Rice Business

Call Directions Website Contact the university

Rice Business Degree offerings include Full-Time, Professional, Executive, Online & Hybrid MBAs, as well as MBA/PSM, MD/MBA, Ph.D.
(1)

in business, Master of Accounting, undergraduate business major, business & entrepreneurship minors and executive education programs. Rice Business is home to the Jones Graduate School of Business and the Virani Undergraduate School of Business at Rice University. Our tight-knit culture of innovation and diversity equips students with the skills, insights, network and resources needed to succeed as the next generation of leaders. Jones Graduate School of Business, named in honor of prominent Houston business and civic leader Jesse H. Jones, received its initial funding in 1974 through a major gift from Houston Endowment Inc., a philanthropic foundation established by Jones and his wife, Mary Gibbs Jones. Our graduate school offers Full-Time, Executive, Professional, Online and Hybrid MBA programs, as well as a one-year MAcc degree, Ph.D. program, several joint degree programs, and executive education programs. Virani Undergraduate School of Business, named in honor of Houston community and business leaders Farid and Asha Virani, offers an undergraduate business major, business minor and entrepreneurship minor. Our programs provide students with a comprehensive foundation in leadership and business fundamentals, and our undergraduates are taught by the same nationally recognized faculty who teach our MBA programs — allowing them to gain early insights into the ever-changing business landscape. Both schools have received recognition for leadership and innovation from outlets such as Business Week, U.S. News & World Report, Financial Times, The Economist, Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine. Also find us on:
Instagram:
LinkedIn: Business
X:
YouTube:
TikTok:

"A career pivot isn't starting over. It's taking everything you've already built and learning what else you can build wi...
10/19/2026

"A career pivot isn't starting over. It's taking everything you've already built and learning what else you can build with it." 🏗️

After six years in heavy civil construction, Sydney Harrison FTMBA '27 knew how to execute complex projects. But she wanted to understand the bigger picture: how leaders make strategic decisions and choose what work is worth doing in the first place.

Writing for Poets&Quants, Sydney reflects on her transition to business school and overcoming her initial imposter syndrome. Although stepping into an unfamiliar business world felt intimidating, she came to realize her field experience had already taught her how to lead teams, navigate uncertainty and make tough decisions with imperfect information.

The hard hat may be gone, but the lessons that came with it are not.

Read Sydney's full essay ➞ https://tinyurl.com/3vj9dwt8

Thinking about earning your MBA in Texas? Get the inside scoop on the Texas advantage at Clear Admit's upcoming Regional...
10/19/2026

Thinking about earning your MBA in Texas? Get the inside scoop on the Texas advantage at Clear Admit's upcoming Regional Spotlight Webinar!

Join Jessica Steptoe, assistant dean for MBA recruiting and admissions at Rice Business, for a virtual panel alongside admissions leaders from Texas McCombs MBA and SMU Cox School of Business. Discover how a Rice MBA connects you directly to Houston’s energy transition, healthcare and global trade hubs to accelerate your career. Jess will also explain what we look for in applicants, share practical tips for putting together a standout submission and answer your questions during a live breakout Q&A session.

📅 Tuesday, Oct. 27 | 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. ET

We can't wait to see you there! Register now to attend. ➞ https://tinyurl.com/536bbdnf

Austin, Rice Business is heading your way!Steve Summers, manager of Rice MBA recruiting and admissions, will be in town ...
10/17/2026

Austin, Rice Business is heading your way!

Steve Summers, manager of Rice MBA recruiting and admissions, will be in town next Tuesday, Oct. 20, to meet with prospective students at GMAC's MBA Tour Austin.

Stop by our table at the Austin Public Library to chat with Steve and explore what a Rice MBA can do for your career. He'll explain what our admissions team looks for, share practical strategies to strengthen your application and answer all your questions about life at Rice Business.

📅 Tuesday, Oct. 20 | 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.
📍 Austin Public Library

Come learn. Come connect. Come see what’s possible.

Register now ➞ https://tinyurl.com/5a93wm2m

What can an ancient Greek epic teach a modern manager?We asked three Rice Business organizational behavior faculty what ...
10/16/2026

What can an ancient Greek epic teach a modern manager?

We asked three Rice Business organizational behavior faculty what Christopher Nolan's film adaptation of Homer's "The Odyssey" says about leadership. Each found a different lesson in the story.

Read the full conversation on Rice Business Wisdom.
➞ https://tinyurl.com/2tk85us2

How do you pivot from 10+ years in the United States Air Force into real estate?For Stephen Fialko FTMBA '27, his networ...
10/15/2026

How do you pivot from 10+ years in the United States Air Force into real estate?

For Stephen Fialko FTMBA '27, his network opened the door. Tapping into his veteran community led to key introductions at Hines, helping him secure a summer internship in Houston.

Working across the Houston Development Team and the Hines Global Income Trust, Stephen jumped straight into evaluating acquisitions, building financial models and drafting deal summary decks. He credits MBA courses with professors Alan Crane and Stephanie Johnson for giving him the foundational toolkit to understand the operations and hit the ground running.

For anyone eyeing a similar career move, Stephen's advice is simple: "Start networking immediately. Not only will connections be able to provide pivotal advice, but you need to immerse yourself to stay in tune with current trends, cycles and news."

Read more about Stephen's internship experience.
➞ https://tinyurl.com/32ky6nyy

10/14/2026

Michael Pariser '12 went from banking to renewable energy. Now he's helping Oracle power the AI boom.

After the 2008 financial crisis prompted a major career rethink, Michael spent two years exploring Southeast Asia, riding the Ho Chi Minh Trail by motorcycle and hiking the Himalayas in Nepal. His experiences abroad sparked an interest in clean energy that eventually led him to Rice Business and a new career in the energy industry, where he now works at the intersection of clean energy and AI's growing power demands.

On the latest episode of Owl Have You Know, Michael joins Brian Jackson '21 to discuss the race to power AI, the future of energy and how his monthly happy hour became a go-to gathering for Houston’s energy and power crowd.

Listen to Michael's story ➞ https://tinyurl.com/m3w7cevd

For three years, Aileen Hu's world revolved around lecture halls, hospital wards and medical research. She presented at ...
10/14/2026

For three years, Aileen Hu's world revolved around lecture halls, hospital wards and medical research. She presented at national conferences and even rotated through a pediatric HIV/AIDS clinic in Malawi. But seeing healthcare through a purely clinical lens was only half the picture. She wanted to explore the business side driving it all.

As a Baylor College of Medicine M.D. student, choosing Rice Business for her MBA was a natural fit given its direct proximity to the Texas Medical Center. Now in the Full-Time MBA Class of 2028, Aileen is eager to learn alongside classmates from diverse industries and broaden her horizons beyond medicine.

Read more about Aileen's path to Rice and what she hopes to build next. ➞ https://tinyurl.com/bdzx5up5

How well do companies really know their customers?According to new research co-authored by Rice Business professors Vika...
10/13/2026

How well do companies really know their customers?

According to new research co-authored by Rice Business professors Vikas Mittal and Alessandro Piazza, not nearly as well as they think.

Their seven-year study of 72 companies reveals that businesses routinely misidentify what drives customer value. Even when executives spend heavily on gathering feedback and analyzing market trends, they still rely on intuition, recent events or competitors' moves to make strategic decisions.

Companies also tend to change their strategic priorities frequently. The result is organizational clutter, confused customers and wasted resources.

To solve this, the authors offer a data-driven framework to help businesses focus on what matters most. By replacing strategic guesswork with statistical precision, companies can boost productivity and improve returns.

Read the full article online now, or grab your copy of Harvard Business Review's upcoming November-December 2026 print issue. ➞ https://tinyurl.com/mdcz9ecc

Co-authors:
Sonam Singh (University of South Florida Muma College of Business)
Ashwin Malshe (UTSA- Carlos Alvarez College of Business)

What does an MBA at the intersection of finance and energy look like? Experience it firsthand at Rice Business!Join us f...
10/13/2026

What does an MBA at the intersection of finance and energy look like? Experience it firsthand at Rice Business!

Join us for a special MBA Winter Preview Weekend, featuring the student-run Rice Energy Finance Summit. Go beyond the conference to sit in on an MBA class, tour our new building and connect with our Career Development Office.

Discover how our programs bring together industry connections, classroom learning and career opportunities to prepare the next generation of leaders in finance and energy.

📅 Nov. 13-14
📍 Rice Business, Virani Hall & McNair Hall

Traveling from outside the Houston area? We’re excited to offer up to $500 in travel reimbursement to help you get here.

See what your future could look like at Rice Business.

Register now ➞ https://tinyurl.com/38a5dryb

We were thrilled to welcome Flowserve President and CEO Scott Rowe to Rice Business for a fireside chat with our MBA stu...
10/12/2026

We were thrilled to welcome Flowserve President and CEO Scott Rowe to Rice Business for a fireside chat with our MBA students. Moderated by Brian Rountree, senior associate dean for degree programs, the conversation explored Scott’s leadership journey, Flowserve's transformation and the future of the energy industry.

Our students also had the opportunity to connect directly with Flowserve leaders, explore career paths at the company and hear firsthand about the experiences shaping a global industrial organization.

Thank you to Scott and the entire Flowserve team for spending such meaningful time with our students and investing in Rice MBA talent! We look forward to continuing the conversation.

Address

6100 Main Street
Houston, TX
77005

Telephone

+17133484918

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Rice Business posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The University

Send a message to Rice Business:

Shortcuts

Share