Bill Text: TX HR595 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Recognizing March 3, 2011, as Rice University Day at the State Capitol.
Sponsorship: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2011-03-16 - Reported enrolled [HR595 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-HR595-Enrolled.html
| H.R. No. 595 | ||
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| WHEREAS, A number of proud Texans are visiting Austin on | ||
| March 3, 2011, to celebrate Rice University Day at the State | ||
| Capitol; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Founded in 1912 as William Marsh Rice Institute for | ||
| the Advancement of Literature, Science and Art, Rice was the first | ||
| private, nonsectarian university in Texas and the first institution | ||
| of higher education in Houston; its first president, Edgar Odell | ||
| Lovett, outlined an ambitious vision for a great research | ||
| university, and the school's faculty, students, and alumni have | ||
| succeeded in fulfilling his dream of excellence; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Rice University has played a leading role in | ||
| research in such fields as nanotechnology, cellular technology, | ||
| bioinformatics, energy, the environment, and health, and it has | ||
| helped shape the course of human space exploration; two | ||
| distinguished alumni, Rice Board of Trustees chairman George | ||
| R. Brown and former United States representative Albert Thomas, | ||
| worked with then vice president Lyndon Johnson to make Houston the | ||
| home of the Manned Spacecraft Center, now the Johnson Space Center; | ||
| in 1963, Rice became the first university in the nation to create a | ||
| dedicated space science department, and it has received research | ||
| grants from NASA to launch a total of six Earth-orbiting | ||
| satellites, which were named after the school mascot, Sammy the | ||
| Owl; and | ||
| WHEREAS, President John F. Kennedy made his famous address | ||
| announcing the race to the moon at Rice University, and the very | ||
| first lunar landing incorporated a scientific experiment built by | ||
| Rice professor John Freeman; the Rice University flag raised on the | ||
| surface of the moon remains there to this day; moreover, 14 | ||
| astronauts have had "the Rice Stuff," among them the first female | ||
| commander of the International Space Station; and | ||
| WHEREAS, In 1985, the groundbreaking discovery of | ||
| buckminsterfullerene, or "buckyballs," on the Rice campus, | ||
| originated the field of fullerene chemistry and helped launch the | ||
| field of nanotechnology; Rice professors Richard Smalley and Robert | ||
| Curl earned the Nobel Prize in chemistry for their work, which is | ||
| now leading to momentous breakthroughs in medicine, | ||
| transportation, energy, the environment, defense, and many other | ||
| endeavors; Rice University also counts among its noteworthy | ||
| innovators Sidney Burrus, interim dean of the George R. Brown | ||
| School of Engineering, who created signal-processing algorithms | ||
| that have led to technological advances essential to cell phones, | ||
| speech recognition, sonar and radar, sensor arrays, digital audio | ||
| and video, seismic data gathering, biomedical systems, and many | ||
| more digital tools and devices; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The longest-serving lieutenant governor in Texas | ||
| history, William P. Hobby, Jr., was a Rice graduate; his fellow | ||
| alumni include such notables as Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry | ||
| McMurtry, Saint Arnold Brewing Company founders Brock Wagner and | ||
| Kevin Bartol, and three key Texas Monthly magazine staff members, | ||
| founding editor Bill Broyles, Jr., longtime editor Gregory Curtis, | ||
| and political analyst Paul Burka; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Making its mark in the sports world as well, Rice | ||
| University once owned Yankee Stadium, donated by a successful | ||
| alumnus in 1962; John Heisman, the namesake of football's coveted | ||
| trophy, coached the Rice Owls in the 1920s; more recently, the 2003 | ||
| Owls baseball team made Rice the smallest university to win the NCAA | ||
| Division I College World Series; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Rice University is admired today as one of the | ||
| nation's leading institutions of higher education; since U.S. News & | ||
| World Report began ranking universities in 1983, Rice has been | ||
| rated among the top 20 every year; in addition, it is one of only | ||
| three research universities in the Lone Star State to be a member of | ||
| the elite Association of American Universities; and | ||
| WHEREAS, For the past century, Rice University has | ||
| contributed to the advancement of human knowledge, and the | ||
| achievements of its faculty and alumni continue to resonate in | ||
| Texas, the nation, and the world; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas | ||
| Legislature hereby recognize March 3, 2011, as Rice University Day | ||
| at the State Capitol and extend a warm welcome to all those from | ||
| this august institution who are visiting here today; and, be it | ||
| further | ||
| RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
| prepared for Rice University as an expression of high regard by the | ||
| Texas House of Representatives. | ||
| S. Davis of Harris | ||
| Hochberg | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Speaker of the House | ||
| I certify that H.R. No. 595 was adopted by the House on March | ||
| 3, 2011, by a non-record vote. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
