Sicks endow dean of engineering chair

Sicks endow dean of engineering chair

BY DAWN DORSEY
Special to the Rice News

Bill Sick ’57, Rice University trustee and longtime supporter, and his wife, Stephanie, have increased their commitment to the William and Stephanie Sick Professorship to make it the permanent chair held by Rice’s dean of engineering. Sallie Keller-McNulty will become the first dean of engineering to hold the chair, effective July 1.

“We are excited about the introduction of a talented and entrepreneurial Dr. Keller-McNulty as dean of engineering at a time when rapid changes in both technology and international engineering education are creating an opportunity for Rice engineering to make major advances by building on current success and by adding new initiatives,” Sick said.

“Dr. Keller-McNulty has a keen intellect, leadership skills and an exceptional ability to work with everyone across all boundaries and to convert identified opportunities quickly into action. I believe she has the vision, dedication and courage to lead Rice to a new level among the top tier of engineering schools,” he said.

In 2001, the Sicks made a gift to create a professorship in entrepreneurship, which was held by Steve Currall at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management until he left the university last fall. Currall was instrumental in creating the Rice Alliance, which supports entrepreneurs and early stage technology ventures through education, collaboration and research. The program is a collaboration among the George R. Brown School of Engineering, the Wiess School of Natural Sciences and the Jones School. Sick has served as a member of the Rice Alliance advisory board since its inception.

“This unusual approach was an attempt to create a bridge of collaboration between the School of Engineering with its technology advances and innovations and the Jones School with its ‘been-there-done-that’ know-how in the commercialization of ideas,” Sick said.

With the Sicks’ increased commitment, the Sick Chair becomes the second at Rice that is dedicated in perpetuity for a dean; the first is in the School of Architecture.

Keller-McNulty said the establishment of this chair has been extremely important to the university and to engineering. “It was instrumental in giving Rice tremendous visibility in the world of innovation and entrepreneurship,” she said. “I am proud to be able to hold this chair, and the School of Engineering is grateful for the support and encouragement Bill and Stephanie have shown for the new directions we plan to take.”

Sick earned a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering at Rice in 1957 and 1958, respectively. Shortly after graduation, Sick joined Texas Instruments, where he served until 1987 in a variety of management positions, including five years as president of the semiconductor group. He is chairman and chief executive officer of Business Resources International, a private firm in Winnetka, Ill., focused on creating and enhancing the success of early stage growth companies. Since 1987, he has been founder, chairman, chief executive officer, active director or adviser of 14 companies.

The Sicks have given their time and energies to Rice during the past 25 years. In 2003 Bill Sick received the Outstanding Engineering Alumnus Award, and he has been selected for a 2006 Association of Rice Alumni (ARA) Distinguished Alumni Award. He has been a member of the board of trustees since 1996. As a catalyst behind the tremendous activity beginning in the early 1990s of the Chicago-area chapter of the ARA, the Sicks played an important role in building it into one of the most active alumni associations in the country.