Rice University

Rice University International Student Insurance

Rice University (full name: William Marsh Rice University) is a private research university located in Houston, Texas. In 1891, businessman William Marsh Rice chartered a higher-education institution as a gift to the city of Houston, under the condition that work on the institute would not begin until after his death. In 1900, Rice was murdered by his valet and a local lawyer, and a forged will redirected the school’s funds to the two men. Once the murder was discovered and the criminals punished, work on the school resumed. It opened its doors to students in 1912. It gained university status in 1960, and it established the first space science department in the U.S. in 1963. The university has close ties with NASA to this day.

Today, Rice enrolls more than 7,000 students and counting each year. The school colors are blue and gray, and its athletic nickname is the owls.

Academic and Research Opportunities

Rice offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs across its eight academic divisions: the School of Architecture, the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business, the Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies, the George R. Brown School of Engineering, the School of Humanities, the Wiess School of Natural Sciences, the School of Social Sciences, and the Shepherd School of Music. The university has gained particular prominence for its science and engineering programs.

Rice has also been designated by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as an R1 university (very high research activity), and it is world-renowned for its applied science programs. Noteworthy research initiatives on campus include the Baker Institute for Public Policy, the Boniuk Institute for Religious Tolerance, the Chao Center for Asian Studies, the Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, the Rice Quantum Institute, and the Rice Space Institute.

On Campus

Points of interest on campus include the Rice University Farmers Market, the James Turrell Twilight Epiphany Skyspace, the Rice Public Art exhibition, and the Lynn R. Lowrey Arboretum.

Notable Alumni

Notable Rice University alumni include Nobel Prize in Physics winner Robert Woodrow Wilson; writers Larry McMurtry and Joyce Carol Oates; famed aviator and film producer Howard Hughes; 14 NASA astronauts; and Thomas H. Cruikshank, former CEO of Haliburton.