Rushi Bhalani ’19 and Will Eldridge ’16, ’17, were recognized as the 2025 Builders Award recipients by Rice University President Reginald DesRoches during the President’s Town Hall at the Rice Memorial Center on Nov. 7, as part of Alumni Weekend celebrations.
Established in 2005 by the Association of Rice Alumni, the Builders Award honors graduates within the last decade who have strengthened the university through dedicated service, leadership, and support of Rice students and fellow alumni. Recipients embody Rice’s core values of respect, integrity, community, and excellence.
“We are very proud of this year’s Builders Award winners, both of whom are alumni of our school,” said Luay Nakhleh, William and Stephanie Sick Dean of Rice’s George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing. “This award expresses our heartfelt appreciation for Rushi and Will’s countless hours of service to Rice, their commitment to our students, and their leadership within the alumni community.”
Bhalani graduated from Rice in 2019 with a degree in computer science and worked as a strategy consultant at Accenture and Indeed. He is now pursuing an MBA and an MS in Design Innovation at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, preparing to design mission-driven, human-centered product experiences.
Guided by a belief in empowering others and motivated by Rice values, Bhalani has remained deeply engaged with the university since graduation. He has served on three alumni boards — the Rice Engineering Alumni (REA) Board of Directors, the Association of Rice Alumni (ARA) Board of Directors and the Center for Career Development (CCD) Advisory Board. In these roles, he helped raise more than $200,000 through data-driven outreach, helped launch a summer internship program that has provided dozens of engineering students with their first professional experiences under alumni mentorship. In addition, he has volunteered as a Baker College community associate, admissions interviewer, ARA Young Alumni Ambassador, Rice Fund volunteer, and mentored more than 20 students.
“The Builder’s Award is truly one of the greatest honors I’ve received,” Bhalani said. “I love Rice. It shaped who I am today. It is here that I learned the essence of servant leadership and found lifelong friends. I continue to give back to Rice, so all Owls can feel that same sense of belonging and community that made Rice feel like home.”
Eldridge is a “twice-Rice” graduate who earned his bachelor’s degree in civil and environmental engineering in 2016 and his Master of Accounting (MAcc) from the Jones Graduate School of Business in 2017.
He started his career as a senior auditor at Deloitte and earned his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 2023 and is now a consultant at Bain & Company in Houston. As a Rice student, Eldridge served as president of the French Club, an Orientation Week advisor, and a bartender at Willy’s Pub. After graduating, he continued to engage with the Rice community as a McMurtry College community associate, Rice Business mentor, five-year reunion co-chair, and alumni admissions interviewer. “I’m honored to receive the Rice Builders Award which celebrates service through building and strengthening the Rice alumni community, work I find deeply meaningful,” Eldridge said. “I’m constantly inspired by how much Rice alumni invest in one another and am grateful for the chance to help harness that energy to keep our community connected and engaged.”