Rice Gets $100 Million for Advanced Materials Research

Rice University on Thursday announced it will receive $100 million from the Robert A. Welch Foundation to establish a new institute on campus that will focus on advanced materials research for energy systems, sustainable water, space systems, biomedical materials, telecommunications, manufacturing, transportation, security and more. The gift is the largest in the university's history.

“The creation of The Welch Institute at Rice University illustrates what is possible when great institutions from across our great city come together in new ways to create new possibilities and new levels of achievement for our city and the world,” Rice president David Leebron said in a statement.