Humanities at Rice Receives $20M Gift

A $20 million gift, the largest by an individual donor in Rice University’s history, has been made anonymously as the lead gift in a comprehensive $80-million plan to position the School of Humanities among the most accomplished programs in the nation.

The School of Humanities at Rice.

The gift will establish four endowed chairs, allowing Rice to hire faculty members that president David Leebron described as “the best leaders in fields vital to our future.” Endowed chairs traditionally go to faculty of the highest distinction, and the combination of their prestige and enhanced funding makes these positions valuable tools in high-level recruitment.

“The humanities are an integral part of the fabric of a major university,” Leebron said. “Strengthening them will be a benefit to all Rice programs, from music and architecture to science and engineering. This extraordinary gift is from a donor who understands the value of humanities education and research in our society and who exercises philanthropic spirit without wish for credit.”

“The School of Humanities at Rice already has achieved national and international recognition,” the anonymous donor noted. “It is our hope that this gift will allow Rice to build on its already strong foundation in the humanities and augment the school’s excellent faculty with four new, vibrant educators and researchers. It will be a pleasure to watch the school rise even further in prominence.”

The gift is a vote of confidence in what the school already has achieved and in its future potential, said Dean of Humanities Gary Wihl. “Rice is home to some of this nation’s most accomplished humanities faculty. This gift will leverage our existing strengths to a whole new level of visibility and achievement. I am proud to begin a process that will contribute to further excellence in our humanities programs and to the overall excellence of Rice as a comprehensive university.

“The competition among top U.S. universities to attract and retain faculty is intensifying,” Wihl continued. “This $20-million gift will be targeted directly to the establishment of four new chaired professorships that will enable us to bring to Rice not just outstanding faculty, but also faculty who are leading authorities in specific fields of research.”

In addition to adding faculty chairs, Leebron and Wihl are working to raise an additional $60 million to complete the other elements of the plan, including new undergraduate scholarships, increased support for humanities doctoral programs, and new collaborative ventures with artistic and literary communities.

The number of students enrolled in humanities coursework at Rice has increased 12 percent in the last three years, graduate applications to doctoral programs have been increasing every year for the last three years, and external research funding for humanities at Rice jumped by 43 percent over the last two years.
As a result of previous investments over the last decade, Rice humanities at the undergraduate level rank in the nation’s top tier, and the university has highly regarded graduate programs in English, history, philosophy, religion, and linguistics. Rice faculty have won nearly every major national award and fellowship, and Rice is home to five of the leading journals in the country in classics, English, history, religious studies, and feminist economics.