ABOUT Rice University Houston

The Rice Institute opened on September 23, 1912, the anniversary of Mr. Rice's murder, with 77 students and a dozen faculties. An international academic festival celebrated the opening three weeks later, a spectacular event that brought Rice to the attention of the entire scholarly world. Four years later, at the initial commencement, 35 bachelor's degrees and one master's degree were awarded, with the first doctorate conferred in 1918. The academic seal of Rice University was designed in 1912 by Mr. Pierre de Chaignon la Rose of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who combined the main elements of the arms of sixteen prominent families bearing the names Rice or Houston. Owls of Athena-symbolic of wisdom-were chosen for the charges.