Conception becomes reality Boles’ new book tells story of Rice’s roots in Lovett’s vision
BY JESSICA STARK Rice News Staff
Though named for William Marsh Rice, Rice University is the realization of the vision, direction, and leadership of another man, Edgar Odell Lovett, the institution’s first president. He transformed a significant endowment and vague charter into a complete university that emphasized research as much as teaching.
JOHN BOLES
In “University Builder: Edgar Odell Lovett and the Founding of the Rice Institute,” John Boles, the William P. Hobby Professor of History, tells how Lovett came to Rice and set the institute into motion.
“Lovett’s is an amazing story on both a personal and an academic level,” Boles said. “Here was a young man, a rising star on Princeton’s faculty, called to the ‘boondocks’ in Houston to create a world-class institution from scratch. It’s admirable that he dared to think so big in such a little place and persuaded the board of trustees to accept his vision.”
In his book, Boles chronicles Lovett’s journey to find an “inspired idea” on which to build the university. Lovett traveled around the world to seek the best educational practices from renowned universities.
His foundation for Rice was developed in those visits and in the emerging trends of higher education: incorporating natural science and engineering into curricula, recognizing a utilitarian purpose to higher education, appreciating the importance of the humanities and the arts, and promoting active research agendas.
“Rice as we know it is a direct result of the vision Lovett had for the university,” Boles said. “No other university is such a true extension of the vision of its founder.”
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