New year's greetings to all in the Rice Engineering and Computing community. We are thrilled to share some upcoming milestones and events with you as we begin the new year.
This year is very special as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of our school. We’ll be honoring this milestone throughout the year, beginning with the launch of the Raleigh W. Johnson Lecture Series. Our inaugural speaker will be our own alum, renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman, who will deliver the first lecture at 4:00 pm on January 21. This lecture is open to the entire Rice community and the broader public, and I encourage you all to register and attend.
Our main anniversary celebration will take place on March 28-29, with an exciting lineup of panels, speakers, and engaging activities. We invite faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends to join us for this special event, which will celebrate 50 years of excellence and impact. This is also a wonderful opportunity for former students to reconnect with their peers and mentors during lab reunions and for us to showcase the ongoing innovations in our research and education.
As we celebrate this golden anniversary, we’re also wrapping up our current strategic plan, Vision to 2025, and preparing to launch a new strategic plan. This next phase will build on our successes, align with the university’s new strategic plan—Momentous—and set even more ambitious goals. Alongside this, we’ll be finalizing our new budget model to ensure we have the resources to bring our vision to life.
2025 is already shaping up to be a great year for faculty recognition. We are proud to celebrate the recent announcement of Prof. Rich Baraniuk receiving the IEEE Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Medal, Prof. Haotian Wang being honored with the Norman Hackerman Award, and Prof. Mike Wong receiving the International Precious Metals Institute’s Henry J. Albert Award. Our roster of national academy members continues to grow with the hiring of Prof. Menachem Elimelech, NAE, and Prof. Karen Lozano, NAE and NAI, as well as the upcoming induction of Prof. Omid Veiseh into the NAI.
As I begin my fifth year as dean, I feel immense pride in all we’ve achieved together over the past four years, but I’m even more excited for what lies ahead. Our successes are built on the collective effort of countless individuals, and I’m deeply grateful to each and every one of you.
I’ll close with a reminder of our purpose by reiterating a message I shared with our newly hired faculty members a few months ago: Rice University and its School of Engineering and Computing attract exceptional students who work diligently to earn one of the limited spots available. It is our responsibility as a school to provide an experience that justifies their hard work in gaining admission to Rice.
Wishing you all a wonderful new year filled with good health, happiness, and success!
The Message from the Dean of Engineering and Computing at Rice University is published quarterly during the academic year, and is shared with our students, faculty, staff and friends.