The H.E.A.R.T. of the Matter

Rice University has a lot of H.E.A.R.T. That’s health, education, arts, recreation, and technology. On April 17, The South Main Center Association, which is made up of neighborhoods, institutions, and businesses adjacent to South Main Street from West Alabama to South Loop 610, presented its H.E.A.R.T. of Houston City Builder Award to Rice for the university’s contributions to the growth, vitality, and culture of the Houston area.

Former secretary of state James A. Baker, III, and Rice trustee Steven Miller provided remarks at the award ceremony, and the award was accepted on behalf of Rice by President Malcolm Gillis. Previous City Builder Award winners include Bob McNair and the Houston Texans, the Texas Medical Center, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, Dominique De Menil, and the Houston Endowment.

The keynote address for the event, “Reflections on Rice,” was given by William Broyles Jr. ’66, founding editor of Texas Monthly, who later served as editor of California Magazine and editor-in-chief of Newsweek. Following his stint at Newsweek, he vowed never to hold a job again. So, since 1984, Broyles has been, in his own words, an unemployed and occasionally homeless Vietnam veteran. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been busy.

He has lectured and taught at Rice, the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Southern California, New York University, Columbia, the U.S. Naval Academy, the Smithsonian, and the University of Texas at Austin, but he is best-known for his work in television and film. He co-created the television series China Beach, which won four Emmys, and he wrote screenplays for the films Apollo 13, Cast Away, the remake of Planet of the Apes, Unfaithful, and the upcoming Polar Express. He also is the author of the book Brothers in Arms.

Awards have come to Broyles since his days at Rice, when he won the Hugh Scott Cameron Award for service to the university. A Marshall Scholarship then took him to Oxford University, and in 1993, he was presented with Rice’s Distinguished Alumnus Award. Professionally, Broyles has won three National Magazine Awards for his work on Texas Monthly, and Apollo 13 earned him an Academy Award nomination, a Writer’s Guild Award, and the PEN Center Literary Award for best screenplay.

Although Broyles still doesn’t hold a steady job, he remains busy with work on new books and screenplays.