Bringing Houston To Rice Business Students
For all Rice Business students, interacting with Houston -- the fourth largest and most diverse city in the country – is an essential part of the program. A roster of short elective courses allows our students to learn directly from the city’s top-tier business leaders on key emerging business topics. These immersive, experiential short courses cover topics such as digital disruption in financial services, block chain as a new economic infrastructure, building the data-driven firm, SQL for managers, and commercial real estate in the new economy.
“A benefit of sitting in Houston is our ability to tap phenomenal business leaders to bring their perspective and expertise to our students,” Ostdiek said. “At Rice Business, we are able to blend a small, intimate, elite university environment with this vibrant commercial center. We make a point of bringing Houston to the students.”
Rice Business fortifies this classroom experience with hands-on work. “Our students apply what they’ve learned on messy real world problems,” Ostdiek said. Second year Rice Business students can choose from a roster of specialized “lab” courses where small teams work on real problems for corporate clients or, in some cases, the students’ own new product ideas or business acquisition initiatives. Among these courses are the Wright Fund, a student-led investment fund, the Athena marketing group, and labs focused on health care operations, supply chain challenges, international energy entrepreneurship, new enterprises, and enterprise acquisition.
Prepares You For A Range Of Opportunities
Rice Business also prioritizes diversity. Both research data and practical experience agree: 21st century business leaders need to be able to interact with a range of colleagues, economies, resources and cultures. Our program includes a required Global Field Experience that includes consulting with companies and organizations in the host country. Students also have the option of studying abroad at a broad network of partner institutions.
On campus, the small student body ensures that professors know your name – and students from an array of backgrounds become lifelong colleagues. All are eligible to tap the Doerr Institute for New Leadership for free, expert coaching on professional and personal development. To Dominic Smith, class of 2020, this Rice Business network was crucial preparation for his new position at Wells Fargo as an investment banking associate.
"I am most proud of being selected to work in the Wright Fund," Smith said. The rigorous student-led equity fund, he said, thoroughly prepared him not only for investment banking -- but a range of other possible career paths. Meanwhile, outside the classroom, as Co-President of the Black Business Student Association, Smith joined his classmates in creating an innovative business case contest for local second graders. In addition to prepping and judging the students, Smith said, his team has set up a meeting for the second graders with executives from a Fortune 100 company. The topic? Their own goals as 21st century business leaders.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Interested in learning more about the MBA programs offered by Rice Business? Send us an email at ricemba@rice.edu.