Welcome to the start of the 2025–2026 academic year. Each fall brings with it a sense of excitement, possibility, and renewal, and this year is no exception.
In March we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the school, a milestone that gave us the opportunity to reflect on our rich history, honor the people who shaped our community, and celebrate the extraordinary impact our faculty, students, and alumni have had on society. We highlighted the school’s growth from its earliest days into a leading hub of research and innovation, and we reaffirmed our commitment to shaping the next 50 years with the same ambition, rigor, and spirit of collaboration that brought us here.
This past year was also remarkable for the many faculty recognitions and new appointments that elevated the profile of our school. We welcomed two new members of the National Academy of Engineering, Menachem Elimelech and Karen Lozano, and celebrated the election of Lydia Kavraki to the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences, Karen Lozano to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and both Lydia Kavraki and Antonios Mikos to the European Academy of Sciences. Beyond the national academies, our faculty won a large number of very prestigious awards. These honors reflect not only individual excellence but also the vibrant research culture we have cultivated together.
We also welcomed 20 new faculty members, including 16 on the tenure track, and appointed three new department chairs since January: Lisa Biswal (CHBE), Karen Lozano (MSNE), and Huixia Judy Wang (Statistics). I extend heartfelt thanks to the outgoing chairs for their dedicated service. I am also pleased to note that Jane Grande-Allen is now our senior associate dean and that Renata Ramos has begun her second term as senior associate dean for academic affairs. In our dean’s office, we restructured staff roles to strengthen support for faculty and students, ensuring that our community continues to thrive.
This year also marks the conclusion of our Vision to 2025 strategic plan, which has been a resounding success. Over the past several years, we have expanded our tenured and tenure-track faculty by more than 30%, strengthened our five interdisciplinary research thrusts, launched the D2K Lab and several new academic programs, renovated Maxfield Hall, opened the Ralph S. O’Connor Building for Engineering and Science, and enhanced our operations to provide even better service. These achievements are a testament to the hard work and creativity of our faculty, staff, and students.
As we look ahead, we are now embarking on the process of designing a new strategic plan to guide the school through the rest of the decade. This is a moment of tremendous opportunity. We are living in an era defined by rapid technological change, particularly in artificial intelligence, and our school is well positioned to lead. This semester we launched Rice’s new undergraduate major in Artificial Intelligence, alongside initiatives in responsible AI through the university’s Momentous strategic plan and other interdisciplinary collaborations. These efforts ensure that our community will not only advance the frontiers of AI but also help shape its ethical and societal dimensions.
I look forward to working with all of you in the coming year to build on our momentum, deepen our impact, and continue to prepare Rice engineers and computer scientists to solve the world’s most pressing challenges. Thank you for being part of this extraordinary community, and best wishes for a productive and inspiring academic year.
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.