Letter From the Dean

The beginning of every school year holds immense promise, and this year is no different. While the last 18 months have tested our resolve — and the last month has reminded us that change is constant — we have persevered and stayed the course. This fall we welcome the inaugural cohort of undergraduate business majors, and with our second year of enrolling a larger full-time MBA class of approximately 180, there are more students in McNair Hall than ever before — a signal of great things for the school and our reach into the business community.

With more students in the building, our top priority remains the health and safety of all members of the Rice Business community.

We’re making adjustments for the fall semester because of the surge in Delta variant cases, but our situation is better today than what we faced a year ago. With safety precautions in place, we hope to see each other face to face again — or at least the top half of our faces — by the time you read this.

In May, I met with the school’s senior leadership team and more than 40 members from the dean’s suite, faculty council, department coordinators and business leaders to discuss an effort to chart the future of the school and put a plan together. We were all in agreement that this is necessary and important. We’re calling the project Strategy and Vision 2030. It’s a complex undertaking with an ambitious timeline that will require everyone’s help and support. I’ll keep you informed of our progress as we go.

It is my great pleasure to introduce another edition of the Rice Business magazine. This publication, over all the others, strives to keep you informed about our ideas, accomplishments, alums doing good and new faces (meet our most recent faculty here). Most significant to me, however, is its ability to keep us connected even when circumstances have kept us apart. Please enjoy the stories in these pages.

— Peter