Reunion Rewards:
Volunteer Has a Blast Connecting
with Friends from the Past
Friendships have played an important role
in shaping Robert Taylor’s life.
Family friend George Pierce, a
Houston architect and 1942 Rice graduate, inspired Robert to
follow in his footsteps. “My father would take me up to
George’s office, which I thought was such an interesting
place,” recalled Robert, who was raised in Pierce, Texas
(pop. 49), where meeting architects was rare.
Another of his father’s friends wrote his recommendation letter to Rice.
Robert laughed—a letter from James A. Baker, III, grandson of Rice’s
first chairman of the board of trustees, Captain James Addison Baker, probably
didn’t hurt his chances of getting into Rice. Interestingly enough, he
and his wife, Amy, now live in a house that Captain Baker and Murray Jones built
in 1915 as a wedding present to their children.
At Rice, Robert roomed with fellow architecture student Leonard Lane for three
years. Robert and Leonard, along with architecture students Chuck Berg, Sharon
Perry Wise, and Bob Stinson, really bonded during charette, an architecture program
tradition of working long hours on final semester projects. When not dancing
and lip-synching Supremes’ songs during these sleepless nights, they dreamed
of opening their own firm.
In 1979, they did just that with Chelsea Architects, a firm specializing in high-end
residential and commercial projects. Even though their friends have now started
separate firms, Robert and Leonard still work together at Chelsea Architects.
Robert is grateful that he has gotten to work with his best friend for more than
20 years.
Staying in touch with his classmates and other friends he’s made through
his involvement with the Rice Historical Society, Friends of Fondren, and Owl
Club motivates Robert to volunteer with his class reunion committees. In fact,
he has served as chair for all five of the Class of 1974 reunions.
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“Homecomings and reunions are more than just football games. They’re
about seeing your friends,” he said. “I had a great time during the
phonathons. It’s a chance to call my classmates and friends—all on
Rice’s phone bill. Sure, I ask them for money, but I also encourage them
to attend homecoming—and the reunion party at my house.”
The last party—the 25th reunion in 1999—had a ’70s theme, with
Robert sporting locks Howard Stern would be proud of and Leonard wearing a ’fro.
More than 100 people came to the party.
This past year, Robert served as homecoming chair. “Afterwards, Amy and
I said that if we were asked to do it again, we’d say ‘yes’ in
a heartbeat because we had a blast.” He added that Jennifer Harding,
homecoming coordinator, did 99 percent of the work, while he and Amy got to
attend the parties.
In fact, he said, one of the most memorable parts of homecoming was attending
five reunion parties with Bob Brandt and his wife, Mary.
Robert is proud of the record homecoming attendance, including the hundreds of
former graduate students who came. He hopes future events will build on this
success.
Nurturing old friendships and making new ones are important to Robert. Even
after he retires, he’ll continue meeting interesting people in an unusual way
that will fulfill a lifelong dream: “Instead of crisscrossing the country
in a Winnebago, we’ll be in a big rig.”
—Lynette James
