Take a moment to consider it: every business relies on accounting information. There are no exceptions! Accounting is absolutely required for businesses to evaluate their performance, make informed decisions, and plan for the future.

Because financial reporting is essential for organizations of every stripe, accountants – from the entry level to the senior executive level – are always in demand.

If you become fluent in the language of accounting, you will have job opportunities that others simply don’t. And regardless of advances in technology, you can rest assured that accounting will always be needed, so the demand for accountants isn’t going away.

Great Immediate Job Prospects

Regardless of your undergraduate major or background, the Rice Master of Accounting (MAcc) degree can transform your career trajectory. Your immediate job opportunities are varied and plentiful.

Over the past four years, our Rice MAcc job placement rate by 3 months after graduation has been 100%. In fact, even in these current uncertain economic times, nearly all the students in our current Rice MAcc cohort have already accepted full-time jobs for after their graduation. And these students’ graduation date isn’t until May 2021! This means they’ve finalized their post-MAcc job just three months into the program.

Most Rice MAcc grads choose to take their first job with a public accounting firm, including Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC. Others opt for jobs in corporate accounting, consulting, banking and not-for-profits.

Ever-Expanding Long-Term Job Opportunities

As a Rice MAcc graduate, your job prospects continue to grow. The longer that you work in most professions, the more specialized your skill set and the narrower your job opportunities become. But the opposite is true in accounting, where your work experience actually makes you more versatile and in demand across different industries and sectors. This flexibility allows for professional satisfaction and job security as you move through your lifelong career.

• CEO
• CFO
• Audit Partner
• Executive Vice President
• Controller
• Head of Strategy and Planning
• Managing Director

The above list is a sample of the job titles of our experienced Rice MAcc alum. While their titles are diverse, what they have in common is their high level of seniority.

Does an accounting-based career sound like it’s for you? Contact us at ricemacc@rice.edu! We would love to share more information with you about the benefits of pursuing a graduate accounting degree at Rice.

A Rice University professor is among three researchers who have won the 2020 Moskowitz Prize awarded by Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management for their work showing how shareholders can positively influence a company’s environmental impact.

The winning paper, “The Real Effects of Environmental Activist Investing,” was written by Kunal Sachdeva, an assistant professor of finance at Rice’s Jones School of Business, and his co-authors from the London Business School, assistant professor Lakshmi Naaraayanan and doctoral student Varun Sharma.

The Moskowitz Prize is awarded each year “to the paper best representing outstanding research on sustainable and responsible investing and the financial implications of responsible business practices in capital markets,” according to the prize’s website. It is named in honor of the late Milton Moskowitz, one of the field’s most innovative investigators.
 

“We are honored to receive the Moskowitz Prize,” Sachdeva said. “Mr. Milton was a pioneer who fervently pushed for corporate social responsibility in his lifetime. Research on sustainable finance is of the utmost urgency and importance worldwide. We hope this research contributes to our understanding of how investors can influence change”

The authors said their research fills a fundamental gap in understanding the real effects of climate-focused environmental activism — especially the willingness and ability of shareholders to influence corporate environmental behavior and the impact it has on local communities.

The paper analyzed the Boardroom Accountability Project (BAP), an activist campaign initiated by the New York City Comptroller’s Office and supported by three of the four largest pension funds in the U.S., with over $650 billion in assets under management.

The BAP was designed to hold the boards of portfolio companies accountable to their long-term shareholders on a number of issues, including climate change. Sachdeva and the research team assessed the campaign’s success based on changes in corporate environmental behavior.

After analyzing 62 firms designated by the BAP, the authors found the companies’ plants reduced their toxic chemical release by an average of 13%, while also reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and cancer-causing pollution. The authors argue that firms reduce pollution more effectively through abatement initiatives rather than changes to production.

The authors say their research shows one catalyst for a successful climate-focused campaign may be a lead activist and a coordinated effort. Putting pressure on management through proxy access, through which long-term shareholders can nominate directors, provides the ability to monitor and discipline investors.

Rice University and its Jones Graduate School of Business have the No. 1 graduate entrepreneurship program in the U.S., according to the 2021 rankings announced today by the Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine. This marks the second consecutive year the Rice program has topped this category, its fifth time in a top 3 position nationally and the 12th year in a row ranked in the top 10.

The Princeton Review tallied its 2021 rankings based on a survey of leaders at more than 300 schools offering entrepreneurship studies. The 60-question survey covered the schools’ commitment to entrepreneurship studies inside and outside the classroom. Topics included the percentage of students taking entrepreneurship courses, the number and reach of mentorship programs, the number of startups founded by recent alumni and the cash prizes offered at school-sponsored business plan competitions.

In all, more than 40 data points were analyzed to develop the rankings, which will be published in the December issue of Entrepreneur.

Rice’s current offerings are university-wide and encompass renowned student- and community-facing efforts, from the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, which launched in 2000, to OwlSpark Accelerator in 2012 and the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Lilie) in 2015.

“Entrepreneurship and the creation of new businesses and industries are critical to Houston and Texas’ future prosperity and quality of life,” Rice Business Dean Peter Rodriguez said. “Earning the top spot again this year and our decades-long leadership in entrepreneurship education, anchored by Lilie Lab, and outreach, anchored by the Rice Alliance, is a testament to our visionary and world-class faculty, the enormous success of the Rice Business Plan Competition and of our commitment to our students and the community we serve.”

Skills to succeed in a new world

Lilie equips students, faculty and alumni with entrepreneurial skills and the entrepreneurial mindset through experiential courses, co-curricular opportunities and resources for founders such as coworking space, mentorship and equity-free funding.  Lilie’s mission is to bring Rice innovations and startups to the world.

Lilie is a cross-disciplinary initiative, expanding the entrepreneurial resources at the business school and beyond to the entire Rice campus. Lilie has built its programming off the groundwork laid by Rice Business, which established one of the first graduate programs to offer entrepreneurial studies. Founded in 1978 under the direction of the late economist Edward E. Williams and expanded with the help of entrepreneurship professor Al Napier, Lilie’s faculty – 89% of whom are entrepreneurs – deliver 30-plus entrepreneurship courses and an entrepreneurship minor.

Lilie’s year culminates with the university’s new venture competition, the H. Albert Napier Rice Launch Challenge, in which Rice-founded teams compete for $65,000 in equity-free prizes.

Lilie is led by Yael Hochberg, the Ralph S. O’Connor Professor in Entrepreneurship and Professor of Finance at Rice Business. Hochberg is among the leading experts on accelerator programs and entrepreneurial ecosystems and serves as managing director of the annual Seed Accelerator Rankings Project.

Powering Houston’s success

The Rice Alliance, led by managing director Brad Burke, brings startups and investors from around the world to Houston and Rice. The Rice Alliance’s activities serve the Houston entrepreneurial and investment community with nationally recognized events brought to the city. More than 2,500 startups that have been showcased at the alliance’s events have gone on to raise more than $8 billion in funding.

Over 52,000 investors and corporate and industry leaders have participated in Rice Alliance in Technology Venture Forums in energy and clean tech, digital technology and life sciences and other programs. In September, with support of the major energy corporations, the Rice Alliance announced the launch of the new Rice Clean Energy Accelerator to support the energy transition to more sustainable energy sources.

The alliance’s flagship event is the annual Rice Business Plan Competition, which is the world’s richest and largest student startup competition. Startups from across the globe – including one team from Rice – compete in front of over 300 investor and industry judges. The competition awarded more than $1.3 million in prizes in 2020.

“Entrepreneurship and the creation of new businesses and industries are critical to Houston and Texas’ future prosperity and quality of life, Rodriguez said.

Rice is currently working with Houston and major corporations and organizations, such as the Texas Medical Center and NASA, to define and develop the future of technology and industry innovation in the city, and is developing the Midtown innovation district anchored by The Ion, which is scheduled to open in spring 2021.

To view the complete rankings, visit https://www.princetonreview.com/business-school-rankings?rankings=top-25-entrepreneurship-grad.

The 18th annual Veterans Day ceremony Nov. 11 honored three veterans and one active-duty service member among the Rice community: Terry Graham, manager of learning spaces in the Office of Information Technology, who served in the Marines; alumnus William Pannill ’62, who served in the Army Reserve and Marines; Matthew Manriquez, a student in the Jones Graduate School of Business who served in the Army; and Jones College senior Charlie Wannall, a midshipman in the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps.

The full ceremony, which took place on the Central Quad outside the Rice Memorial Center, can be viewed online at Rice’s YouTube page. 

Life science investors, leaders and innovators from around the world gathered virtually to discuss the pandemic, medical technology and the future of the industry at the Texas Life Science Forum, where Houston companies claimed top honors.

The forum, co-hosted by BioHouston and the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, is one of the premier life science venture capital conferences in the U.S. It featured pitches by 40 companies developing innovative solutions in medical devices, digital health, diagnostics, pharmaceuticals and therapeutics. The presenting companies — about half of which are Houston-based — have already raised more than $275 million in funding.

Starling Medical won the Michael E. DeBakey Memorial Life Science Award, established by BioHouston in honor of the groundbreaking Houston cardiovascular surgeon. The Houston digital health device company is revolutionizing severe bladder dysfunction management with artificial intelligence.

Ten other entries were chosen by investors as the Rice Alliance Most Promising Life Science Companies, presented by the Greater Houston Partnership. They are:

• Droice Labs, New York, is an AI/big data company that helps match patients to therapies by delivering personalized medicine at scale.
• SFA Therapeutics, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, is developing oral drugs for treating conditions of chronic inflammation that have the potential to change the practice of medicine.
• Hummingbird Bioscience, Houston, pursues challenging targets that play a key role in disease yet have not been effectively drugged; its work includes 12 therapies in various stages of development, four of which have the potential to revolutionize their fields.
• CaseCTRL, Houston, is a management platform for surgeons, providing software-as-a-service technology that uses AI and logistics to lower operational costs and simplify surgical planning.
• Perimeter Medical, Dallas, is driven to transform cancer surgery with advanced, real-time, ultrahigh-resolution imaging tools including AI to address areas of unmet medical need.
• Studio Bahia, San Antonio, provides an accessible model for therapy in addressing mental health crises from the pandemic.
• Tvardi Therapeutics, Houston, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of small molecule, STAT3 inhibitors.
• Koda Health, Houston, uses AI to help guide difficult conversations in health care, starting with end-of-life care planning.
• ImmunoGenesis, Houston, is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing therapeutics to catalyze effective immune responses in immunologically “cold” cancers such as prostate, colorectal and pancreatic.
• Ictero Medical, Houston, is developing the first minimally invasive cryoablation solution to treat patients with gallstone disease.

Financial support for the forum was supported by the Texas Medical Center and Insperity.

Hometown: Sherman, TX

Fun Fact About Yourself: I played Glinda the Good Witch in the Broadway National Tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Wizard of Oz. We traveled all over North America and performed eight times a week! Job highlights included flying from the rafters into Munchkinland, exploring new cities every week, and chatting with kids at the stage door.

Undergraduate School and Major: Rice University, Vocal Performance

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: I just wrapped a movie for The Hallmark Channel. It certainly wasn’t your typical last role prior to beginning an MBA, but it was a great send off into a new adventure.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of the school’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? I am what is fondly known as a Rice Twicer. I attended Rice as an undergrad, and when I decided to pursue my MBA, Rice was at the top of my list. I think that the combination of exceptional academics and focus on maintaining a supportive and kind community is what makes Rice so unique compared to other peer schools. I wanted a program where asking questions is encouraged, and succeeding is a collaborative undertaking. I knew from experience that Rice was that kind of place.

What club or activity excites you most at this school? During my first conversation with the Rice Admissions team I learned about the Board Fellows program. It is a program that matches current MBA students with local non-profits, and allows them to serve as board members. When I worked in the arts, I saw the amount of man-power it takes to sustain non-profits, and I wanted to help! I never imagined myself having the power to impact organizations at the board level, and I am thrilled at the thought of what is possible. I also have recently begun playing golf (after a very lucky purchase of some great clubs on Facebook Marketplace for $20), and I hope to pick-up a few pointers from my fellow classmates in the Golf Club.

What makes you most excited about getting your MBA at Rice? What makes you most nervous about starting business school? The thing that excites me most about pursuing an MBA is also what makes me most nervous. I am embarking on a completely new chapter of my life and career by transitioning from the performing arts into the business world. I am confident that Rice is the kind of place that can support a shift of this magnitude, and I look forward to getting started!

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My favorite career accomplishment was the first time I went behind the camera, and created a project from start-to-finish. I worked with a small team to create, write, produce, and perform in a web series designed for Instagram. (This was before IGTV, and it was one of the first scripted series created for the platform.) The inspiration for the show came from our own experiences trying to break into the entertainment business. It explored the idea that appearances aren’t always what they seem, especially on social media.

Soon, what began as a purely artistic endeavor turned into a crash course in social media marketing and brand management. We aggregated 10,000+ followers in under eight months, and received hundreds of messages from young women who were inspired by our story.

It was very fulfilling to grow something from nothing, and to see the impact it had on people’s lives. Authentic story-telling and a willingness to adapt were the hallmarks of our success, and I am proud of the community we were able to build in such a short time.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? In the last few years, I started exploring my skills outside of the performing arts. The experience of building a brand around my web series was the first of these explorations. I also co-founded a distribution company, and began importing fine spirits to Canada. These first ventures into entrepreneurship were exciting and gave me confidence in my current skill set. However, they also showed me where I had room to grow, and made me want to learn more. When I realized I was more excited about my entrepreneurial efforts than my next acting gig, I knew I was ready to focus my attention on business full time.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? UT Dallas, UT McCombs, Vanderbilt (but I knew Rice was the place for me!)

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? It was challenging for me to reframe my experience as an artist into something that was relevant to business school. Fortunately, Rice connected me to a current MBA student from a similar background who generously helped me navigate the process (“Rice is nice” is not just a saying!). Overall, I found that the admissions process encouraged me to dig deeper into why I wanted my career to change, in what ways, and how I was going to make it happen. The questions asked in the interviews and on the applications helped me to define my goals, and gave me a lot of clarity moving forward.

What have you been doing to prepare yourself for business school? I have been working through several Coursera courses on Excel and Finance. I have also reached out to people in my network who have strong careers in business, especially those in my desired post-graduate industry. Given my background in the arts, I am working to learn as much as possible about different industries and careers prior to beginning the program.

What was your defining moment and how did it prepare you for business school? One of the most defining moments of my life was when I left the small, Texas town I grew up in to attend Interlochen, an arts boarding school in Michigan. My classmates were diverse and eclectic, and we all came together in this tiny, remote place to practice, study, and be immersed in our chosen art form.  It was an immense period of growth for me, and an experience that changed the course of my life. The courage to seek out new opportunities, ability to adapt to new circumstances, and focus on building strong relationships were a few of the skills I developed at Interlochen that I hope will continue to serve me at business school.

What is the most important attribute that you are seeking in an MBA employer? Why? I hope to work for a company that prioritizes people. During the current pandemic, it has been enlightening to see how different companies have interacted with their employees and customers. I want to be proud of the company I work for. I also want to feel confident that, while they are successful as a business, they aren’t doing it at the expense of their communities, customers, or employees.

Pretend you have just graduated from business school. What will you need to have done to make your experience successful? Being a full-time student is an amazing opportunity to take stock of your life, skills, and career, and decide what comes next. I hope to take advantage of this time, and enthusiastically explore every opportunity that presents itself. When I am finished with my degree, I want to have investigated every option, talked to everyone I can find, and found a new role that values the combination of creativity and technical skills I will have developed as an artist and an MBA graduate.

“Growth-minded leader, committed to helping people and organizations in creating solutions to tomorrow’s challenges.”

Hometown: Houston, TX

Fun Fact About Yourself: I love experiencing other cultures. I’ve visited 13 countries throughout Africa, Asia, and Europe, including the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona.

Undergraduate School and Major: Texas Christian University ‘12, B.S. Political Science

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Houston Independent School District, Program Administrator

Aside from your classmates, what. was the key part of the school’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? Rice has the #1 Graduate Entrepreneurship program in the country and is internationally recognized for producing talented entrepreneurs. For example, the Rice Business Plan Competition (the richest and largest of its kind) is just one of the unique opportunities Rice Business creates to maximize its MBA’s growth. I look forward to being a part of the next generation of entrepreneurs to improve the way we live and work, our standards of living, and to create social change.

What club or activity excites you most at this school? Rice Business Board Fellows is another opportunity that really made Rice standout in my eyes. The opportunity to give back and gain experience at the board level is something I will pursue throughout my career and the ability to start while pursuing my MBA is exciting!

What makes you most excited about getting your MBA at Rice? What makes you most nervous about starting business school?  Besides the privilege of attending one of the premier institutions in the country, I value Rice’s small class size because it allows MBA students to build strong relationships with classmates. As the saying goes, “it’s not what you know, it’s who…”

As far as what makes me most nervous, I think COVID-19 has disrupted all our lives in some capacity. That unknown probably brings about the most anxiety for me, but focusing on the things I can control has helped a lot!

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest accomplishment has probably been leading the Urban Leaders Fellowship in Denver. I fundraised and negotiated $60k in funding and led 30 mid-career professionals through a seven-week fellowship focused on community organizing and leadership at non-profit organizations.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? After eight years in education I was ready to take my career to the next level. Experiences like leading the Urban Leaders Fellowship and learning how our partner organizations were doing powerful work in communities allowed me to see business as an impactful pathway.

I knew grad school was in my future, but guidance from MBA alums and organizations like The Consortium helped make the pathway of business education a reality.

What other MBA programs did you apply to?  McCombs School of Business – University of Texas at Austin

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? The “Tell me about yourself” question was so important for me to refine as a “non-traditional” business school applicant. It took a couple of iterations to translate my education, political, and the non-profit experience in ways that highlighted my transferable skills adequately.

What have you been doing to prepare yourself for business school? As a Consortium Fellow, I had the opportunity to attend a diversity recruiting conference with some of my classmates, which was a great opportunity to meet, learn, and even interview with some top-tier companies. Our Career Development Office at Rice was so supportive before, during, and after the conference which just confirmed why I chose Rice.

I also spent a lot of time reaching out to current and former MBA students and business leaders to better understand their experience in business school and explore different business functions and industries.

Finally, I spent some time on MBAMath.com to brush up on business related quant skills.

What was your defining moment and how did it prepare you for business school? One of my defining moments was immediately after undergrad when I committed to serve as an educator in low income communities through Teach for America.  

The five years I spent in the classroom prepared me for business school by grounding my professional experience in a fast-paced, high-stakes, relationships-first environment. I look forward to applying the interpersonal communication and organizational development skills I learned in education to the business world.

What is the most important attribute that you are seeking in an MBA employer? Why? Professional growth through opportunity and mentorship. I want to work for an organization that prioritizes challenges and is committed to my growth as well. As I think about the long-term trajectory of my career, opportunities to grow professionally excite me and also bring out my best work.

Pretend you have just graduated from business school. What will you need to have done to make your experience successful?  I have found that the most effective way to approach big daunting challenges is to lean in and embrace the climb. Specifically, for business school, this approach will require leveraging the many resources Rice provides to MBA candidates.

Also, I have taken a big step outside of my comfort zone. This means embracing my weaknesses and seeking out challenges that address these areas before I arrive at my post-MBA employer.