Rice University.

Rice University's Office or Research and Graduate Studies oversees research and graduate programs.

William Marsh Rice University (commonly called Rice University and opened in 1912 as The William Marsh Rice Institute for the Advancement of Letters, Science and Art) is a private, comprehensive research university located in Houston, Texas, United States.

Rice University's first class started in 1912. Since that time the university has been dedicated to excellence in undergraduate and graduate student education and in research. As part of the accreditation process Rice began conducting self studies in the 1960s. This intense look inward occurs every 10 years and examines all aspect of university life and activity, including faculty, staff, students and infrastructure.

General Faculty meetings have been held since the beginning of Rice Institute. Their nature, however, has changed as the University grew in size and complexity. Originally, the entire Faculty, headed by the President of the Institute made all the academic and policy decisions. With a growing number of Faculty members this was no longer feasible and committees were formed to meet the changing needs of the University. Input from the general Faculty was directed to these committees and the committees, in turn, reported their findings to the general Faculty. Decision making also was channeled through committees, earlier through the Executive committee, and more recently through the University Council. The committee, rather than the individual Faculty member, now serves as the advisory body to the President.

The Presidential Inaugural Committee is charged with the overall planning of the presidential inauguration and the events surrounding it.

Eighty years after the incorporation of Rice Institute in 1891 came the inauguration of the university's fourth president, Norman Hackerman, former president of the University of Texas at Austin and professor of chemistry.

On Sept. 23, 1971, H. Malcolm Lovett, chairman of the Board of Governors, knocked on the President's House door and presented Dr. Hackerman with the formal summons to appear for his inauguration the following day, starting with a new Rice inauguration tradition based on a ritual used by British universities.

Delegates and special guests representing 175 institutions of higher learning and 50 learned and professional societies attended the ceremonies.

Dr. Logan Wilson, president of the American Council on Education and former Chancellor of the University of Texas, gave an address on "Rice University's Widening Horizons." Professor Harold Rorschach presided at the inaugural dinner, which featured three speakers, representing the arts, science, and letters. Writer / pilot MacKinlay Kantor spoke on "Letters". Geneticist George W. Beadle spoke on "Science and the University". Jack Joseph Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, spoke on "Art".

The Presidential Inaugural Committee is charged with the overall planning of the presidential inauguration and the events surrounding it. Twenty-seven college presidents and dignitaries from foreign institutions were in attendance. Karl T. Compton, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, delivered the principal address, "Dynamic Education". Harry C.Weiss, Vice chairman of the Rice Board of Trustees, inducted Houston into the Office of President. Lee A. DuBridge, president of Caltech, spoke at a luncheon in the Commons. At a dinner honoring the new president and his wife, addresses were given by Carl M. Knapp, president of the Association of Rice Alumni and by Houston industrialist Jesse H. Jones. Dr. Dixton Wecter, chairman of the Research Group at the Huntington Library, presented a paper.

A precedent for future inaugurations was set when Dr. Houston placed on the steps of William Marsh Rice's statue a wreath honoring the founder of the university.

William Vermillion Houston was born in Mount Giliad, Ohio, on January 19, 1900. He received B.A. and B.S. degrees from Ohio State University in 1920. In 1922, he received an M.S. degree from the University of Chicago, and in 1925, his Ph.D. from Ohio State University.

Houston was a National Research Fellow at the California Institute of Technology, and taught there until he became president of what was then Rice Institute, later Rice University, in 1946. Houston studied in Germany on a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1927, assisting Warner Heisenberg and others in the development of quantum theory.

The U.S. Navy awarded Houston its Medal of Merit for directing development of the first homing torpedo and for supervising scientific studies which helped improve U.S. weapon effectiveness in the area of undersea warfare. Because of his genuine modesty, Houston never wore his Medal of Merit ribbon.

Houston made pioneering efforts in the fields of atomic spectroscopy and solid state theory. He was the author of two books: Principles of Mathematical Physics (1934) and Principles of Quantum Mechanics (1951), as well as of numerous scientific articles. After having been a fellow of the American Physical Society for many years, he was elected its president in 1962. He also served on the Society council.

Houston was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, serving on its council and on several important committees. He was also a member of the American Philosophical Society and several other scientific and educational associations. He served on the National Science Board and as a trustee of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

When Houston arrived at Rice in 1946, he greatly expanded graduate study and research. He also initiated a five-year engineering program with greater emphasis on the humanities than had previously existed, and implemented the planned residential college system.

Houston died after a brief illness, in Edinburgh, Scotland on August 22, 1968, while attending the 111th International Conference on Low-tempurature Physics at St. Andrew's University.

Perhaps no other event so represented Rice’s emerging role as a national, even international, institution, than its being chosen to host the 1990 Economic Summit of the Industrialized Nations. For three days in July heads of delegations from the United States, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada, and the European Economic Community held talks at Rice, covered by thousands of journalists and communicated to the world. Rice had long hosted major world figures-General Pershing; Presidents (or presidents-to-be) Taft, Hoover, Eisenhower, Kennedy (announcing the goal of going to the moon), Johnson, Carter, Reagan; Sir Harold Wilson; Prince Philip; and the Dalai Lama suggest the range of famous visitors. But never had such an assemblage appeared at one time as during the Economic Summit. Alumni around the globe were thrilled to see on television world political leaders walking through the familiar arches of Lovett Hall.

Excerpted from Dr. John Boles' A University So Conceived: A Brief History of Rice (Revised Edition), 1997, p. 81.

The Presidential Inaugural Committee is charged with the overall planning of the presidential inauguration and the events surrounding it.

On Saturday, October 30, 1993 Malcolm Gillis was installed as the sixth president of Rice University. On Friday, October 29, Charles Duncan, Chair of the Board of Governors, presented the summons calling for Dr. Gillis to attend his investiture. The inaugural ceremony took place at 5:30 p.m. and was to be held in the Academic Quadrangle, however, bad weather caused the installation to be moved to Autry Court. The inaugural theme was “A Lifetime of Learning.” The Rice Chorale and Band provided music. Bagpipes were also played by a Rice University student.

The inaugural dinner was held at the Westin Galleria Hotel, on Friday evening. There was a private dinner for the Gillis’ on Saturday evening at the Cohen House. Other events included a buffet supper for delegates and on Sunday, there was a student festival and a University barbecue outside the Rice Memorial Center.

About 750 delegates came for the ceremony; 1500 attended the inaugural address.

Dr. Gillis received a B.A. (1962) and an M.A. (1963) from the University of Florida. He earned his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois in 1968. Teaching positions included Duke University and Harvard. In 1986 he was named dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at Duke and in 1991 he became dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Gillis assumed the presidency of Rice on July 1, 1993.

In June 2004, Dr. Gillis stepped down to resume his teaching career.