THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 



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THE PBOGKESS OF SCIENCE 



THE RICE INSTITUTE 

 In 1891 the late William M. Rice, 

 a native of Massachusetts, who emi- 

 grated to Texas and there amassed a 

 large fortune, selected a board of six 

 trustees, and to them made over the 

 sum of two hundred thousand dollars, 

 the foundation of future philanthro- 

 pies. At his further instance these 

 trustees immediately incorporated un- 

 der the name of the William M. Rice 

 Institute, for the advancement of lit- 

 erature, science and art, and with the 

 founder serving as a member of the 

 self-perpetuating board undertook to 

 administer the property of the insti- 

 tute until his death, and then — accord- 

 ing to his wish, not before — to take 

 up the organization of an institution 

 of higher education open and free to 

 the white inhabitants of Houston. 

 When the donor died in 1900 the cor- 

 poration was named as the residuary 

 legatee of his estate; this bequest to- 

 gether with the original endowment 

 and several generous gifts made during 

 his lifetime make up the institute's 

 present foundation of ten million dol- 

 lars. Prolonged litigation established 

 his will and the security of the founda- 

 tion upon which the trustees were to 

 begin the work of organization by 

 placing its direction in the hands of 

 Dr. Edgar Odell Lovett, called from 

 the chair of astronomy at Princeton 

 University. The task at hand was the 

 planning of a non-sectarian institution 

 which should look toward embracing 

 eventually all the functions and activi- 

 ties of a university, but in which at 

 the outset the interests of science 

 should predominate; on the instruc- 

 tional side there was to be no upper 

 limit, the lower limit being defined by 

 the necessity of articulating with the 

 best public high schools and prepara- 



tory schools of the south and the south- 

 west; upon the investigational side 

 where emphasis was to be laid, the 

 direction of research in pure science 

 and its applications was to be taken 

 from the problems of material develop- 

 ment peculiar to the south, commercial, 

 industrial and agricultural; labora- 

 tories of biology, physics, chemistry, 

 besides their use for purposes of in- 

 struction were to provide special facili- 

 ties for research work by men of sci- 

 ence, who should become identified with 

 the institution. In effect, the terms of 

 the charter, the will of the trustees, 

 and every local consideration called for 

 the establishment of a school of sci- 

 ence, pure and applied, of university 

 rank, wherein scientific studies were to 

 be liberalized in an ever-increasing 

 degree until with fuller means and 

 ampler resources a university program, 

 with all its complexities, might be 

 entered upon. 



By way of preparation for this work 

 President Lovett made an extensive 

 tour of investigation among the uni- 

 versities and higher educational estab- 

 lishments in this country and abroad, 

 and upon his return attacked first the 

 problem of planning a domicile worthy 

 of the large endowment of the Rice 

 Institute, and in keeping with its high 

 aims and the character of its projected 

 development. Striving to make a dis- 

 tinctive contribution to academic archi- 

 tecture in America, the trustees of the 

 Rice Institute have boldly avowed their 

 belief in the potency of a noble and 

 impressive architecture as an inspira- 

 tion to the youth who live and study 

 within its shadow. 



The solution of the problem was en- 

 trusted to Messrs. Cram, Goodhue and 

 Ferguson, of Boston and New York, 

 supervising architects of the institute, 



