Description
William Marsh Rice University, known simply as Rice University, is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center.
Opened in 1912 as the Rice Institute after the murder of its namesake William Marsh Rice, Rice is a research university with an undergraduate focus. It has a 6:1 student-faculty ratio. Rice has been a member of the Association of American Universities since 1985 and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". The university is organized into eight schools of academic study: Wiess School of Natural Sciences, George R. Brown School of Engineering, School of Social Sciences, School of Architecture, Shepherd School of Music, School of Humanities, Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business and Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies. Rice competes in 14 NCAA Division I varsity sports and is a part of Conference USA. Its teams are the Rice Owls.
The university's alumni include 26 Marshall Scholars, 12 Rhodes Scholars, and two Nobel laureates. Given the university's close links to NASA, it has produced a number of astronauts and space scientists. In business, Rice graduates include CEOs, founders of Fortune 500 companies and four billionaires; in politics, alumni include politicians and cabinet members.
