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First president of Rice Institute retires
On this day in 1946, Edgar Odell Lovett retired as president of Rice
Institute (now Rice University) in Houston. Rice Institute was chartered
in 1891 by William Marsh Rice with a $200,000 note payable upon his
death. The original charter very generally prescribed an institution
"dedicated to the advancement of literature, science, and art." The
board of trustees in Houston determined that it would be a university
and in 1907 appointed Lovett, a mathematician and astronomer at
Princeton University, as president. The institute's opening in 1912 was
marked by an elaborate international convocation of scholars. From the
beginning Lovett intended Rice to be a university "of the highest
grade." Under his direction Rice Institute first developed major
strength in the sciences and engineering, though distinguished
instruction was offered from the beginning in the humanities and
architecture. The curriculum broadened and the faculty increased greatly
in size under the administration of Lovett's successor, physicist
William V. Houston, and the school's name was changed to Rice University
in 1960. After his retirement Lovett continued his association with the
university as president emeritus, director, and consultant.
- Links to Related Handbook of Texas Online Articles
- LOVETT, EDGAR ODELL
- RICE UNIVERSITY
- RICE, WILLIAM MARSH
- HIGHER EDUCATION
- Other Texas Day by Day Articles for This Date
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- Nature Conservancy buys Enchanted Rock (1978)
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