Jones School Receives $12 Million

Jones School Receives $12 Million

RICE NEWS OFFICE
Sept. 10, 1998

Houston Endowment Inc. continued its long-standing support of Rice’s Jesse H.
Jones Graduate School of Management this summer with a $12 million gift to the
business school.

The gift will be given to Rice incrementally during the next six years. The first
$2 million will endow the Mary Gibbs Jones Professorship in Management, while
the remaining $10 million will support enhancements to the Jones School.

"Our plans are to elevate the Jones School to the next level of achievement,
so the support of the Houston Endowment is particularly important to us,"
said Rice President Malcolm Gillis. "Like Jesse Jones himself, the Houston
Endowment recognizes the value to our community of a top-flight business school
within a premier research university.

"In this, the centennial of Jesse Jones’ arrival in Houston, all at Rice
share in the appreciation of Mr. Jones’ immense contributions toward building
a metropolis of international dimensions. This new, generous gift will further
strengthen Rice’s capacities to play a leading role in Houston’s growth and success
for the next 100 years."

Gilbert Whitaker, dean of the Jones School, said: "This is a leadership gift
that moves us forward rapidly with our program to make the Jones School a top-tier
business school. Houston Endowment’s strong vote of confidence in the Jones School
and its future tells others that we are serious in our aspirations and that we
will succeed."

Whitaker, a Rice alumnus, was named dean of the Jones School in 1997. During the
past year he has initiated a retooling of the business school’s programs. Major
initiatives include a new building, expanding the student base, enlarging the
faculty, revamping the school’s curriculum, and adding an executive MBA program,
of which classes began this semester.

Houston Endowment was instrumental in the creation of the Jones School. The foundation
provided a $5 million gift to establish the graduate school in 1974. During the
past 24 years, the Houston Endowment has provided more than $21 million–in addition
to the founding grant and the current announced gift–to support the school’s
programs and facilities.

"This $12 million gift to the Jones School demonstrates our commitment to
working with Rice to provide the highest quality graduate business school program
possible," said Houston Endowment President H. Joe Nelson III. "Plus,
we want to be supportive of the energy and excitement that Dean Whitaker and his
team have created at the school."

The Houston Endowment gift is one of a number of major contributions made recently
to Rice by foundations, alumni and friends of the university as part of a fund-raising
effort to support implementation of Rice’s strategic plan, "Rice: The Next
Century."

The "Next Century" is a blueprint for the university’s success in the
decades to come, as developed by a committee of Rice faculty, staff, students,
alumni and friends, and was approved by the university’s trustees in December
1997. The "Next Century" comprises 34 strategic initiatives to be undertaken
over the next 10 years, building upon the high standards established in Rice’s
first 100 years and enhancing selected areas in which Rice can achieve the greatest
impact during the 21st century.

Rice University is a leading American research university–small, private and
highly selective–distinguished by its superior teaching, commitment to undergraduate
education, outstanding graduate and professional programs, residential college
system, collaborative and interdisciplinary culture, and global perspective.