Rice University 1997 Commencement Tip Sheet

CONTACT: Michael Cinelli
PHONE:
(713) 831-4794
EMAIL: mincelli@rice.edu

‘FABULOUS NOACK’ SISTERS PREPARE TO TRAVEL SEPARATE PATHS

When asked if they know they’re sometimes called “The Fabulous Noack Girls”
at Rice University, graduating seniors Krista and Kathy Noack both grinned at
the phrase they had not heard before. The two sisters, who are 18 months apart
in age, would later admit they were dubbed “The Noack Dynasty” at Florida’s St.
Petersburg High School, where together Krista, as a senior, served as president
and Kathy as a junior served as vice-president of Junior Civitan, the school’s
service club. Kathy later took over as president of the club her senior year.
Though “The Fabulous Noack Girls” graduate May 10, Rice may not have seen the
last of the Noacks. Younger sister Becky, who is just finishing high school, is
considering coming to Rice in the fall.

‘HUTCH’ EARNS TOP FACULTY HONORS FROM RICE ALUMNI

Some would call his work-day intense. John Hutchinson describes it as
“wonderful.” The associate professor of chemistry and winner of the 1997 George
R. Brown Prize for Excellence in Teaching stays busy teaching, researching,
mastering at Wiess College, volunteering for Leadership Rice as a teacher and a
faculty coordinator, and parenting his daughters, Ashlyn, 16, and Emma, 9.
Hutchinson, or “Hutch” as his students like to call him, says he sees teaching
primarily as “communication, personal interaction and listening. I try to foster
not just an understanding of chemistry but a development of critical thinking
skills. I want my students to learn to question, analyze and reason.”

J. EVANS ATTWELL RECEIVES RICE ALUM GOLD MEDAL AWARD

Rice’s Gold Medal is awarded for extraordinary service to the university and
for promoting the ideals of the school’s founder, William Marsh Rice. The 1997
Gold Medalist, J. Evans Attwell ’53, will be honored at a dinner May 10 at the
Doubletree Post Oak Hotel in Houston. During the last 12 years, Attwell helped
Rice choose a president, grapple with the impact of big-time athletics on campus
and steer a course for the 21st century. Attwell, who earned a bachelor of arts
in 1953, served on the board of governors for the university from 1982 to 1996,
when he retired as one of the university’s seven trustees.

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