Rice University Honors Donors for Raising Over $200,000 for United Way

Rice University President Reginald DesRoches and wife Paula Gilmer DesRoches welcomed guests to Cohen House for amuse-bouches and beverages April 29 as a way to thank donors who made this year’s “Owl in for Houston” campaign to support United Way of Greater Houston a success.

More than 600 Rice employees contributed to this year’s campaign fundraising total of $217,811, which placed the university in the top 35 most generous community campaigns in the entire greater Houston region. This also marked the 12th year in a row that the annual Rice campaign has raised more than $200,000.

In addition to thanking the campaign committee and recognizing Lead Donors and Club 21 donors, different campus divisions also were honored for their respective campaign contributions. The Wiess School of Natural Sciences raised the most money at $22,275, Facilities and Capital Planning had the most donors at 111 participants, and two offices reached 100% participation — the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and Rice Global.

President DesRoches serves as the campaign’s honorary chair, which is co-chaired by Ruth N. López Turley, professor of sociology and director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research, and Susann Glenn, director of communication for Operations, Finance and Support.

Accepting Rice’s check on behalf of United Way of Greater Houston, the organization’s president and CEO Amanda McMillian thanked the university for nearly four decades of annual support during which time Rice employees have contributed almost $5 million to programs that help build a stronger community by creating opportunities for individuals and families to thrive.