Dean's Welcome
I sincerely appreciate your interest in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing at Rice University. I am proud to serve as the school’s 11th dean as we execute our vision of groundbreaking global research and unmatched teaching excellence.
Engineering has been a part of Rice’s DNA for more than 100 years. Today, we have joined the ranks of the top institutions in the nation, led by the cutting-edge research happening in our nine departments and 22 institutes and centers. We have distinguished ourselves as world leaders in health and well-being, resilient and adaptive communities, energy and sustainability, future computing and advanced materials. Our graduate students play an important role in our school. They are immersed in our research, part of a vibrant environment of exploration, creativity and innovation.
Our faculty members have been recognized by their peers at the highest levels, and the university's relatively small size allows many opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to work side-by-side with them. That culture of collaboration empowers work on projects across campus, connecting us to the natural sciences, humanities, business and others.
Rice University thrives in the city of Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city, with endless opportunities for collaboration in numerous industries. The energy capital of the world is also home to the Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest. The cultural, geographic and ethnic diversity of Rice Engineering and Computing mirrors its home city. More than a third of our engineering undergraduates are female, with nearly 25 percent coming from underrepresented backgrounds.
Edgar Odell Lovett, the first president of Rice led by the notion of "no upper limit." Please take a moment and explore our website and I think you will see many examples of our students and faculty representing that philosophy to its fullest.
If you have any questions about Rice Engineering and Computing, please feel free to contact us at any time.
Sincerely,
Luay Nakhleh
William and Stephanie Sick Dean
Messages from the Dean
August 25, 2025: Welcome to the 2025–2026 Academic Year
January 13, 2025: Happy New Year
December 18, 2024: A Year in Review
November 4, 2024: What Makes a Great PhD Mentor?
August 26, 2024: Fifty Years of Excellence and Counting
Read More Messages from the Dean
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About the Dean
About the DeanLuay Nakhleh, is the William and Stephanie Sick Dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing at Rice University, where he also serves as a professor of Computer Science and Biosciences, and is a former chair of the Department of Computer Science.
He holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, a master's degree from Texas A&M University, and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Texas at Austin, awarded in 2004. Dr. Nakhleh joined the Rice faculty that same year. He served as chair of the Department of Computer Science from 2017 to 2020 and was appointed dean in January 2021.
Dr. Nakhleh’s research lies at the intersection of computing and biology, with a focus on developing novel computational methodologies and software to study the evolutionary history of genes and genomes, as well as the genetic relationships among species.
During his tenure as department chair, Computer Science became the largest academic department at Rice University, comprising 312 undergraduate majors and 258 graduate students. Under his leadership, the faculty expanded to 35 members with primary appointments in the department, in addition to joint and adjunct faculty.
Dr. Nakhleh has received numerous honors and awards throughout his career. These include the Department of Energy CAREER Award (2006), the National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2009), an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship (2010, in Molecular Biology), and a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (2012, in Organismic Biology and Ecology).
He has been recognized multiple times for his teaching and mentoring excellence, receiving the Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award in 2009, the Teaching and Research Excellence Award from the School of Engineering at Rice in 2015, the Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Adviser Award in 2018, the George R. Brown Prize for Excellence in Teaching—Rice University's most prestigious teaching award—in 2019, and the George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching in both 2020 and 2024.
Dr. Nakhleh was elected Fellow of the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) in 2023, Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) in 2024, and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2024.