Worth Puts Rice Board Among Top in Nation

Worth magazine included Rice University’s Board of Trustees on its list of America’s 100 most prestigious boards of trustees of nonprofit institutions, ranking it first among five boards in Houston that made the list.

Noting that Rice has 25 board members, a $2.8-billion endowment, and a $360-million budget, the magazine described the university as “a bargain” and pointed out that one reason this year’s freshmen pay only $17,550 in tuition is that Rice, more than most schools, relies on its endowment to subsidize tuition.

Worth, which published the list in its March issue, interviewed dozens of experts—board members, directors of nonprofits, mayoral aides, and officers of arts or business partnership organizations—in the 20 largest metropolitan areas for the first survey of its kind for a national magazine. The magazine also gave consideration to the institution’s age, budget, and endowment and to which boards attracted the city’s most prominent names.

Rounding out the top five boards in Houston were the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Houston Grand Opera; Houston Symphony; and Texas Children’s Hospital.