Reliant Proposal
A proposal from Rice Business to
Reliant
A Partnership Built To Last
Reliant, an NRG company, has been part of Rice Business since McNair Hall first opened its doors. In 2002, Reliant's generous gift named the bull and bear statues that have welcomed every class since. Over the past decade, NRG has carried that commitment forward as a sponsor of our signature student-led events, including the Rice Energy Finance Summit, the Women in Leadership Conference and the Veterans Business Battle, and as a founding sponsor of the Sparking Success Conference.
The connection goes well beyond sponsorship. Today, 40 Rice Business alumni work at NRG, many in senior leadership, along with 20 more Rice University graduates. And each year, NRG turns to Rice Business to recruit MBAs for its leadership development program.
As NRG invests in Houston's energy future, we see an opportunity to open the next chapter of this partnership: the Reliant name in Virani Hall, where the city's next generation of business leaders will begin their careers.
Building To Meet Demand
Founded in 1974 with three faculty members and 55 students meeting in borrowed classrooms, Rice Business has grown into a school of nearly 1,800 students across eight graduate programs and a fast-growing undergraduate major. McNair Hall has served us well since 2002. Now, with new programs and the faculty to lead them, it is time to expand.
- Five new programs since 2016, including the undergraduate business major
- Student growth nearly tripled in 10 years, from 587 in 2015 to 1,716 in 2025
- 47% growth in tenure and tenure-track faculty since 2016
Virani Hall gives that growth a home, with more room to teach, to gather and to connect students with the companies that will hire them.
Why Now?
Our rankings tell a story of momentum, in Texas and around the world.
#1 MBA in Texas — Financial Times, 2023–2026 (based on global rankings)
#7 Best MBA for Finance — The Princeton Review, 2027
Rice has long been known for the strength of its graduate business education. Now, the university is extending that experience to undergraduates, preparing the next generation of business leaders here in Houston. Business is the most popular major at Rice, with more than 615 declared and divisional majors in fall 2026 and more than 1,250 students enrolled in undergraduate business courses this year. These students are Houston's next analysts, managers and executives, and many will build their careers right here.
That mission aligns closely with NRG's. In 2026, NRG brought online its first new power plant in nearly a decade and announced a $617 million plant at Greens Bayou, investing in Houston's grid and in jobs that stay in the region. As demand for power grows, so does NRG's need for leaders fluent in energy, finance and markets. Rice Business is preparing them through programs like the Rice Energy Finance Summit and a growing pipeline of MBAs and undergraduates.
The Reliant Event Center
Gift Request: $5,000,000
The Reliant Event Center is a 3,000-square-foot space with 200 seats and a 22-foot ceiling. As the focal point of Virani Hall, it is where Rice Business will welcome its most important guests and bring the university and Houston communities together.
Rice Business hosts more than 250 events each year, many of them led by student leaders. The Rice Energy Finance Summit, the Women in Leadership Conference and the Veterans Business Battle, all longtime NRG-supported events, will now gather under the Reliant name, with flagship events drawing 400 to 600 guests each. Board meetings, alumni gatherings and Executive Education programs will convene here as well.
The best naming gifts become part of how students talk about their school, a name said so often it starts to feel like home. For decades to come, students, faculty and guests will meet "at Reliant" in the heart of our new building.
As part of this naming gift, NRG may also host its own events in the Reliant Event Center twice a year, with six months' notice and subject to availability.
The Reliant Terrace
Gift Request: $3,000,000
The Reliant Terrace is Virani Hall's open-air gathering place. It will host receptions, recruiting mixers and the everyday conversations that happen between classes, and it is where students will meet the alumni and employers who help shape their careers.
The Reliant Patio
Gift Request: $1,500,000
Adjacent to the Terrace, the Reliant Patio is a shaded outdoor space overlooking the landscaped green space just outside Virani Hall. It offers students, faculty and guests a quiet place to study, meet or simply pause between classes. From here, the view extends toward Rice's arts corridor, most notably the nearby James Turrell Twilight Epiphany Skyspace, a draw not only for the Rice community but for visitors to Houston seeking this unique public art experience.
The Reliant Classrooms
Gift Request: $3,000,000
The Reliant Classrooms are two adjoining 120-seat teaching spaces equipped with the latest instructional technology. Here, MBA and undergraduate students will engage in the lectures, discussions and projects that shape how they think about business from their first day.
Every week, the Reliant name will greet hundreds of Houston's future business leaders, long before they submit a resume. That pipeline is already strong: 40 Rice Business alumni work at NRG today. A permanent presence where undergraduates spend their first years builds the relationship earlier and more deeply than any career fair.
Gift Request and Structure
Rice Business respectfully requests Reliant's support to name one of these spaces in Virani Hall. In recognition of this gift, Rice Business will provide:
- Physical signage displaying the Reliant name, in designs and materials consistent with the building
- Recognition of the Reliant-named space in event announcements, building signage and printed materials
- Naming rights for the usable life of the space
- For the Event Center: use of the space for NRG events twice a year, with six months' notice and subject to availability
More than signage, a Reliant-named space is a standing introduction to Rice's business talent and a direct line to the students NRG will one day recruit.
A Talent Development Partnership
Rice Business also proposes to partner with NRG on developing its leadership talent. Our recruiting and admissions staff can provide materials and on-site events to help NRG educate its employees about the Rice MBA programs, and NRG employees who enroll in our evening, weekend, hybrid or executive MBA program will receive an automatic 20% tuition scholarship.
Thank You
Rob, few people have done more to connect Reliant and Rice Business than you have. As an alumnus, a member of the dean's board of advisors and a speaker at our student conferences, you have been generous with both your time and your counsel. Your support, and Reliant's, has helped shape Rice Business, from the bull and bear at McNair Hall to the Energy Finance Summit stage to the alumni leading Reliant today.
We would be honored to write the next chapter together, with the Reliant name on a space where Houston's next business leaders begin.
Thank you for considering this opportunity. We look forward to continuing the conversation.