The list of Rice University people includes notable alumni, former students, faculty, and presidents of Rice University.
Alumni
The names of Distinguished Alumni Award recipients are available onlineAssociation of Rice Alumni Rice University (the list is arranged alphabetically and includes recipients of other Rice University awards).
Government and politics Note: individuals who belong in multiple sections appear in the most relevant section.
U.S. cabinet secretaries Charles Duncan, 1947, U.S. secretary of energy (1979–1981) Alberto Gonzales, 1979, United States attorney general (2005–2007)
U.S. ambassadors James Ward Hargrove, 1943, ambassador to Australia (1976–1977) Eric Nelson, 1983, ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina (2019–2022)
Other federal officials Patrick G. Carrick, member of the Senior Executive Service Robert L. Clarke, 1963, attorney, comptroller of the Currency (1985–1992) Josh Earnest, 1997, White House press secretary for President Barack Obama (2014–2017) L. Patrick Gray (attended), acting director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (1972–1973) Stephen Hahn, 1980, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (2019–2021) Robert S. Martin, 1971, director, Institute of Museum and Library Services (2001–2005) Benjamin J. Rhodes, 2000, speechwriter and national security adviser to Barack Obama
U.S. senators and congressmen Bill Archer (attended), United States congressman (1971–2001) Jim Bridenstine, 1998, U.S. representative, Oklahoma's 1st congressional district (2013–2018); administrator of NASA (2018–2021) John Kline, 1969, United States congressman (2003–2017) Pete Olson, 1985, United States congressman (2009–2021) Albert Thomas, 1920, U.S. representative, Texas's 8th congressional district (1937–1966)
Governors James V. Allred (attended), governor of Texas (1935–1939) Glenn Youngkin, 1990, governor of Virginia (2022–2026)
Mayors George Chang, Ph.D. 1966, mayor of Tainan, Taiwan (1997–2001) Roy Hofheinz, 1932 (attended), mayor of the City of Houston (1953–1955) Annise Parker, 1978, mayor of the City of Houston (2010–2016) Starke Taylor, 1943, mayor of the City of Dallas (1983–1987)
State and local officials George P. Bush, 1998, commissioner of the Texas General Land Office; son of Florida Governor Jeb Bush; nephew of former President George W. Bush; grandson of former President George H. W. Bush Eric Dick, 2022, president of the Harris County Department of Education since 2017; lawyer specializing in denied or underpaid property insurance claims"Houstonians’ post-freeze cleanup should include preventive fixes for mold", Houston Chronicle, Feb. 22, 2021."Our Elected Officials", Harris County Republican Party, accessed July 9, 2023. William P. Hobby Jr., 1953, lieutenant governor of Texas (1973–1991); former chancellor of the University of Houston System; former president and executive editor of The Houston Post Scott Hochberg, member of the Texas House of Representatives M. J. Khan, Master of Business Administration, former Houston City Council memberDooley, Tara. "Khan inspires Muslims with election to council." Houston Chronicle. Saturday, December 13, 2003. Religion p. 1. NewsBank Record Number: 3716921. Available from the Houston Public Library website with a library card. Eliot Shapleigh, 1974, Texas state senator
Judges Lamar John Ryan Cecil, 1923, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (1954–1958) Finis E. Cowan, 1951, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (1977–1979) Harold R. DeMoss Jr., 1952, federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1991–2015) Hugh Gibson, 1940, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (1979–1998) Sam E. Haddon, 1959, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Montana (2012–present) Sharon Keller, 1975, presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (2001–present) James Aubrey Parker, 1959, senior judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico (2003–present) Karen Gren Scholer, 1979, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (2018–present) Anuraag Singhal, 1986, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (2019–present) Leslie H. Southwick, 1972, federal judge on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals James P. Sullivan, 2003, justice on the Supreme Court of Texas
Other Robert L. Leuschner Jr., 1957, graduated as a chemical engineer, but after joining the NROTC at Rice, pursued a distinguished career in the U.S. Navy, attaining the rank of rear admiral Mitch Bainwol, 1983, former chair, Republican National Committee William Luther Pierce, 1955, National Alliance founder, noted neo-Nazi, and author of the Turner Diaries Gary H. Stern, chief executive of the Ninth Federal Reserve Bank at Minneapolis
Arts and letters
Architecture Ralph A. Anderson Jr., 1943, architect Arthur E. Jones, 1947, architect E. Fay Jones, March 1951, architect, named in 2000 by the American Institute of Architects as "one of the ten most influential architects of the twentieth century" Eric Kuhne, 1973, British architect Charles Renfro, BArch 1989, architect, partner of Diller Scofidio + Renfro Blaine E. Brownell, MArch 1998, architect, director of the School of Architecture at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and columnist for Architect Magazine Kevin Daly, MArch, founder of Kevin Daly Architects and adjunct professor at UCLA
Fashion James Mischka, 1985, designer and co-founder of Badgley Mischka
Film, television and radio Elizabeth Avellán, 1992, film producer and co-founder of Troublemaker Studios Ron Bozman, 1969, Academy Award-winning film producer (The Silence of the Lambs) Dr. Joy Browne (b. Oppenheim), Jones 1966, host of popular syndicated radio and television call-in therapy shows John William Corrington, M.A. 1960, screenwriter James Craig, actor (Kitty Foyle) Germaine Franco, 1984, film composer (Coco) Amy Hobby, 1986, Academy Award-nominated producer Howard Hughes (attended), filmmaker known for Hell's Angel's (1930) and Scarface (1932); life and career served as the basis for the 2004 film The Aviator Tim League, 1992, founder of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, a high end theatre chain, and Drafthouse Films, film distributor Mike MacRae, 1999, voice actor, comedian Warren Skaaren, 1969, executive director of Texas Film Commission and screenwriter of Top Gun, Beetlejuice, Beverly Hills Cop II, Batman Gus Sorola (attended), Machinima artist and founding member of Rooster Teeth
History and journalism William Broyles Jr., 1966, founder of Texas Monthly; former editor in chief at Newsweek; screenwriter of Apollo 13, Cast Away, Unfaithful, Flags of Our Fathers Gwynne Dyer, M.A. 1966, journalist, syndicated columnist and military historian; Senior Lecturer in War Studies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (1973–1977) John Graves, 1942, nature writer, Goodbye to a River Jo Ling Kent, 2006, NBC News correspondent Zack Kopplin, 2015, political activist, journalist, and television personality who came to fame during high school for publicly campaigning against the Louisiana Science Education Act, a creationism law; investigator for the Government Accountability Project Evan Mintz, B.A. 2008, 2017 Pulitzer finalist in editorial writing, Opinion and Community Engagement editor for the Houston Chronicle Steve Sailer, 1980, writer for Taki's Magazine and VDARE Rosa Levin Toubin, Jewish Texan historian, civic leader and philanthropist Garrett L. Washington, historian of 19th- and 20th-century Japan Lamar White, 2005, investigative journalist known for his work on racism and political corruption in the Deep South
Literature June Arnold, B.A. 1948, M.A. 1958, novelist and feminist activist Candace Bushnell (attended), author of Sex and the City Elisa Gabbert, B.A. 2002, poet, essayist, and The New York Times poetry columnist William Goyen, B.A. 1937, M.A. 1939, novelist and editor Eva Hoffman, 1967, author, Lost in Translation, Shtetl: The Life and Death of a Small Town and the World of Polish Jews, The Secret: A Novel, After Such Knowledge John Irwin, M.A., Ph.D., poet, author, professor at Johns Hopkins University, former editor of The Georgia Review, and namesake of annual United States Chess Federation national senior tournament Larry McMurtry, M.A. 1960, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, known for Lonesome Dove, The Last Picture Show, and Terms of Endearment; won Oscar for Brokeback Mountain screenplay Elizabeth Moon, 1968, author, The Deed of Paksenarrion, Winning Colors Joyce Carol Oates (attended), author; Princeton creative writing professor; dropped out of English PhD program after publishing in Best American Short Stories Cecily Parks, B.A. 1999, Pushcart Prize-winning poet and Texas State University MFA professor John Pipkin, PhD 1997, novelist Adriana E. Ramírez, B.A. 2005, writer, critic-at-large for the Los Angeles Times, and co-founder of the literary journal Aster(ix) Charles Harper Webb, B.A., Whiting Award-winning poet and professor at California State University, Long Beach
Music Lola Astanova, master's 2005, summa cum laude, Russian-born classical pianist Rebecca Carrington, master's in Music, British "music comedian" Carl P. Daw Jr., Episcopalian priest; director of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada; researcher and authority on sacred music Gabriela Frank (born 1972), pianist and composer of contemporary classical music Hilary Purrington, 2013, composer Caroline Shaw, 2004, Pulitzer Prize-winning musician Kate Soper, 2003, Pulitzer Prize-finalist musician
Visual art Mark Flood, 1981, contemporary artist Robert S. Martin, 1971, librarian; member of National Council for the Humanities; former director of Institute of Museum & Library Services; 2008 recipient of Presidential Citizens Medal Charles L. Venable, 1982, curator and former director of the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Speed Art Museum Wayne Gilbert, MA 2012, painter and gallerist Ann Harithas, MFA, artist, curator, and founder of multiple museums in Texas, including the Art Car Museum, Station Museum of Contemporary Art, and Five Points Museum of Contemporary Art
Business Brian Armstrong, 2005 and 2006, founder and CEO of Coinbase Manolo Betancur, baker and immigrant rights activist George R. Brown, 1920, founder of Brown and Root, one of the world's largest construction firms Thomas H. Cruikshank, former chairman and CEO of Halliburton Mark Dankberg, 1976, co-founder and CEO, ViaSat L. John Doerr, 1973, venture capitalist at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers; CEO of Silicon Compilers; co-founder of the @Home Network; on the board of directors of Intuit, Amazon.com, PalmOne, Sun Microsystems, Google, and Segway Charles Duncan, 1947, former president, Coca-Cola; former secretary of energy under Jimmy Carter (1979–1981) Mark Durcan, 1984, CEO of Micron Technology Lynn Elsenhans, chairman and CEO of Sunoco Kevin Harvey, 1987, founding member and general partner at Benchmark, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm Howard Hughes (attended), richest man in the world in 1976 Steve Jackson, 1974, founder of Steve Jackson Games Ken Kennedy, 1967, founder of Center for Research on Parallel Computation, the High Performance Fortran Forum; co-chair of the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee with Bill Joy of Sun Microsystems Ali Yıldırım Koç, 1990, Koç Holding member; 37th president of Turkish multisport club Fenerbahçe S.K. Fred C. Koch (attended), founder of Koch Industries, one of the largest private companies in the United States