Humanities and Music Gain New Deans
Gary S. Wihl, former acting dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Emory University in Atlanta, took the reins of Rice’s School of Humanities on July 1, and Robert Yekovich, dean of the school of music at North Carolina School of the Arts, became dean of the Shepherd School of Music on July 21.

Work Begins in Search for President
The nationwide search for a successor to Malcolm Gillis, who announced in December that he would step down June 30, 2004, after 11 years as president of Rice University, has officially begun with the selection of the search committee. The committee, which will make recommendations on candidates to the Rice Board of Trustees, is made up of representatives from all segments of the Rice community.

ARA Thanks Rice-TMS
Competition among universities for top-notch minority students has always been intense, but in the wake of the 1996 Hopwood decision, which banned Texas institutions from using race in admission decisions, it became more so.

Jones School Continues Upward Climb
The Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management made the top 30 in the latest ranking of the nation’s business schools by U.S. News & World Report. In its recently published “America’s Best Graduate Schools,” U.S. News & World Report placed the Jones School 27th in the rankings, tied with the University of Florida. Harvard earned the top spot among the nation’s schools, while Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania were tied for second place.

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.

Colvin Urges Congress to Study Public’s Nano Concerns
In Prey, novelist Michael Crichton delivers a chilling scenario in which swarms of nanorobots equipped with memory, solar power generators, and powerful software begin preying on living creatures and reproducing.

Two Studies Show Obesity Stigma Is Contagious
Is it possible to program a computer without knowing what’s inside? The answer to that question is essential to James Tour, the Chao Professor of Chemistry, professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, and professor of computer science, who has been working for more than a decade to develop molecular computers.

Joint Efforts
The hip bone is connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bone is connected to the shin bone, the shin bone is connected. . . . So goes the old song, but what the lyrics don’t mention are the joints that connect all those bones or the pain that many of us experience in these necessary but relatively fragile body hinges.

Rice Exploring Scholarly Use of Holocaust Video Archive
Single-walled nanotubes are a family of more than 30 molecules that greatly intrigue scientists and technologists. Nanotubes are stronger and far lighter than steel, and they have superior electrical properties—about one-third are metals and the rest are semiconductors.