With this message, we are establishing our commitment to sustainability as an overarching policy that spans all facets of the university’s actions. Today we would like to focus specifically on a series of announcements related to how we manage our endowment, to our operational environmental commitment on campus, to supporting environmental research, and finally to fostering student leadership. By making these commitments we are placing investments in the environment as one of the university’s highest funding priorities. Many of the actions we describe below will require significant financial investment and we will need to determine how best to secure necessary resources and prioritize them among other university endeavors. Moreover, funding research and education initiatives in sustainability and climate change will be a significant part of our ongoing “Be Bold” capital campaign. Read the full pledge
Research provides the foundation for change. As one of the nation’s leading wide-spectrum research universities, we seek to elevate our research accomplishment to the highest level to advance human knowledge and creativity, and make vital contributions to the betterment of our world. New technologies, applications, and insights achieved will allow us to bring greater prosperity and well-being.
Innovation efforts involve bringing the brightest minds from Rice’s research labs together to learn, apply, and accelerate their knowledge of translating research into breakthrough solutions to real-world problems. This includes improving how we live, how we work, and how our world and society can meet the challenges of the future. This dedicated effort is being made to leverage Rice's world-class research community, thriving entrepreneurship programming, top-ranked degree programs and talented undergraduate and graduate student body to advance and grow the institution's innovation portfolio.
Not long after assuming office as the eighth president of Rice University, Reginald DesRoches named research and innovation at Rice as top priorities. He aims to enable Rice to reach a new level of distinction nationally and internationally for impactful research, award-wining scholarship and insightful creative work.
In August DesRoches announced a new vice president for research, Ramamoorthy Ramesh. Ramesh will oversee the institution’s internal and external research ventures. He will partner with Rice’s senior leadership — together with deans, faculty and staff — to bolster the university’s research infrastructure, and propel productivity and impact to new heights. Key goals are to strengthen Rice’s reputation as a center of increasingly impactful and broad-based interdisciplinary research and scholarship across the breadth of the university.
Also in August, Paul Cherukuri was appointed to a new role of vice president for innovation. As the chief innovation officer, Paul will lead Rice’s technology and commercialization infrastructure to translate breakthrough discoveries into inventions for the benefit of society. The primary areas of focus for the Office of Innovation will be technology translation, startup creation, commercialization and entrepreneurship training. Cherukuri will also oversee Rice’s engagement with the Ion, including the university's programs in the newly inaugurated innovation district. This new role is part of the new administration’s goals for Rice to be a leader within the Houston and global innovation ecosystems.
Rice University is one of the nation’s leading research universities. With just over 7,500 undergraduate and graduate students, Rice produces $181 million in sponsored projects annually. These projects span a broad spectrum of academic areas and work toward solving pressing problems across the globe.
