Rice University in Houston, TX

Dramatic Beginning Nearby Hotel Quality Academics Athletes

Houston is proud of Rice University, one of the country’s top institutes of research and learning. It has a long sporting tradition, with a competitive baseball team and dedicated coaches in all sports disciplines. During your stay with us at the Best Western Northwest Inn & Suites, be sure to visit this amazing Texas university.

A Dramatic Beginning. In 1891, Massachusetts-born businessman William Marsh Rice chartered the William Marsh Rice Institute for the Advancement of Literature, Science, and Art as a gift to the city of Houston, where he had made his fortune. The terms of the charter required that work on the new institute would begin only after Rice's death. In 1900, Rice was poisoned by a servant who had conspired with an unscrupulous lawyer to kill the aging millionaire and claim his estate using a forged will, but an autopsy proved it was murder.  [Top]

Quality Academics. The Rice University Faculty include scholars of international distinction, including a Nobel Prize winner and a Pulitzer Prize winner. There are nearly 3,000 undergraduates and 2,000 graduate students, and the school boasts the fifth-largest endowment per student among American universities. Rice is proud of its collaborative culture, which crosses disciplines, integrates teaching and research, and intermingles undergraduate and graduate work.  [Top]

The Rice Owls Athletes. Sports and athletics are an important part of the Rice University culture. From varsity to clubs to intramurals, students find a way to wear their school colors of blue and gray with pride and participate in soccer, baseball, basketball, track and field, and a dozen other disciplines. There’s even cricket and, for the intrepid, skydiving opportunities!  [Top]