2010
The Race Scholars program is created and is dedicated to advancing the intellectual community of scholars and students whose work examines the relevance of race in all its dimensions. Professor Jenifer Bratter is the director.
The Religion and Public Life Program is created. The program works to provide institutions, social groups, and individuals with religious scholarship and an academic environment that is conducive to positive dialogue about the role of religion in our lives today. Professor Elaine Howard Ecklund is the director.
A gift from Purvez Captain '93 creates the Graduate Economics Alumni Lecture Series under the direction of Professor Robin Sickles.
Professor Susan McIntosh becomes speaker of the Rice Faculty Senate.
Professor Dominic Boyer founds the book series "Enterprise: Cultures and Technologies of Knowledge" with Cornell University Press.
Professor Peter Hartley receives the U.S. Association for Energy Economics Senior Fellow Award.
The Kinder Institute for Urban Research is established with a $15 million gift to Rice from the Kinder Foundation. The institute provides a permanent home to the Kinder Houston Area Survey and conducts research that advances the understanding of pressing urban issues and fosters the development of more humane and sustainable cities. Find out more.
The Hobby Center for the Study of Texas is formed. The center seeks to advance understanding of the causes and consequences of demographic, economic, geographic, social and environmental conditions impacting the current conditions in, and future of, Texas and other areas in the nation. The Center is directed by Professor Steve Murdock.
Lyn Ragsdale, the Radoslav A. Tsanoff Chair of Public Affairs and dean of social sciences, is awarded the Richard E. Neustadt Award from the American Political Science Association for her book "Vital Statistics on the American Presidency."
Professor Randolph Stevenson receives the Gregory Luebbert Prize for the best book in comparative politics from the Comparative Politics section of the American Politic Science Association for his book with co-author Raymond Duch, "The Economic Vote: How Political and Economic Institutions Condition Election Results."
Rice's Political Science Department is ranked among the top 20 political science departments by the National Research Council.
Professor James Dannemiller is elected as an Association for Psychological Science Fellow. Fellow status is awarded to APS members who make sustained outstanding contributions to the science of psychology in the areas of research, teaching, and/or application. He joins Professors Randi Martin and James Pomerantz with this honor.
2011
The Urban Health Program is launched. The program is dedicated to fostering community and academic partnerships surrounding issues of health, healthcare, education and community planning by highlighting how urban areas can create barriers as well as opportunities for the health of their citizens. Professor Rachel Kimbro is the director and Professor Justin Denney is the associate director. Find out more.
The Houston Education Research Consortium is established with a $1.3 million gift from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. The aim of the Consortium is to close socio-economic achievement gaps in Houston elementary and secondary education. Professor Ruth Lopez Turley is the director. Find out more.
Professor Randi Martin delivers the Broadbent Keynote Lecture at the 17th meeting of the European Society for Cognitive Psychology in Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain. This is a high honor that recognizes her significant and substantial contributions to the understanding of language processing and working memory.
The Kinder Institute and the Center for Civic Engagement, in partnership with the Office of the Dean of Undergraduates, founded Community Bridges in 2011 - a collaborative program that aims to strengthen the relationship between Rice University and the Fifth Ward of Houston. Through an academic course and active fieldwork, Community Bridges Fellows develop and implement long-term projects focused on the sustainable reduction of poverty.
Professor Michael Lindsay receives the Nicolas Salgo Distinguished Teacher Award.
2012
The film "Interesting Times" is released. The film features Professor Stephen Klineberg and provides a vivid depiction of the findings from 30 years of systematic research tracking the economic and demographic transformations of the Houston region.
Professor Fred Oswald is elected as a fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Fellow status is bestowed upon industrial and organizational psychologists who have made unusual and outstanding contributions to the field. He joins Professors Mikki Hebl and Stephan Motowidlo with this honor.
Professor Lanny Martin receives the Fenno Prize for the best book on legislative politics published in 2011 from the American Political Science Association for his book with co-author Georg Vanberg, "Parliaments and Coalitions: The Role of Legislative Institutions in Multiparty Governance."
The American Psychological Association honors Dr. William C. Howell posthumously with the Raymond D. Fowler Award for Outstanding Member Contributions. They also establish the William C. Howell Scholarship in his memory. The Psychology Department establishes the Professor William C. Howell Endowed Fund in Psychology in his memory and dedicates the William C. Howell Conference Room in Sewall Hall. Find out more.
2013
Professor Songying Fang receives Hoover Institute Fellowship to continue research on how international institutions influence state behavior.
Elaine Howard Ecklund is named the Herbert S. Autrey Professor in Sociology.
Professor Sergio Chavez is awarded a Woodrow Wilson National Career Enhancement Fellowship to study internal and international migration.
Sport Management joins the School of Social Sciences. Find out more.
2014
Psychologist Margaret Beier is elected as fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Find out more.
Renowned economist Antonio Merlo joins Rice University as department chair of economics, and director the Rice Economics Initiative, a new multi-year plan to enhance economics research and teaching at Rice. Find out more.
Psychologist Dora Angelaki is elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Find out more.
The T.L.L. Template Foundation Neuroplasticity Research Laboratory opens under the director of psychologists Randi Martin and Simon Fischer-Baum. This is one of the few labs in the country dedicated to helping researchers understand the behavioral consequences of stroke, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury and other neurological disorders. Find out more.
Jim Faubion is named the Radoslav Tsanoff Professor of Anthropology.
Sociologist Michael Emerson receives the George R. Brown Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Rice's highest teaching award is given annually to one professor based upon a survey of alumni who graduated within the past two to five years. Find out more.
Three social sciences faculty, sociologist Jenifer Bratter, and psychologists Margaret Beier, and Mikki Hebl are awarded George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching. Find out more.
Anthropologist Jeffrey Fleisher receives the Charles Duncan Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement which is presented by Rice University deans upon the recommendation of senior faculty. It honors a tenure-track or tenured faculty member who has less than 10 years of experience. Find out more.
Linguist Robert Englebretson, and Psychologists Mikki Hebl and Philip Kortum receive the Sarah A. Burnett Teaching Prize in the Social Sciences.
Sociologist Robert Werth receives the Sarah A. Burnett Teaching Prize in the Social Sciences.
Economist Flavio Cunha is awarded the 2014 Frisch Medal, one of the top prizes for research in the field of economics. Find out more.
2015
Psychologist Michelle “Mikki” Hebl becomes the 10th faculty member to receive Rice University’s George R. Brown Certificate of Highest Merit. Find out more.
Sociologist Rachel Kimbro and Psychologist Sandra Parsons receive the 2015 George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching, which honors top Rice professors as determined by the votes of alumni who graduated within the past two, three and five years. Find out more.
The new professional master’s degree in energy economics launches as a 12-month, 40-credit-hour program designed to offer students graduate-level education that emphasizes applying economic principles to analyze and understand commercial and other influences on energy markets and effectively communicate their insights. It will provide students with a deep set of analytical skills along with practical knowledge of energy markets and will offer practical training for energy markets analysts working in government, the private sector and international organizations. Find out more.
Twenty-three students enroll in the program, which offers graduate students professional education that requires high standards of scholarship and offers practical training for global affairs careers in government, the private sector and international organizations. Find out more.
Psychologist Fred Oswald is elected president of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) for 2017. He will assume the role in April 2017. Find out more.
2016
Psychologist Michelle “Mikki” Hebl is the winner of Baylor University’s 2016 Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, one of the country’s top collegiate teaching honors. Find out more.
Psychologist Eduardo Salas receives the 2016 Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award presented annually by the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP). Find out more.
Sociologists Jenifer Bratter and Ruth Lopez Turley receive the 2016 George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching, which honors top Rice professors as determined by the votes of alumni who graduated within the past two, three and five years. Find out more.
Sociologist Jenifer Bratter receives the Sarah A. Burnett Teaching Prize in the Social Sciences.
Antonio Merlo, the George A. Peterkin Professor and department chair of economics at Rice University, is appointed dean of the School of Social Sciences. Find out more.
2017
Economist James Brown is awarded the George R. Brown Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Find out more.
Psychologist Sandra Parsons received the 2017 George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching, which honors top Rice instructors as determined by the votes of alumni who graduated within the past two, three and five years. Below are the recipients and their comments about the most important lesson they hope their students will remember five years after graduation. Find out more.
The new Social Policy Analysis Major is launched to replace the existing policy studies major to focus on policy design, analysis, communication and implementation. Find out more.
The 2017 Presidential Awards for Mentoring went to José Aranda, associate professor of English and Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American studies; Bridget Gorman, professor and chair of the Department of Sociology; and John Olson, the Ralph and Dorothy Looney Professor of Biochemistry and Cell Biology;. The award is given to Rice faculty members who demonstrate a strong commitment to mentoring graduate or undergraduate students. Find out more.
Anthropologist Jeffrey Fleisher receives the Sarah A. Burnett Teaching Prize in the Social Sciences.
Sociologist Rachel Kimbro receives the Charles Duncan Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement which is presented by Rice University deans upon the recommendation of senior faculty. It honors a tenure-track or tenured faculty member who has less than 10 years of experience. Find out more.