Five years ago today, I began my term as dean of the School of Engineering with energy, excitement, and deep humility at the privilege of leading this remarkable community. Today, as I begin my second term as dean of the School of Engineering and Computing, I do so with renewed purpose—shaped by what we have accomplished together and inspired by what lies ahead.
Over the past five years, our School has navigated extraordinary challenges, from a global pandemic to geopolitical and national developments, while also embracing significant positive change at our University, including new leadership, a new budget model, and a new strategic plan. Through deliberate investments in people, programs, and infrastructure—and guided by a shared commitment to excellence, care, and impact—our School has emerged stronger than ever, with a future that is brighter and more ambitious.
At the heart of this progress are our people. We have grown our tenured and tenure-track faculty by more than 30%, including an unprecedented increase of over 80% in female faculty, strengthening our leadership in health and well-being, sustainability and resilience, and computing and AI. To sustain the world-class education for which our School is known, and to better serve our faculty and a student body that has grown by approximately 32%, we expanded our teaching faculty and staff and streamlined several processes and operations. Our physical infrastructure has grown alongside our community, with the opening of the renovated Maxfield Hall, the Ralph S. O’Connor Building for Engineering and Science, and an expanded presence at the Texas Medical Center Helix Park and the Ion District—spaces designed to foster collaboration, innovation, and discovery.
The strength of our community is measured not only by its size, but also by its excellence. Our senior faculty now includes 24 members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine—including, for the first time in Rice’s history, two faculty members elected to all three academies—as well as 11 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and recipients of landmark honors such as two Benjamin Franklin Medals announced within the last year. Our junior faculty have matched this distinction, earning a record number of young investigator awards, Packard Fellowships, and NIH Director’s New Innovator Awards, among many honors. In 2025 alone, our faculty received more than 50 prestigious recognitions, a testament to a culture that actively supports and celebrates excellence. This momentum is mirrored in the growth of our research enterprise, with expenditures rising by approximately 45% and surpassing $100 million for the first time in FY2024.
We have also expanded how and what we teach. Over the past five years, we launched new undergraduate and graduate programs in areas such as artificial intelligence, data science, engineering management, operations research, sustainability, and most recently, a Master of Digital Health, along with fully online master’s degrees and stackable certificates—extending our reach and impact. Faculty are innovating to personalize learning through the responsible use of artificial intelligence, while experiential learning and leadership development through programs such as OEDK, D2K, RCEL, and ACTIVATE continue to prepare graduates to lead with skill, creativity, and purpose.
Our School has become more collaborative, entrepreneurial, and global. Faculty and departments have forged new partnerships across the university and beyond to address pressing challenges in health, energy, urban systems, and computing, while translating research into real-world impact through a growing number of faculty-led startups. In 2024, we formally became the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing, affirming the central role of computing in our mission and future. We expanded our global footprint through increased engagement in India, East Asia, the Rice Global Paris Center, and beyond, including the launch of the Mehta Rice Engineering Scholars Program. At the same time, we strengthened how we tell our story—revitalizing our marketing and communications efforts, redesigning our magazine, and launching the Raleigh W. Johnson, Jr. Lecture Series. In 2025, we celebrated our 50th anniversary, marked by a commemorative coffee table book and celebratory events highlighting the arc of our School’s progress and legacy.
Everything we have accomplished over the past five years, we have accomplished together. I am deeply grateful to our dedicated faculty, staff, students, alumni, friends, and supporters for all they do; to our School’s leadership for their dedication and partnership; and to the university leadership for its steadfast support of, and belief in, our mission.
Looking ahead, I am excited to soon unveil an ambitious new strategic plan that will propel our School into the very top tier of engineering and computing—where it belongs—united around a shared purpose of Solving for Greater Good.
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.