THE PROGRESS 
OF SCIENCE 613 
THE PROGRESS 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, 
