A Second Century of No Upper Limit
When President Edgar Odell Lovett spoke in 1912 at the formal opening of what was then the Rice Institute, he was unequivocal about his ambitions for Rice’s future. The new institution, he said, “aspires to university standing of the highest grade.” He spoke not only of science and technology, but also of art, literature and architecture.
Although Lovett anticipated substantial growth for Rice, he envisioned that its increase would not be so much in size as in impact, leadership, eminence and greatness. And while he noted that limited resources required focus on certain areas at the beginning, he said in those words we celebrate today that we must set “no upper limit” on our endeavors.
“We must continue to set ‘no upper limit’ — no restriction on what our students will achieve, no boundary for the growth and application of human knowledge and understanding, no limit to what we can contribute to our world today and in the future.”
As we look back, we must say that Rice has experienced a remarkable 96-plus years. We have seen our university recognized as among the very best in America and, indeed, the world. Rice has grown from a handful of buildings to approximately 70. Despite our small size, our faculty wins recognition and accolades that suggest we are indeed a giant.
Since the founding, we have added new schools and endeavors: The Shepherd School of Music, the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management, the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, the Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies, the Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, and the Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology, to name only a few. Lovett’s dream of a residential college system has become a reality. Two of our faculty (and another of our graduates) received Nobel Prizes, and in the last year alone, seven of our young professors were given National Science Foundation CAREER Awards, the second highest number of recipients among private universities.
Rice is small but powerful, and we have achieved what we have by taking a path that has been unconventional and bold. But we must always remember that we are on a trajectory, not at a destination; our work at Rice is never finished. We recognize that “no upper limit” means there are always new possibilities, new fields of knowledge, new enterprises and new opportunities for our university. As we stand here on the brink of the university’s second century, our obligations to Rice can be no less than those set forth by Lovett at our founding: Our aspirations and actions must continue to create a “university of the highest grade.”
President Lovett wisely observed: “It is not difficult to plan for 50 years, nor is it difficult to plan for five years: Difficulty enters only when it is necessary to plan at one and the same time for the immediate future and for the next hundred years.”
And yet, that very task lies before us. What we seek to accomplish with the Vision for the Second Century and the Centennial Campaign are the things that must be done now to continue our progress while simultaneously laying the foundations for our next century.
While this is a time in our country of economic uncertainty and concern, it also is a time of hope and possibility. As we at Rice contemplate what we must do, we should do so in the spirit of optimism and confidence. Some, perhaps, would say that the Centennial Campaign’s goal of $1 billion is too high. Of course it is not — I know President Lovett would say it is not. He might, instead, tell us it is not enough, for no finite amount of resources can ever enable us to achieve the goals that reflect no upper limit.
Those goals are substantial, but even before the end of the campaign on June 30, 2013, we will witness some of our campaign priorities come to fruition: doctoral students in new programs in art history and sociology; a dramatic increase in international engagement with Mexico, Latin America and Asia — and, perhaps, Africa — that will produce knowledge and teach students to serve a global community; and an even more dynamic interaction with our home city of Houston, marked in part by the promise of life-changing research emerging from our enhanced relationships with the Texas Medical Center.
Physically, we already have seen expansion with the Tudor Fieldhouse and Youngkin Center and our hugely popular Raymond and Susan Brochstein Pavilion, and soon we will celebrate the completion of our two new residential colleges, a new physics building and the David and Barbara Gibbs Recreation and Wellness Center, which will help support a dynamic educational environment for our students.
We will see students who can attend without undue burdens on their families because of the generous donation of scholarships, and we will see extraordinary professors recruited with the assistance of newly endowed chairs and programs.
These soon-to-be-achieved goals, however, are not the end of our aspirations. In the best of worlds — in our world without upper limits — we would see, as well, a new center for continuing studies and Houston engagement; a new social sciences building that will become part of a powerful new “policy campus” that encompasses the Baker Institute, the School of Social Sciences and the Jones School; a revamped undergraduate curriculum that will produce leaders even more capable of communicating across disciplines and cultures to address the challenges of our time; a new center for the arts to provide a vibrant link between the talents of our students and the community of Houston; a global health program that brings prevention and cures to the most impoverished and remote parts of the world; and a new opera house that provides a rich medium for the new young voices who will become the great talents of tomorrow.
We must lay the groundwork for these endeavors now to ensure, as we look farther in the future, that it will be here, at Rice, where solutions are discovered to address our energy needs and environmental challenges; that it will be here where we see new and effective solutions for the treatment of cancer; that it will be here where insights into human migration and cultural interaction lead us to more effective public policies; that it will be here where we unleash the foundational principles of religious tolerance that will build greater peace in our world — in short, that it will be at Rice where our understanding of our planet and our universe reaches new heights.
To accomplish those things, we must continue to set “no upper limit” — no restriction on what our students will achieve, no boundary for the growth and application of human knowledge and understanding, no limit to what we can contribute to our world today and in the future.
The universe of knowledge and achievement lies before us. It is our chance — our privilege — to educate and explore in ways that will create a new and better world. For this great opportunity that stands before us, the people of Rice have aspired and worked for almost a century. Let us live up to those aspirations. With your help, we will.