Fall 2025
By Jenna Perrone
Photos by Jeff Fitlow

In 1975, Rice’s Division of Science and Engineering split into the two schools known today as the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing and the Wiess School of Natural Sciences. Five decades later, these schools are flourishing under the recently renewed leadership of Deans Luay Nakhleh and Thomas Killian.

Nakhleh became dean of engineering and computing in 2021 with plans to continue the success of his predecessor: Rice’s current president, Reginald DesRoches. “The previous dean started doing great work for the school, mainly in the areas of growing the faculty, as well as launching new academic programs for the school,” Nakhleh said. “And when I became interested in the position, it was because of this success that I said, ‘You know what? I could help continue this and build it even stronger.’”

Four years later, nearly 60 tenure-track faculty members have joined the school, as have many students completing new, online masters programs in computer science, data science and engineering management and leadership. 

Strengthening alumni relationships has also been a priority, as was highlighted at the schools’ recent 50th anniversary celebrations. “We had a great number of alumni who came back to celebrate with us,” Nakhleh said. “We managed to showcase the success of the school, whether it’s the great faculty members and students we have or the alumni and their success stories.”

In the future, Nakhleh said he hopes to see a continued focus on societal issues like public health and sustainability. “I want the school to focus for the next 50 years on solving problems of large societal impact,” he said. “We want to tackle these big problems because these big problems require innovative solutions that academia is built for.”

Nakhleh also wishes to address the human element of innovation. “I don’t want our school to be the school known only for its technical strength,” he said. “I want every researcher, every faculty member, every student in our school to also think about social responsibility. How do we create and follow ethical practices in engineering? How do we think about the environment and the impact of our work on the environment?”

Two buildings away, Thomas Killian, dean of the Wiess School of Natural Sciences since 2021, reflected on his own first term. “We’ve grown our faculty by about 20%, which is the first faculty growth the school has had in about 20 years,” he said. “That’s allowed us to invest in amazing opportunities, such as growing our Department of Chemistry so it can strengthen its work on discovering new chemicals for cancer treatments.”

Looking toward his next term, Killian also strives to keep social impact in mind. “That’s a big emphasis of the investments that are being done across Rice right now, to have that bigger international impact that comes through doing great research,” Killian said. “Natural sciences is key to that because of how important the sciences are for addressing great societal problems or solving great mysteries in the universe.” 

Mysteries of the universe have certainly factored into the school’s past, most famously with John F. Kennedy’s ringing “We choose to go to the moon” speech, given at Rice in 1962. According to Killian, though, they also play a role in its future.

“We’ve supported fundamental work on the exploration of other planets and understanding of how planets form, which informs the search for life on other planets,” Killian said. “I believe, in our lifetime, we’re going to find evidence of life beyond Earth, and it’s going to change the way we behave ourselves in the universe. Rice is making important contributions there, and I want us to be at the forefront of that.” 

Whether expanding their faculty, engaging alumni or solving society’s most pressing questions, Deans Nakhleh and Killian and their schools are undoubtedly charting a course for the stars.