Alumni Awards
Distinguished Alumni Award
This award is the highest honor bestowed by the Wiess School of Natural Sciences. Recipients of this prestigious award are selected based on a lifetime of professional achievements, leadership and contributions made professionally and to society at large.
Eligibility:
Any Rice alum who holds a degree from a program currently in the Wiess School of Natural Sciences or from a program that was in the Natural Sciences at the time of conferral is eligible. Recipients of degrees from interdisciplinary programs with strong overlap with departments in Natural Sciences are also eligible. Members of the selection committee and members of their families are not eligible. Alumni who have won the Association for Rice Alumni Distinguished Alumni Award are not eligible.
Attendance at the award ceremony is required in order to receive the award.
Recent Alumni Award
This award recognizes the post-graduation achievements made professionally and to society at large of Rice Natural Sciences alumni who are within 15 years of receiving their most recent degree at the undergraduate or graduate level.
Eligibility:
Any Rice alum who received a degree from a program in the Wiess School of Natural Sciences and is fewer than 15 years from their last conferred degree from Rice or another academic institution is eligible. A recipient of a Rice degree from an interdisciplinary program with strong overlap with departments in Natural Sciences or from a program that was in the Natural Sciences at the time of conferral, and who satisfies the criteria of years since degree, is also eligible. The length of time since receiving the last degree shall be determined as of Jan. 1 of the year of the award. Members of the selection committee and members of their families are not eligible.
Attendance at the award ceremony is required in order to receive the award.
Award Recognition
Awardees will be recognized at an award ceremony during Alumni Weekend, which will take place in late October or early November 2024.
Award Nominations
The nomination materials will consist of a nomination letter, which may be signed by multiple people. Nominations for 2024 awards are due at midnight on March 1, 2024. Once nominated, the nomination will be active in the selection pool for three years.
Questions?
If you have questions, including whether a particular person is eligible for an award, please send them to nsci@rice.edu.