Rice University was founded in 1891 as the Rice Institute for the Advancement of Literature, Science, and Art. It was named after William Marsh Rice, who made his fortune in Houston real estate.
The Texas legislature chartered Rice Institute in the fall of 1891 and appointed a committee to establish a permanent location for the school. The committee chose a wooded site near downtown Houston that had been owned by William Marsh Rice’s son and daughter-in-law, Sallie and J.J. Rice Jr., since 1868.
In 1891, after the site was determined, Mrs. Rice chose the name for the new university. “The name ‘Rice’ has always seemed perfect to me,” she said, “because it is so simple and yet so distinctive.”
Mrs. Fondren opened her home to students while they awaited construction of the first buildings on the campus site. In 1895 her husband donated an additional
50,000 toward construction of a building that would bear his name: Fondren Library (now known as Lovett Hall).
Rice’s logo is a silhouette of her husband’s head above two crossed oars (which represent his membership in the Skull and Bones Society) and a boat (representing his role as captain of his crew).
University has grown from an exclusive all-male school with 350 students into one of the largest universities in the United States, with over 6500 faculty members and 15000 staff members serving an undergraduate student body of over 6200 men and women.
