Company Profile
Rice University
Company Overview
Boasting a 300-acre tree-lined campus in Houston, Rice University is ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has a 6-to-1 undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio, and a residential college system, which supports students intellectually, emotionally and culturally through social events, intramural sports, student plays, lectures series, courses and student government. Developing close-knit, diverse college communities is a strong campus tradition, which is why Rice is highly ranked for best quality of life and best value among private universities.
Company History
On May 18, 1891, Massachusetts-born businessman William Marsh Rice chartered the William Marsh Rice Institute for the Advancement of Literature, Science and Art as a gift to the city of Houston, where he made his fortune. The terms of the charter required that work on the new institute would begin only after Rice’s death.
On Sept. 23, 1900, Rice was chloroformed to death by his valet, Charlie Jones, who had conspired with an unscrupulous lawyer, Albert Patrick, to murder the aging millionaire and claim his estate using a forged will. When an autopsy ordered by Rice’s attorney, Captain James A. Baker, revealed evidence of poisoning, Jones agreed to provide state's evidence in return for immunity from prosecution. Patrick was convicted of murder and sent to Sing Sing. He was pardoned in 1912, the same year that classes began at the Rice Institute.
In 1907, the trustees of the Rice Institute acted upon the recommendation of Woodrow Wilson (then president of Princeton) and named astronomer and mathematician Edgar Odell Lovett the first president of Rice. Lovett called for the establishment of a university “of the highest grade,” “an institution of liberal and technical learning” devoted “quite as much investigation as to instruction.” [We must] “keep the standards up and the numbers down,” declared Lovett. “The most distinguished teachers must take their part in undergraduate teaching, and their spirit should dominate it all.”
The Rice Institute opened on Sept. 23, 1912, the anniversary of Mr. Rice’s murder, with 77 students enrolled in that initial academic year taught by a dozen faculty. An international academic festival celebrated the opening three weeks later, a spectacular event that brought Rice to the attention of the entire scholarly world. Four years later, at the initial commencement, 35 bachelor's degrees and one master's degree were awarded, with the first doctorate conferred in 1918.
Benefits
Rice University offers a wide array of benefits and perks, including medical and dental coverage for you and your family, disability coverage, flexible spending accounts, retirement plans, and generous time-off programs. These not only enhance your financial security and well-being but also add significantly to your total compensation.
In order to help you balance work and life, Rice also offers an Employee Assistance Program, child care and back-up child care services, and a wellness program to encourage a healthier lifestyle. The Recreation Center also has a number of programs and activities available to Rice staff to promote and maintain active and healthy living. And as an institution of higher education, Rice encourages learning and ongoing education for the staff with various tuition programs.
Besides the traditional employee benefits, other perks offered to Rice employees include musical offerings from the Shepherd School of Music, full access to the Fondren Library, and free and/or reduced cost to Rice University athletic events. If you would like to take a look at the Rice University campus, please take a few minutes and visit us by taking a virtual tour at http://www.rice.edu/virtualtours/.
Our total rewards compensation package, or what we call the value of working at Rice, includes a range of benefits easily viewed on our Benefits and Compensation page at https://people.rice.edu/benefitsandcompensation.