Rundown

Commencement

In May, more than 500 MBA students walked the stage at Tudor Fieldhouse, representing the breadth of our six MBA programs — including the Hybrid MBA, which welcomed its first graduating class this year. We also celebrated the undergraduates who became alumni of the newly named Virani Undergraduate School of Business, now home to 178 undergraduate alumni.

Our MAcc program launched skilled accountants into global firms, and our Ph.D. program continues to produce groundbreaking research scholars every year.

Here’s to the graduates of 2025 — and to the faculty who led them. 

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Dean’s Distinguished Visiting Fellow

Rice Business welcomed Semyon Malamud, associate professor of finance at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, as the 2025 Dean’s Distinguished Visiting Fellow. During his week on campus, Malamud shared insights from his research on complex rational expectations equilibria, exploring how machine learning (ML) reshapes information acquisition, price informativeness and return predictability in financial markets.

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This spring, we crossed a remarkable milestone: our 10,000th graduate.

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The Jones Graduate School of Business was established in 1974 with a gift from Houston Endowment, and by 1975, we could count eight graduates among the business alumni body. Over the next 50 years, every diploma from the Jones School — and today, the Virani Undergraduate School of Business — symbolizes both individual achievement and the strength of a community that continues to grow in numbers, vision and ambition.

Here’s to lifelong mentorship, a strong alumni network and paving the way for the next 10,000.

Faculty Events

In September, Rice Business hosted the Conference on the Role of Accounting and Information Frictions in Microenterprises, bringing together leading scholars from around the world to explore how gaps in accounting and information shape entrepreneurship. The conference was co-organized by accounting professor K. Ramesh and doctoral student Marcela Aguilar, along with Regina Wittenberg Moerman (Northwestern University) and Rimmy Tomy (University of Chicago). Keynote addresses by Dean Karlan (Northwestern) and Jonathan Morduch (NYU) framed a series of wide-ranging discussions. Topics included the unintended exclusionary effects of global accounting standards in informal credit markets, the role of accountants in helping small- and medium-sized enterprises navigate macroeconomic shocks, and the influence of local content rules on taxation and development outcomes in resource-rich economies.

The conference highlighted cutting-edge research and fostered new collaborations across disciplines. Deputy Dean Jing Zhou delivered closing remarks, underscoring Rice Business’ leadership in advancing scholarship on entrepreneurship and economic development.

Congratulations to the Rice Business faculty members who were honored with teaching and research awards this past spring.

Building for the Future

The countdown is on: The new building next to McNair Hall is on track for completion in summer 2026. Designed to address our unprecedented growth in both undergrad and graduate programs, the new building has larger classrooms, faculty offices and event spaces. Recent construction milestones include completed electrical, plumbing and concrete work, with windows now framing the atrium — an airy, light-filled space enclosing Woodson Courtyard. We look forward to welcoming you there soon.

Watch the building’s progress and learn more about giving opportunities at futureofbusiness.rice.edu.

The Virani Undergraduate School of Business Celebrates One-Year Anniversary

Associate Dean Named

Rice Business is pleased to announce that Bob Dittmar, the Houston Endowment Professor of Finance, has been appointed associate dean of the Virani Undergraduate School of Business, effective July 1.

Dittmar, who joined Rice Business in 2023, brings a distinguished record of research, teaching and academic leadership to the new role. His work in asset pricing, financial market frictions and macrofinancial linkages has been widely published in top academic journals. Prior to Rice, he served on the faculty at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.

Undergraduate Leadership

• Natalia Piqueira —­ Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Programs at the Virani Undergraduate School of Business, Assistant Clinical Professor of Finance
• John Wisneski ­— Executive Director of Student Experience and Career Develop- ment at the Virani Undergraduate School of Business, Assistant Clinical Professor of Organizational Behavior
• Jeffrey Russell — Lecturer in Communication, Undergraduate Business Co-Advisor at the Virani Undergraduate School of Business
• Jonathan Miles — Assistant Clinical Professor of Management — Organizational Behavior, Undergraduate Business Co-Advisor at the Virani Undergraduate School of Business, Undergraduate Business Minor Advisor
• Danielle Riley — Director, Specialty Programs
• Kelly Keyes — Associate Director of Specialty Programs

Current Majors and Minors by Class

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Throughout the year, Rice Business has celebrated the Virani family (pictured below from left: Faraz ’21, Zoya, Asha ’89 and Farid Virani) and the newly named Virani Undergraduate School of Business with students, faculty, staff, school leaders and community members.

"Our undergraduate business program stands on the shoulders of a graduate school with decades of distinction. The same faculty who’ve shaped leaders in our MBA classrooms bring that same rigor, insight and real-world relevance to students in the Virani Undergraduate School of Business. This program may be young, but it’s built on a legacy of excellence.” 
— Peter Rodriguez, Dean