The Baker Institute invested in a speaker that staff, faculty and students took interest in when it invited chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co Jamie Dimon to speak about the global economy, domestic affairs and his personal experiences on Wednesday.
Talk about having a strong wheelpower. This summer, Baker College junior Matthew Nanes is embarking on a bike ride from Providence, R.I. to Seattle, Wash. to raise money and awareness for affordable housing.
As part of the Shell Distinguished Lecture Series, General Electric Company (GE) Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt spoke on Wednesday at the James A. Baker III Institute about laying a blueprint for America to regain its competitiveness in the global market.
For fiscal year 2010, which ended on June 30, the Rice endowment was measured at $3.79 billion, up from $3.61 billion at the end of fiscal year 2009. According to Interim Vice President of Investments and Treasurer Ron Long, the return on the endowment was an increase of 9.9 percent, as opposed to a loss of 18.2 percent during the previous fiscal year. According to Long, the $3.79 billion is calculated by taking the figure from the year before, adding investment returns on the year ($358 million) and cash gifts ($36 million) and subtracting the amount distributed to the university for spending ($221 million).
Despite a wide spectrum of budget cuts across the university, Rice has not reduced the budgets allotted to the individual residential colleges. Even with the addition of Duncan College and McMurtry College, the formula for determining how much money each college receives annually has remained unchanged.McMurtry and Duncan
In celebration of the publication of his book, How Things Really Work: Lessons from a Life in Politics, former Texas Lieutenant Governor Bill Hobby (Wiess '53) returned to his alma mater to discuss his new book and his life in politics. On Wednesday at the Baker Institute, Hobby and longtime friend Saralee Tiede, who is currently director of communications at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin, discussed changes in Texas government, the major accomplishments during Hobby's term and Hobby's legacy.
Just as some students in the middle of their first semester began longing for home, Rice's annual Families Weekend brought a little bit of home to them. According to Director of Reunion Programs and Special Events Jennifer Harding, this year's Families Weekend, whose theme was a "Dynamic Community," brought more than 1,200 parents to campus. The event was coordinated by Harding, as well as Carl Nelson, the chair of the Families Weekend Steering Committee. Both Harding and Nelson, a Brown College senior, said that the weekend was truly successful without any reports of problems.
With Beer Bike six months away, the Rice Program Council selected Sid Richardson College junior Matt Sawyer last week as campus-wide Beer Bike coordinator. At this point, RPC has set the definite date for Beer Bike at March 12. Despite acknowledging that he faces key challenges in preparing for the events, Sawyer stated his goals for this year. "Overall, expectations are that, while maintaining the traditions of the event, we can produce a safe event that will be a lot of fun for all those involved and more importantly, if any changes need to be made, then they will be made," Sawyer said.
