Rice University Statistics for Prospective Undergraduate Students
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Rice Resources
(as of June 30,1998)



Rice University endowment: The quoted market value of Rice’s endowment as of June 30, 1998, was approximately $2.78 billion.

Sources: Rice’s audited financial statements included endowment and investment information. In addition, an Investment Systems database is maintained by the Office of the Vice President for Investments and Treasurer. The Associate Vice President confirmed this information. Total consolidated budget for the fiscal year 1998: The consolidated budget (the university’s operating budget) reflected the financial year July 1, 1997, to June 30, 1998. The revenue side of the budget was primarily comprised of endowment distribution, tuition and fees, and sponsored research cost recovery. Educational and general expenses were primarily salaries and benefits, sponsored research, scholarships and fellowships, and supplies. Source: Financial data are maintained by the Budget Office and the Controller’s Office on the Banner Financial and Human Resources Systems database. These budget figures are taken from a document entitled Rice University Operating Budget Fiscal Year 1997-1998, dated January 8, 1998, that was prepared by the Budget Office. Campus acreage: This acreage reflected the physical dimensions of the campus within its fringe of stately oaks, bounded by Main Street on the east, Rice Boulevard on the north, Greenbriar on the West and University Boulevard on the South. It did not include any other property in the vicinity that was owned by Rice University. Source: Surveyors’ Records housed in the Technical Services division of the Department of Facilities and Engineering. Research Centers, Institutes, and Consortia

Descriptions of most of these research centers, institutes and consortia can be found on the Rice web site at http://riceinfo.rice.edu/directory/departments.html#research.
 

Interdisciplinary Centers and Institutes

The W. M. Keck Center for Computational Discrete Optimization is an interdepartmental center within the Computer and Information Technology Institute (CITI) of Rice University. Contact: Prof. David Applegate, Computational and Applied Mathematics (CAAM). The Center encompasses all aspects of Computational Geoscience research now active at Rice, with particular emphasis on 3-D seismic exploration for petroleum and environmental remediation, as well as seismic tomography, mantle convection, and geomagnetism. Co-Directors: Prof. Alan Levander (Geology and Geophysics) and Prof. William Symes (Computational and Applied Mathematics) This is a research center within the Computer and Information Institute (CITI), comprised of faculty members and researchers in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), Computer Science (CS), and Computational and Applied Mathematics (CAAM). Research efforts focus on many facets of telecommunications, from multimedia networking to
communications systems and signal processing. Jan E. Oldegard, Executive Director The Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology at Rice University is devoted to nurturing science and technology at the nanometer scale. Prof. Richard Smalley, Director, (Chemistry) The Rice Center for Organizational Effectiveness Studies (RCOES) is a nonprofit, interdisciplinary entity affiliated with Rice University. A fundamental assumption of RCOES is that the effectiveness of organizations depends to a large extent on how well these organizations use their human resources. The objectives of RCOES are to promote interactions and alliances among faculty at Rice who are concerned with issues of organizational effectiveness; to promote basic and applied research on organizational effectiveness and to secure funding for this research by establishing relationships with the business community; and to disseminate the findings of research on strategies to improve individual and team performance to organizations in the public and private sectors. Although the primary participants at this time are from the Department of Psychology and the Jones Graduate School of Management, the intent is to provide a vehicle for collaboration among a diverse group of faculty. Robert Dipboye, Ph.D., Director In 1995, Rice University established the Center for Technology in Teaching and Learning (CTTL) to address the ways in which information technology can expand and enrich education on the Rice campus as well as in other settings. Vice Pres. Tony Gorry, Director The Center for the Study of Cultures exists to promote the study of cultures across time and around the world, both as unique examples of human behavior and creativity and as interconnected phenomena that can illuminate one another. The goal of the Center is to provide a forum for conversations that make visible the connections between cultures and the
particularities that divide them. The Center seeks to advance humanistic knowledge by supporting research that deepens our understanding of particular cultures, and by encouraging the exploration of new configurations of materials, methods, theories, or cultures through interdisciplinary work and comparative collaborations. Prof. David Nirenberg, Director The Center is a source of funding for research in the social sciences. Its goal is to encourage and support scholarly research of the highest quality. While the expectation is that the research will result in publications, the focus is also on the initial stages of research development in helping researchers prepare grant proposals for outside funding. Prof. Clifton Morgan, Director, (Political Science) The Center for the Study of Languages (CSL) was founded in August 1997 to promote and enhance all aspects of language learning at Rice University. The role of the center is to establish innovative approaches to language education, expand opportunities for language learning across the curriculum, and increase Rice students' participation in study and work abroad. Prof. Maria-Regina Kecht, Director The Center for the Study of Science and Technology is an interdivisional center, reporting directly to the University's Provost. The Center's primary mission is to promote the uses of the history and philosophy of science and technology in general education courses, focusing on science and engineering courses designed for non-technical majors. Prof. Albert Van Helden, Director, (History) The Computer and Information Technology Institute (CITI) at Rice University is a research institution whose purpose is to facilitate interdisciplinary research across the university's departmental, center, and laboratory boundaries with industrial and government partners, and in collaboration with other universities. There are approximately eighty Ph.D. faculty and research scientists and more than 120 graduate students affiliated with CITI. Anthony Elam, Executive Director The mission of EESi is to initiate, promote and enhance university-wide research, teaching and outreach in a broad range of energy and environment-related issues. In addition, EESi fosters the development of partnerships with government and industry to help meet national needs for sustainable energy, economic development, and environmental protection. The Institute is currently organized into five research divisions: Processes in Porous Media; Mechanics of Solids and Structures; Engineering and Process Chemistry; Earth Systems; Energy and Environmental Policy. Prof. C. Herb Ward, Director, (Environmental Science and Engineering) The mission of the Institute is to promote cross-disciplinary research and education encompassing the biological, chemical, and engineering disciplines at Rice and collaboration with colleagues at other institutions. In addition, the institute has a mission to strengthen the cross-disciplinary educational programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate levels. Members of the institute include thirty-five faculty from the Departments of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, and twenty faculty members from the Texas Medical Center. Research is carried out in the three major laboratories that make up the Institute: The Cox Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering, the Mabee Laboratory for Biochemical and Genetic Engineering, and the Grenwood Laboratory of Basic Medical Science. Faculty can be members of more than one laboratory Prof. Frederick B. Rudolph, Executive Director, (Biochemistry and Cell Biology); Prof. Larry V. McIntire, Institute Chair and Director of the Cox Laboratory. The Baker Institute is a nonpartisan, multidisciplinary public policy institute dedicated to building bridges between the worlds of action and ideas. Its research agenda covers domestic and international affairs. The institute's professional staff includes scholars in economics, political science, sociology and other fields as well as practitioners of public policy. It is endowed in the name of James A. Baker, III, 61st Secretary of State. Edward P. Djerejian, Director In 1979, a collaborating group of chemists, physicists and engineers comprising about twenty Rice faculty members formally joined forces under the name of The Rice Quantum Institute (RQI). It has grown from 20 to about 35 faculty members, and has over 100 ongoing research projects, each of which presents outstanding opportunities for graduate research in an intellectually stimulating environment. Prof. Ken Smith, Executive Director
 
 

Centers, Institutes, and Journals

The Center for Applied Psychological Systems (CAPS) is a nonprofit entity that is an integral part of the Department of Psychology and the School of Social Sciences. The mission of CAPS is to facilitate the procurement and implementation of sponsored applied research on issues of human resources management and human-machine interaction. Prof. Robert Dipboye, Director, (Psychology) The mission of the Center for Chemical Processing Technology (CCPT) is to engage Rice University faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students in the study of problems relevant to today's chemical industry; conduct collaborative research projects to solve problems of interest to Center faculty and member companies; enhance graduate and undergraduate education through interactions with chemical industry personnel; and provide a focal point for the exchange of ideas between the chemical industry and the greater Rice community. Prof. Thomas Badgwell, Director, (Chemistry) The Center for Education is a center for research and teacher development programs sharing common goals of reducing teacher isolation, reorganizing schools to make students more involved in learning, and rethinking ways to evaluate students' learning. The Center aims to identify and create links between research, policy, curriculum, learning, and school organization. Prof. Linda McNeil and Prof. Ron Sass, Co-Directors. Formerly known as the Center for Ethics, Medicine, and Public Issues, it was created in July 1982 as a joint project of Baylor College of Medicine, the Institute of Religion of the Texas Medical Center, and Rice University. While Baylor College of Medicine is primarily responsible for administering the program, the joint sponsorship of the program enables the Center to draw on the rich intellectual resources of all three institutions, even now that the Institute of Religion is no longer an official sponsor. The mandate of the Center is to develop teaching and research programs that address the moral, legal, and public policy questions raised by health care and the biomedical sciences. The Center cooperates with the philosophy department at Rice University in offering in a Ph.D. in Philosophy and Bioethics. Prof. Baruch Brody, Director, (Philosophy) This Center is organized around the study of sustainable technologies in building and construction. Issues addressed in past and present research include: Thermal Comfort, Energy Consumption, Experimental Building Structures, New Materials, and New Construction Technologies. This Center includes the Building Design Workshop and the Advanced Structures and Materials Workshop. Prof. Gordon Wittenberg, Director, (Archaeology) Rice University established the Center to serve the mutual interests of scholars and of the Southwest’s business, professional, and public service communities–public and private, manufacturing and professional, entrepreneurial and nonprofit. The Center researches, writes, and ultimately seeks publication for the scholarly histories of individual contracting leadership institutions. Prof. Emeritus Harold Hyman, Director, (History) The Rice Center for Urbanism was founded in order to describe and act upon the new and rapidly evolving relationship between the forces of global and local capital. As more and more of the decisions that shape the urban environment come from ever larger and abstract entities, the ability to intervene and control our own urban destiny is slipping away. The Center seeks to highlight this phenomenon and develop strategies that are commensurate with the present day urban realities. Prof. Albert Pope, Director, (Archaeology) The Center on the Management of Information Technology (COMIT), a component of Rice University's Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management, began its first program of activities in 1984. The center is sponsored by business and government organizations. Its objectives are to provide training, development, and continuing education for information systems professionals; to provide research opportunities for faculty and students in the area of information systems; and to promote interaction between information systems professionals and representatives of the academic community. Prof. H. Albert Napier, Director, (Jones Graduate School of Management) CML is a mathematics laboratory collaboration, involving various mathematical scientists from Computational and Applied Mathematics Department, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Mathematics Department of Rice University, and Mathematics Department of University of Houston. CML's current research efforts concern wavelet theory and its application in a variety of areas of numerical analysis and signal processing, especially the Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) program. Prof. Raymond O. Wells, Jr., Director, (Mathematics).
  The Center is a university-based research group dedicated to finding reasonable, cost-effective solutions to today’s environmental problems. The Center was established in 1986 for the purpose "of conducting research to provide more effective hazardous substance response and waste management throughout the Gulf Coast." The nine member universities of the consortium are Lamar University-Beaumont, Rice University, Louisiana State University, Mississippi State University, Texas A&M University, University of Alabama, University of Central Florida, University of Houston, and The University of Texas-Austin. Rice University has been involved in GCHSRC activities and programs through active participation in the Center's annual conference, technology transfer activities, research initiation, and proposal review. Rice faculty have also taught short courses for the GCHSRC to help the Center meet industry needs for state-of-art knowledge in environmental science and technology. Prof. C. Herb Ward, University Contact, (Environmental Science and Engineering)
  The Hazardous Substance Research Center/South and Southwest is a competitively awarded, peer-reviewed research consortium led by Louisiana State University with the cooperation of the Georgia Institute of Technology and Rice University to address critical hazardous substance problems, especially as they relate to contaminated sediments. Technical specialty areas are the remediation of contaminated sediments and dredge materials with projects focusing on in-situ chemical mobilization processes in beds and confined disposal facilities; in-situ remediation; and
in-situ detection. The Center has the ability to assemble teams of researchers that cross departmental and institutional boundaries to better address these problems. Through its training and technology transfer activities, the center disseminates information about research advances to the public and private sectors. Some of these activities include one-day regulatory update conferences, technical briefs, workshops, an annual symposium, and an annual report. Prof. C. Herb Ward, Co-Director, (Environmental Science and Engineering) The Journal of Southern History, sponsored by Rice University is published quarterly by the Southern Historical Association. The Journal circulates to more than 5000 members and libraries in the United States and foreign countries. It focuses on southern history, broadly interpreted. Issues contain scholarly articles, historical notes, book reviews, reports of the annual meetings, and news of historical interest. Contributers to the Journal include almost everyone who is doing or has done significant work in the field of southern history. Prof. John B. Boles, Managing Editor, (History) The Papers of Jefferson Davis is a documentary editing project based at Rice. From the roughly 100,000 Davis documents in their files, the project is producing a selective letterpress set that is being published by Louisiana State University Press. Nine volumes have been published thus far; the series is projected for fifteen volumes. Since this is the largest collection of Davis materials, the office also serves as a research center for scholars and others interested in the life and career of the Confederate president. Lynda L. Crist, editor and project director for the Davis Papers. The Rice Advanced Visualization Lab is located in Anderson Hall. Its primary users are members of the school of Architecture; however, it is open to all members of the Rice community. It houses high-end Macintosh, PC, and SGI workstations with specialized design and visualization software (Alias, Photoshop, Illustrator, etc). Tony Gorry, V. P. for Information Technology. The Rice Design Alliance (RDA), established in 1973, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of architecture, urban design, and the built environment in the Houston region through educational programs, the publication of Cite, and active programs to initiate physical improvements. By sponsoring lectures, seminars, symposia, exhibits, and tours, RDA seeks to involve the general public in issues related to the design of public spaces, parks, offices, retail centers, residential areas, and private homes. The organization attempts to create a public forum to stimulate discussion, involvement, and cooperation among the many groups of citizens who are able to improve the quality of life within Houston and its environs. RDA includes a broad base of Houstonians, comprising of faculty, students, and alumni from both Rice University School of Architecture and the University of Houston College of Architecture, other design professionals, and the general public. Currently RDA has 1,100 members. Linda Sylvan, Director, (School of Architecture) The Rice Engineering and Development Institute (REDDI) is a Rice University applied research institute dedicated to helping the industrial community meet its applied research needs. The faculty, staff, and students of Rice University are the staff of REDDI, and the laboratories of the university are its research facilities. REDDI projects provide a formal communication link between the university and industry, offering each a variety of benefits. Although engineering and applied science projects are the most common, REDDI projects may be established in any department on campus. Hardy Bourland, Executive Director, (School of Engineering) The Rice University Media Center was founded in 1969 by international art patrons Jean and Dominique de Menil, with the assistance of Colin Young, then chair of the UCLA Theater Arts department, and Roberto Rossellini, the premier Italian filmmaker of the post-war period. As the home of film and photography at Rice University, the founders' intent was, essentially, that the Center provide a channel through which different peoples of the world could communicate. The Media Center is part of the Department of Art & Art History. Faculty: Brian Huberman, Thomas McEvilley, Hamid Naficy, Geoff Winningham Scientia is an institute of Rice University faculty founded in 1981 by the mathematician and historian of science Salomon Bochner. Scientia provides an opportunity for scholarly discussion across disciplinary boundaries; its members and fellows come from a wide-range of academic disciplines. Scientia sponsors an annual series of colloquia devoted to the exploration of a broad topic from a variety of points of view. These colloquia are open to the general public.
Prof. Bob O’Dell, Acting Director, (Space Physics and Astronomy). Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 is a quarterly journal of historical and critical studies, published by Rice University. Each issue is devoted to one of four fields, and includes an article reviewing books recently published in that field. The themes are English Renaissance, Tudor and Stuart Drama, Restoration and Eighteenth Century, and Nineteenth Century. Robert L. Patten, Editor, (English) The Superfund University Training Institute (SUTI) offers training courses designed for remedial project managers and site supervisory personnel as part of the OSC/RPM support program. Courses include ground water investigations, bioremediation of contaminated solid, subsurface and ground water modeling, transport and fate of contaminants in the subsurface, and bioremediation of contaminated ground water. Prof. C.H. Ward, Director (Environmental Science and Engineering) Major research programs at Rice University are supported by several institutes. The Wetland Center for Biogeochemical Research is part of the Earth Systems Division of the Energy and Environmental Systems Institute. This Institute originated in 1991 in order to coordinate energy and the environmental research in various departments of science, engineering, public policy, and computing. The Wetland Center for Biogeochemical Research offers regular courses within the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Rice. Prof. Ronald Sass, Director of the Earth Systems Division, (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology)
 
 

Consortia Administered by Rice

The Center for Research on Parallel Computation (CRPC) is one of the National Science Foundation's 25 Science and Technology Centers. Headquartered at Rice, it is a national consortium of more than 400 researchers, support staff, and graduate students. The consortium includes seven core sites and nine affiliated sites. The CRPC was established in 1989 to make massively parallel computing systems as usable as conventional supercomputing systems are today. CRPC researchers have already developed several influential technologies to make parallel computing truly usable: parallel versions of common programming languages, technologies for making different computers work together, parallel versions of common science and industry applications, and "templates" that enable scientists and engineers with limited programming experience to develop their own customized parallel programs. Prof. Ken Kennedy, Director. (Computer Science) This is a research facility funded by the Department of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers, Waterways Experiment Station (WES) through the Energy and Environmental Systems Institute at Rice University. The participating University Research Centers include Stanford University, The University of Texas, Rice University, Lamar University, University of Waterloo, and Louisiana State University. The DOD/AATDF is supported by five state-of-the-art consulting engineering firms, along with advisory groups from the DOD, industry and commercialization interests. The AATDF program forms a critically important and unique bridge between academic research and industrial development and practice of environmental remediation technology. The mission of the DOD/AATDF is to develop the quantitative performance and economic data required for commercial and/or government application of innovative technologies for the remediation of DOD sites. Prof. C. Herb Ward, Director, (Environmental Science and Engineering) The National Center for Ground Water Research (NCGWR) is a consortium of Rice University, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, and The University of Texas at Austin. Founded in 1979 it is funded by multiple sources of which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is a major source. Its research focus includes transport and transformation of chemicals in the subsurface; subsurface monitoring and characterization; microbial ecology of the subsurface; ground water/surface water interactions; ground water quality protection; subsurface restoration; and decision support systems for ground water quality management. Prof. C. Herb Ward, Director, (Environmental Science and Engineering) The Keck Center brings together computational, physical, and biological scientists in a stimulating and nurturing environment for the development and training of a new type of scientist—one who can incorporate theory, simulation, and experiment to expand our understanding of modern biological problems. Students are provided an intellectual environment for considering problems that transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries, and they have access to training opportunities with mentors in different disciplines. Vice Pres.Tony Gorry, Administrative Co-Director, (Information Technology). Source: Records are maintained by the individual departments and faculty members associated with each institute. Descriptive information was compiled from the Rice University web site; other web sites; phone calls to departmental administrators and faculty; and faxed copies of brochures.


Fondren Library

The scope of Fondren Library's collection is broad with coverage in art, architecture, history, literature, music, philosophy, languages, economics, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering. Rare books, manuscripts and university archives are in the Woodson Research Center. The library is a selective depository for U.S. and Texas government publications and a depository for U.S. patents and trademarks. The Electronic Text Center is a research facility in the Fondren Library, established in 1995, designed to help Rice faculty and students incorporate computer-based textual information into their research, study, and teaching and publish their own work electronically. RICE, the Regional Information and Communication Exchange, is a comprehensive information service available for the Houston area community.

The Fondren Library subscribes to approximately 14,000 current journals and houses over 2,010,000 volumes. Satellite collections include the Business Information Center and the Brown Fine Arts Library. The library uses the Sirsi software system for its online catalog. Several dozen journal indexes are available to the Rice community only via RiceInfo, the campus wide information system. The Fondren Library also subscribes to the a wide variety of online fulltext journals, which are also found on RiceInfo.. For more information on the Fondren Library Collections view http://riceinfo.rice.edu/Fondren/Info/collections.html.

Source: This information was accessed from the automated library systems for catalog and acquisitions, Collection Development and Electronic Information Resources.


Varsity Athletic Facilities and Other Athletic Facilities
(as of August 31, 1998)

Descriptions of the Rice varsity athletic facilities can be found at www.riceowls.com/facilities. The capacity of Cameron Field (baseball) will double when Rice completes the building of a new, state-of-the-art baseball stadium in time for the 2000 season. The stadium, to be built on the side of the Owl’s current home, Cameron Field, will seat 3,427 in the main grandstand. Temporary bleachers will bring the total capacity to 5,667, enabling the Owls to host NCAA regional tournaments and other major events. The recreational facilities (gymnasium, courts, etc.) of the Department of Human Performance and Health Science were named in its Recreational Facilities For Faculty, Staff and Students 1998-99 Schedule.

Sources: In addition to the web site, this information was accessed from paper records, maintained in the Athletic Department by the Assistant Athletic Director, Media Relations; and from records maintained in the Department of Human Performance and Health Sciences by the Department Manager.


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