’m settling more permanently in Boston starting July 2025. Please hit me up if you’re local to Boston or just passing through!
Since graduating, Stephanie Pecaut (Martel: BS) has finished a fellowship for electrochemistry research in Berlin, Germany, and traveled in 15 countries across Central America and Europe, including two months of backpacking in Panama! In between her travels she has decided to pursue a PhD in plasma electrochemistry at Northwestern University as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow.
Kaleab Afework (Baker: BA) writes: “I took a gap year after graduating during which I did some research at the Tsai and Lee biochemistry labs at Baylor College of Medicine, took a trip to Ethiopia and even founded a business. Additionally, I’ve also started medical school at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in Arizona and am currently interested in psychiatry! I enjoy spending time with my family now and my cat, Big Mac.”
Kwame Ntim (Jones: BS) writes: “I currently work in New Mexico as a production assurance engineer with Occidental Petroleum Corporation. I previously worked as a mechanical integrity engineer as part of their U.S. Offshore Gulf of Mexico business unit in The Woodlands, and will be returning in July, assuming a new role as a process engineer. When I’m not working, I’m usually on the move — traveling, immersing myself in different cultures and exploring new environments.”
Kwame Ntim
Grant Parajuli (Baker: BS) writes: “I am currently a doctorate student continuing on at Rice in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering studying air quality.”
Asha Malani (Will Rice: BA)
writes: “Some Will Rice friends got together in south Florida last summer for a reunion!” [See below.]
The Class of 2024 needs a class recorder. To learn more about this volunteer position, please email owlmanac@rice.edu.
The Class of 2025 needs a class recorder. To learn more about this volunteer position, please email owlmanac@rice.edu.
Girls, top row, left to right:
Jane “Sandy” Hagner Glasser ’75 (Brown: BA)
Deborah Homerstad Krebs ’75 (Baker: BA)
Jane Dingus ’74 (Baker: BA)
Boys, bottom row, left to right:
Michael Boulden ’73 (Will Rice: BA)
Dr. David Henry ’76 (Hanszen: BA)
Dr. William Taylor ’74 (Sid Rich: BA)
Submit news and updates to grad notes coordinator Jose A. Narbona at janv@rice.edu or owlmanac@rice.edu.
Sylvia J. Hysong ’00 (PhD) has been selected for a Research Career Scientist Award at the Veterans Health Administration. This highly competitive award is reserved for non-clinician scientists who have made extraordinary contributions beyond their individual research programs to VA research, service and training the next generation of VA scientists. Hysong’s five-year term will start January 2026.
After graduating, Zelma Oyarvide Tuthill ’20 (PhD) took a job as an assistant professor of sociology and women’s gender and sexuality studies at the University of Houston. She’s proud to announce that she was promoted to associate professor of sociology and women’s gender and sexuality studies with tenure.
Mary Box ’16 (MMus) founded the Montrose Project, a nonprofit performing and recording works by women composers. Thanks to a bit of extra schooling at the Glasscock School’s Leadership Institute for Nonprofit Executives, the Montrose Project was recently granted 501(c)3 tax-exempt status!
Mary also made her opera conducting debut in January 2025 at the Moores School of Music at
the University of Houston, conducting 125 instrumentalists and singers in a performance of “Suor Angelica” by Puccini.
Mary was awarded a grant by the Houston Arts Alliance to conduct and produce a concert of arias for Juneteenth in 2025 by African American composers with Grammyand Emmy-winning baritone Reginald Smith Jr.
In November 2024, Belinda Rosen ’20 (MMus) won a position for oboe/English horn with “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band in Washington, D.C. She enlisted in the USMC in March and has enjoyed beginning her new career performing with the Marine Band.
Belinda graduated from Rice with her master’s in 2020 as a student of Bob Atherholt. She wants to share her congratulations to Mr. Atherholt on his retirement as well her appreciation for him as her professor and mentor. Belinda shares, “I wouldn’t have gotten this far without him!”
Hailing from Coral Springs, FL, Mark Stein ’20 (MMus) has enjoyed a versatile career as a performer across many genres, as well as an educator. He is currently a lecturer in percussion studies at Central Connecticut State University. Previously, Mark taught a wide array of students in the Houston area. Mark has performed with the Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, Houston Ballet, Louisiana Philharmonic, Hartford Symphony, New Haven Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Boise Philharmonic, Springfield (MA) Symphony, Amarillo (TX) Symphony and the New World Symphony. He has also performed during summer seasons at the Grand Teton Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, Caroga Lake Summer Music Festival and Tanglewood. Additionally, he has performed on timpani and percussion for various artists such as Roberta Flack, REO Speedwagon, Kansas, The Alan Parsons Project and Little River Band. Mark can also be heard on the Houston Chamber Choir’s recording of Bob Chilcott’s “Circlesong,” for choir and chamber orchestra. Mark received his Bachelor of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music, received his master’s degree from the New England Conservatory and went on to further study at Boston University and Rice University. His teachers include Sergio Carreno, Richard Weiner, Paul Yancich, Dan Bauch, Tim Genis, Kyle Brightwell and Matthew Strauss.
Don Lane ’61 (PhD) says that he and his son moved to Treemont Retirement Center shortly after his wife, Joanne Lane ’60 (Jones: BA), died in 2018. Both daughters joined them in June to celebrate his 91st birthday. He doesn’t travel much but tries to keep in touch with a few Rice friends.
On Dec. 5, 2024, Jeff Earl Lewis ’66 (PhD) of Chicago passed away peacefully in hospice at the age of 82. He was born May 18, 1942, in Bakersfield, CA. His heart was always in Texas when he drank his beloved Dr. Pepper. The family moved a lot due to his father’s service as an Army Air Force Baptist chaplain during WWII. Jeff never married nor had children but made the world his family.
Jeff received his undergraduate degree from Baylor in 1962. During that time, he worked at a local radio station and discovered his fondness for announcing. While doing postdoctoral work in NYC, he performed in an off-off-Broadway play.
Having earned his doctorate in mathematics from Rice, he joined the mathematics department at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle and quickly became a full professor. A significant amount of his mathematical research in partial differential equations was conducted during his long association with the Alma Mater Studiorum Universita di Bologna Department of Mathematics. He shared his genius with acclaimed academic papers at national and world conferences.
Jeff spent most summers and many Christmas holidays in Italy. He taught there and raced bicycles in the mountains. Jeff was passionate about biking and had a bike mechanics studio in his Chicago home so he could work on his own custom bikes. When Jeff could no longer ride on two wheels, he took his recumbent bicycle and did his usual 30- to 40-mile Chicago rides
into his late 70s.
Throughout his years, Jeff was very active in sports at UIC. He was the golden voice of the Flames ice hockey, women’s basketball team and women’s volleyball team. Jeff enjoyed ice skating and even joined Skokie ice dance team to compete. In his professional announcing business, he loved ice shows the most.
Jeff volunteered at several high school and middle school competitions where he made it a point to inform the audience of each participant’s name on both teams at least once during every game.
Jeff was very active in the wheelchair basketball and volleyball community. He announced those sports plus others at championships around the world, including the Warrior Games.
Jeff was associate dean of the
Honors College and continued to review applications for the special medical program for years following his official retirement. His listening skills and kind heart provided support to every person he met.
Jeff will be remembered fondly by all who knew him, especially the many children who heard his resounding voice applaud their sporting achievements.
Jeff contributed to many scholarships, even without having a personal connection with the school. He did this to assure that someone’s child would be given a helping hand to reach their full potential. In remembrance of Jeff’s life, please consider a gift to the “UIC Jeff E. Lewis Scholarship Fund.” Gifts can be made online at give.uic. edu or by check to the University of Illinois Foundation, P.O. Box 734500, Chicago, IL 60673-4500.
Mario Gonzalez ’12 (Jones: BS) writes: “My wife, Hanning, and I would like to announce the birth of our daughter, Amelia Xinyue Gonzalez, who was born Jan. 22, 2025! Big brother Luca (2) is also happy to welcome the new family addition and always brings her up on his way home from day care.”
Jake Hassell ’16 (Lovett: BS) writes: “Lily Elise Hassell was born Jan. 11, 2025. Her name is based on the Bible passage Matthew 6:2534, which reminds us to trust the Lord instead of worry. Just as He clothes the lilies of the field, so He will provide for our needs when we seek Him first. She’s a serious eater, nap rebel, and beloved by Mommy, Daddy and big brother Joel.”
IN MEMORIAM
Submit remembrances to owlmanac@rice.edu.
1952
ALUMNI 1936
George Minor Tidwell , July 15, 2000
1944
Dorothy Louise Hagner
Sattler, May 13, 2025
1948
John B. “Pete” Damrel , Jan. 23, 2025
Marguerite Anais Gaston Garrett , April 8, 2025
Edwin M. Lansford (MA; PhD), June 21, 2022
Howard F. Smith , March 30, 2025
1949
Dr. David J. Braden , March 18, 2025
Ramona Petersen Demery (MA), May 5, 2025
1950
Donn W. Leva , June 1, 2024
1951
Dr. Daniel C. Allensworth , Feb. 18, 2025
Eugene M. Langworthy (MS), Feb. 6, 2025
Charlcy Lou Evans Black , March 18, 2025
1953
Jean Donaldson Mahavier, April 28, 2025
Bernard W. Miner, April 2, 2025
Frank M. Newman , May 1, 2025
1954
Ann Abdo Eutsler, June 19, 2025
Mary P. Richey Fox (MEd), April 18, 2025
Elizabeth Frances Bess Jacobson , April 26, 2025
James H. Jenkins , March 9, 2025
Dr. Daniel H. Winship , Jan. 1, 2025
1955
E. William “Bill” Barnett , June 15, 2025
Margaret Ann “Peggy” Mauk Barnett , May 2, 2025
Dr. J. Bruce Laubach , Jan. 21, 2025
Dr. R.J. Schroeder, June 4, 2025
Joan Wilson Taylor, April 13, 2025
1956
Elizabeth Frazzell Gallagher, Sept. 1, 2024
Russell Jay Parkinson , Feb. 14, 2025
Howard Dale Williams , May 16, 2025
Betty Jane Russell Bernshausen , March 30, 2025
Donald M. Israel , April 30, 2025
Gylene Wilcox , June 10, 2025
1958
Rev. Kenneth E. Carter (MST), April 6, 2025
Rose Colleen “Cody” Caldwell Greenwood , March 21, 2025
Dr. Thomas F. Holmes (MSD; DDS), April 15, 2025
P. David Mantor (MS), April 14, 2025
Doris Ada Winans Neville , April 4, 2025
Francita Stuart Ulmer, April 8, 2025
Richard J. Wagner (MS; PhD), April 23, 2025
1959
Thomas Wayne Adams , May 24, 2025
1960
Mary Hope Lacey Butler (MA) (Jones), March 26, 2025
John Roy Filson (MA; PhD) (Wiess), April 24, 2025
Willinda Dee Owsley Oudin (Jones), May 19, 2025
Dr. Jonathan E. Walker (Will Rice), May 29, 2025
Dr. John Albert Watters Jr. (MS) (Will Rice), March 25, 2025
1961
Dr. Simon Milford Bunn Jr. (Will Rice), April 26, 2025
David R. Hamilton (MBA) (Will Rice), March 3, 2025
1962
Victor L. Emanuel (MA) (Will Rice), March 11, 2025
George Ayrs Fisk (PhD) (Hanszen), Dec. 10, 2024
Gail Gale Rosenthal (MEd) (Jones), March 12, 2025
Richard P. Wright (MBA) (Wiess), May 20, 2025
1963
Claude Cordell Green (MS; PhD) (Will Rice), Feb. 12, 2025
Eugene C. Marshall (Baker), Feb. 15, 2025
Paul Bruce Pipes (MS; PhD) (Hanszen), March 3, 2025
Paul G. Rhine (Wiess), Feb. 12, 2025
1964
Thomas E. Daniels (Baker), April 9, 2025
Julia O. Glover Gaden (Jones), May 26, 2018
1965
Herbert Edward Smith Jr. (MS) (Wiess), April 15, 2025
Barbara Jean Barrow Spence (Jones), March 21, 2025
1966
Chandrakant Desai (MS; PhD), March 28, 2025
John W. Durham Jr. (MA) (Wiess), March 10, 2025
John Christopher Grigassy (MA) (Will Rice), April 25, 2025
John J. Haydel (PhD), Sept. 16, 2024
Jeff E. Lewis (PhD), Dec. 5, 2024
1967
Richard W. Diese (Will Rice), March 21, 2025
1968
David D. Claypool (MS; MBA), May 16, 2025
Robert B. “Rocky” McAshan III (MBA) (Hanszen), Feb. 18, 2025
Donald B. Twieg (MS; PhD) (Baker), April 28, 2025
1969
Robert N. Flatt (MEE; MBA) (Wiess), April 29, 2025
Ernest Truett Richardson (Wiess), May 26, 2025
1971
Richard Garrison File (MAcc; PhD) (Hanszen), April 6, 2025
Judith Kay Nelson Powers (MA; PhD), Feb. 15, 2025
1973
Helene M. Kastinger Riley (MA; PhD), April 27, 2025
1974
Scott H. Plummer (PhD), Feb. 22, 2025
John Malcolm Waddell Jr. (MBA) (Sid Rich), May 11, 2025
1975
Dan H. Burbine (MArch; MPH), May 9, 2025
Chester E. Dickson (Hanszen), June 8, 2025
Raymond Slomiany (MA), Nov. 23, 2023 1976
James Robert McKinley (MS), June 14, 2025
1978
Kathleen Marie Willcutts Béïque (MEd) (Jones), April 23, 2025 1982
Theodore Roger Ford Jr. (MBPM) (Sid Rich), March 18, 2025
Dr. Baxter D. Montgomery (Jones), May 24, 2025
Karsten Eric Braaten (MS), May 2025
Dr. Betsey M. Chambers (Will Rice), March 24, 2025 2009
Larissa Charnsangavej (MEd) (Brown), May 9, 2025
Robert Joseph Zider (Hanszen), April 25, 2025
Maya Adetula (Brown), May 7, 2025
Nathan J. Andrus (Hanszen), Jan. 7, 2024
Chase H. Sturdevant (MBA), March 13, 2025
Tanner J. Legvold , May 2025
Michael J. Trafton (Lovett), April 26, 2025 1995
Albert Edward Sheen (MA) (Wiess), Oct. 28, 2023
E. William “Bill” Barnett ’55 , June 15, 2025
Walter Wade Adams (MS; PhD), associate research professor of materials science and nanoengineering, former director of the Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, associate dean in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing, Feb. 12, 2025
Richard S. Brown (MMus), professor emeritus of percussion, March 14, 2025
Robert N. Flatt ’69 (MEE; MBA) (Wiess), adjunct professor in management, April 29, 2025
Robert “Bob” M. Stein (MA; PhD), Lena Gohlman Fox Emeritus Professor of Political Science, July 18, 2025
Ann M. Crain , Glasscock School of Continuing Studies, June 21, 2025
Kathi Stoll Kurtzman (MMus), Shepherd School of Music, April 2, 2025
Terry D. Marriott (PhD), Wiess School of Natural Sciences, Oct. 7, 2023
Alan D. Westheimer (MBA), Jones School of Business, June 12, 2025
WHILE THE WEATHER may not seem holiday-like just yet, it’s not too early to start thinking about the perfect gift or experience for family and friends. For the second year, we’ve collected a few gift ideas from Rice alumni-owned businesses to alleviate some of the guesswork. — TRACEY RHOADES
1. In search of “cheesy” — and delectable — gifts? Then plan a visit to Houston Dairymaids where proprietor Lindsey Schechter ’99 carries over 150 handmade cheeses, many from Texas cheesemakers, and features daily tastings. An 18-year-old venture, the shop offers cheese and charcuterie boards, local honey, olives and cured meats, and a Cheese of the Month Club, which is a perfect way to taste a variety of cheeses. See all that’s available, including gift cards, at houstondairymaids.com
to aficionados. Gift cards are available, including a $175 all-inclusive card for a multisensory six wine and culinary experience for two. Visit nicewines.com and see all that the Houston-based winery and vineyard has to offer.
2. As the all-time Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo wine competition record holder for most wins, Ryan Levy ’97, co-owner of Nice Winery, knows vines. Certified sommeliers and trained chefs, Levy and his partner, Ian Eastveld, source grapes from their four domestic and international estate vineyards. With 30-plus unique wines and robust events from two-hour tasting classes to four-course winemaker paired dinners, there’s plenty of wine and experiences for novices
Houston’s Kidcreate Studio shines as a vibrant hub for aspiring artists ages 18 months to 12 years. Owned by Rice MBA graduate Brian Collins ’20 and his wife, Jennifer, this ARTrageous studio offers a variety of engaging classes, camps and workshops designed to spark creativity. Passionate instructors guide kids through exciting projects like glow-in-thedark art, slimemaking and clay sculpting, and the studio also offers Art Programs on the Go — perfect for schools and organizations wanting to bring creativity to any location. Or schedule a customized birthday party, tailored to any theme, and ensure
an unforgettable celebration. To discover the magic of art and purchase gift cards or family memberships, check out kidcreate.com/houston
4. At Establo Blanco, Rice Business grad Shane Clark ’21 and his wife are passionate about crafting the purest products from candles and hand-painted decorative soap to organic body scrubs and moisturizers. The single- and double-wick candles are made of a vegan blend of wax — paraben-, phthalate- and carcinogen-free. An array of scents, floral to earthy, make choosing the perfect combination easy. Handblown glass and vessels with glass cloches make Establo Blanco’s candles attractive additions to any décor. For the full range of products and to read about the causes Establo Blanco supports, go to establoblanco.com.
Rice is on a mission to lead the world in teaching and research, and it starts with the extraordinary faculty who innovate, inspire and move the world forward. The newly named Ralph and Dorothy Looney Professor of BioSciences, Caroline Ajo-Franklin, leads a team of 14 students and five postdocs exploring the frontiers of synthetic biology. Support from her endowed chair helps her lab explore how to make biology “speak” the language of electronics in surprising and practical ways. Cells might one day sense environmental hazards and trigger useful responses, like releasing a polymer to trap pollutants or producing enzymes that neutralize toxic compounds.
Caroline’s story powerfully illustrates how dedicated faculty, fueled by the generosity of the Rice community, are transforming student lives and propelling our collective future forward. Read more about Caroline and learn how you can support the professors shaping the future of teaching and research at giving.rice.edu/faculty
ACCELERATE THE VISION
Scan the QR code to explore more stories about visionary philanthropy in Accelerate, Rice’s philanthropic magazine.
Caroline’s team engineered a single bacterial cell to grow into a rope with remarkable stretch.
Rice University, Creative Services–MS 95
P.O. Box 1892 , Houston, TX 77251-1892
Texas
This summer, Rice students spent four to six weeks learning and practicing engineering design skills across the globe — gaining valuable experiences and cultural knowledge while earning credits toward an engineering minor. The 2025 international Summer Experience in Engineering Design, or iSEED, drew more than 40 students to courses in Mexico (San Cristóbal and Mexico City), Italy (Bologna), the Netherlands and France (Amsterdam and Paris), Kenya (Nairobi), and Japan (Tokyo). It’s an “intensive, immersive summer experience,” says Amy K. Dern, director of strategic initiatives and international programs at the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen, which oversees the summer programs. In Amsterdam, for example, Rice students collaborated with student peers on design challenges in sustainability and mobility related to the city itself. At STRAAT, a museum for graffiti and street art, the students tried “art in a messy, nonlinear way, which maps to how we want them to think about the human-centered design,” said Hesam Panahi, a course instructor and director of strategic initiatives and programs at the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Read more at oedk.rice.edu/iseed