Meet The Rice Jones MBA Class Of 2026

TAKE ME TO VALHALLA!

For Peter, that next chapter opened with Launch, the Rice Business two-week MBA orientation. Looking back, it was one of her favorite memories. “No one really knew each other, and everyone was at least slightly nervous. I like to think back to those days when we entered this program not knowing what to expect. I can see how far we have come already as better leaders, better teammates and better careerists. It is nice to think back to the time when we were sitting on the cusp of so much potential, not knowing how many lifelong connections we would soon make.”

William Matheson kept busy during his first year as a Rice MBA. Not only did he stay current on coursework, networking, and recruiting, but also welcomed his third child…and helped faculty members with finance research to boot. When stress grew heavy, Matheson could always join his classmates on Thursday afternoons for Partios – or Parties on the Patio. These weekly gatherings brought together students, faculty, staff, and family to commiserate over food and spirits.

“It’s a great opportunity to socialize with those in the program that you might not see often otherwise, due to everyone’s busy schedules,” writes Michael Hart. “Also, because of Rice University’s central location in Houston, Partio serves as an excellent launchpad for other social engagements across the city.”

When Partio isn’t enough, the class could always meet up at Valhalla, adds Pasang Lhamo. “Valhalla is a graduate student bar on campus, where the drinks are affordable and the staff consists of graduate students and alumni volunteers. The atmosphere is inviting, with plenty of outdoor seating under a beautiful tree canopy adorned with lights. Music plays in the background, creating a lively environment where people mingle and chat. After the stress of exams, reminiscing with others can be a cathartic experience. It’s a wonderful opportunity to reflect on our accomplishments and take pride in how far we’ve come.”

A CLASS PROFILE

As a whole, the 157-member MBA Class of 2026 brings a 694 average GMAT to Houston. Among the third of the class who submitted GRE scores, the averages came in at 157 (Verbal) and 159 (Quant). Female and international students account for 39% and 37% shares of class, with 28 countries represented.

Academically, Rice Business skews toward STEM students. 46% of the class hold undergraduate degrees in fields related to Engineer, Math, and Sciences – the same percentage as the previous class. Business and Economics and Liberal Arts graduates hold 34% and 20% of class seats respectively. Professionally, the class is segmented rather evenly. The largest segment, Healthcare, Biotech, and Pharma, accounts for 14% of the class, besting Financial Services (13%), Energy and Sustainability (11%), Consulting (9%), and Technology (8%).

The Rice MBA may be categorized as a “small” program, but it is reinforced by a much larger infrastructure. The online program, MBA@Rice, is home to over 400 students – more than double the size on Class of 2026. In just seven years, it has emerged as the #5 Online MBA program in the world according to Poets&Quants. Four years ago, Rice University launched an undergraduate business program, with the school slated to open a new 112,000 square foot building to accommodate student demand.

THE DIVERSITY OF HOUSTON

And no one would ever call Houston small either. The region is home to nearly 8-million people. And the university itself is nestled just west of Hermann Park and south of the Museum District, which includes the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston Zoo, Museum of Natural History, and the Miller Outdoor Theatre. Madhulika Annam, for one, describes Hermann Park as a personal sanctuary.

“Watching the sun set there, painting the sky in soft, golden hues, is pure magic and rejuvenates me. The quiet walks along its paths bring me a sense of calm, a chance to pause and reset. These moments of reflection often spark creative ideas, making the park not just a haven for relaxation but also a wellspring of inspiration.”

Alum Kyle Zarosky also points to the university’s location as a major advantage for MBA students.

“Being located at Rice made everything much more convenient. Its central location helped me avoid much of Houston’s crazy traffic, and I could easily attend events like Astros and Texans games, the rodeo, and even monster truck shows. Additionally, with free student admission to Rice sporting events, my family and I enjoyed several basketball and baseball games — spending the majority of our time at the bounce house station or in the face painting line.”

The region’s diversity is another appeal according to class members. Within Houston, you’ll find 145 languages being spoken. Even more, over 90 countries maintain a foreign consulate in Space City. However, Houston’s international flavor is best represented by its food, with over 10,000 restaurants operating there.

“Houston’s diversity is reflected in the food scene,” observes Linda Clark, “where you can satisfy any craving on any day, from authentic Tex-Mex and barbecue to international cuisines like Cameroonian, Vietnamese, Nigerian, and French. I also enjoy spending time in the River Oaks area because of its proximity to so many businesses, restaurants, shopping centers, and social/nightlife scenes — despite the crazy traffic!”

AN INTERVIEW WITH DEAN PETER RODRIGUEZ

What’s on the horizon at Rice Business? Earlier this year, P&Q reached out to Dean Peter Rodriguez. Here are his thoughts on everything from the school’s international business programming to its career services.

P&Q: What have been the two most important developments in your MBA program over the past year? What type of impact will they have on current and future MBAs?

Rodriguez: “Rice Business is located in Houston, the energy capital of the world, so we think a lot about how we can leverage networks in the city so our students can be a part of conversations around the energy transition — particularly conversations about the clean-energy evolution and the future of traditional energy. We created a new position in 2023 in the Dean’s Suite — senior advisor to the dean on the energy transition — a position currently held by Nicola Secomandi, who came to us from Carnegie Mellon with a deep interest in research and teaching around energy.

We’re also creating an environment for entrepreneurs who want to apply their talents to the energy transition, especially in Houston. Last year, for example, the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship moved programming into the Ion, which is a 266,000-square-foot space designed to be the hub of innovation for the city.

In addition to our focus on energy, we’ve also made a bigger investment in AI courses for our MBA programs, welcoming Kathleen Perley in the new position of dean’s advisor on AI. She has brought a series of AI experiences and courses to our students, helping them understand how AI is evolving at Rice and beyond. We’ve been talking about AI for some time, but we’re ramping up our efforts in educating our students in the ethical use of AI and how it will impact the future of business.”

P&Q: Every January, P&Q publishes a “10 Business Schools to Watch” feature that highlights how schools are raising the bar and enhancing the student experience through innovation or expansion in programming or resources. What is one innovation that sets your school apart from your peer programs and makes you a business school to watch? Why is it so groundbreaking?

Rodriguez: “Our new building, which is slated for completion in 2026, will add another 112,000 square feet — an almost a 45% increase — to our campus footprint. The space will allow us to have more student programming and will allow our students to engage with leaders in a variety of fields. Our hope is to create a building where people stay beyond their classes to get to know one another. We will also use the space to take advantage of the fact that we’re in a great metropolitan city and can host events, speakers, conferences, and more, highlighting Houston’s business and industry leaders. In addition to what the building will allow us to offer business students, it will also allow us to leverage the many strengths at Rice University, including other academic and research areas like engineering, the fine arts, the liberal arts, and the sciences by creating space for broader campus collaboration.

The new building will also help us accommodate growth in other areas as well. Following the launch of an undergraduate major in 2021, we were honored this year to announce the newly named Virani Undergraduate School of Business in recognition of generous supporters Farid Virani and Dr. Asha Virani ’89, and their children Faraz ’21 and Zoya. Though this is an undergraduate program, its addition at Rice Business is about scale. We don’t just want to have a strong MBA program, but we also want to have a strong Ph.D. program, a strong accounting program, and a strong undergraduate program. This new building, which is being built next to our current building, will certainly have the biggest impact on future MBA programs and will increase the networks of all of our students in a variety of ways.”

P&Q: What types of programs do you offer to sharpen your students’ soft skills? What areas do you emphasize and how do you instill these skills in your students?

Rodriguez: “Our Board Fellows program allows our students to shadow a board member in a Houston nonprofit and learn about how they engage in civic service. Our students learn a lot about giving back, and it encourages them to think about how they will make their own contributions to organizations and communities. In addition, our Leader as Coach program is really effective in helping students learn how to have constructive conversations on difficult topics, how to give constructive feedback and more.

Our programs follow a thorough leadership coaching path, allowing our students to sharpen their skills, collaborate with peers and professionals, and gain real hands-on experience. Along with Rice Business Board Fellows and the Leader as Coach program, our students are encouraged to participate in a number of other leadership opportunities, including student-led conferences and international consulting projects. I think these opportunities foster a great learning environment for our students and allow them to collaborate with peers from culturally and professionally diverse backgrounds — helping strengthen their communication and problem-solving skills.”

P&Q: What types of programming – through classroom instruction, extracurriculars, and treks – does your school offer to expose students to country-specific and global business practices? What have students told you were the most educational and fun aspects of these activities?

Rodriguez: “As part of the core curriculum, all MBA students complete a Global Field Experience (GFE), during which they travel to other countries and work with organizations to help solve problems in real-time. These are rigorous courses that take place over a semester, but what is most exciting about these courses is that our students typically work one-on-one with entrepreneurs and small businesses in emerging countries. This not only introduces students to general challenges that might face founders, but it also gives them experience around startups operating under different cultural contexts than they might be used to.

Students tell me that the GFE is a transformative experience. There’s the usual kind of impact you get when you travel with people — you bond and experience a different environment together, and it’s nice to break bread when everybody has nowhere else to be. But students tell me that working with entrepreneurs is really special — that it’s that extended time with someone in a real business situation in another country that teaches them what it’s like to operate a business there. Our students become personally invested — and continue to root for the business or organization they worked with during their Global Field Experience — long after they’ve returned to campus.

Our students can also gain global business experience through faculty-led Global Offsite Electives, international seminars, and partnership exchanges – which take place all over the world. For example, we recently launched a new elective called Innovation, Technology & Energy, which brought together students from a variety of our programs and culminated in a six-day trip to Dubai.”

P&Q: What are the most exciting new courses that your school is offering to MBAs this school year? What makes them so unique and valuable?

Rodriguez: “We are known for entrepreneurship at Rice Business, where anyone can develop their entrepreneurial skills in a big way. For example, we have the world’s largest and richest intercollegiate student startup competition, the Rice Business Plan Competition, run by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship.

The Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Lilie Lab) offers a “Founder’s Journey” course, where they bring in entrepreneurs to talk with students about what it’s like to start a company: What does it really take? What’s it like to go out on your own? What are the toughest challenges to overcome?

We’re also beginning to offer a healthcare certificate. This is not a specific course, but a host of courses and a very cool innovation at Rice Business. We’re a few hundred yards from the world’s largest medical center and have doctors coming over to study the business of healthcare, so we’re excited about expanding that relationship with the new certificate program.

We are leaning into our entrepreneurial strengths at Rice because it feeds into our energy focus, our healthcare capabilities in the city and really everywhere the university engages with the world.”

P&Q: Who are two new professors who’ve joined your faculty in the past year? What do they teach and how will they be difference-makers in your MBA program?

Rodriguez: “We had five new tenure-track faculty join us this year. Benjamin Guttman-Kenney is a new finance professor who does a lot of work on credit card payments, like how people —particularly younger generations — view and manage debt and credit, how they deal with issues and how the credit system works. It’s a very sophisticated but practical area of research, and Ben is a leader in that research and has published some impressive work in this area.

Yueyang Liu is also new at Rice Business. She does a lot of machine-learning work to help build the future of AI. Her research answers questions like, “How do you build an autonomous agent that can make really good decisions for you? How do you essentially leverage the emerging power of generative AI in a way that we can be confident in to handle complex things?” She and Ben are exactly the type of faculty members we want at Rice Business — innovative researchers whose work influences their teaching in the classroom.”

Next Page: A profile of 11 members of the MBA Class of 2026

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