Peter Rodriguez, dean of the Rice Jones Graduate School of Business: “Rice has always needed this, I think it’s a great opportunity for the school. This gives us the opportunity to push much harder than we could have before, and we are really excited”
Rice University’s undergraduate business program will have a new name thanks to a generous gift by Farid and Asha Virani, who have close ties to the school.
The program, which officially kicked off in 2021, will now be known as the Virani Undergraduate School of Business
LARGEST GIFT IN RICE’S HISTORY
The business undergraduate program at Rice has remained housed with the Rice Jones Graduate School of Business largely because Texas Southern University, under the same endowment, had conflicting names: They’re already established as the Jones School of Business.
While there are advantages to sharing space with a top-tier MBA program, Peter Rodriguez, dean of Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business, says, “We were limited in our ability to make the undergrads feel a part of the same school. This gift opened up an opportunity to generate support for a new program and a new school that needed to be more independent and have its own identity.”
Rodriguez says it takes the cake for the largest gift in their school’s history, though the school has not disclosed the actual amount.
VIRANI FAMILY VALUES
Farid Virani immigrated to Houston from Pakistan at 19 and he became successful through various entrepreneurial ventures. He met his wife Asha while she was studying at Rice; their son, Faraz, graduated from Rice in 2021.
“One of the things that the Virani family felt strongly about was engaging business undergraduates in the community,” says Rodriguez.
Among the focuses of the Virani School of Business will be building a culture of nonprofit support — something close to the Viranis’ hearts. The Viranis founded their own successful nonprofit in honor of their son, coined the Faris Foundation, which has flourished for 10 years and supports children with cancer.
“The values of the undergrad school are an emblem of the Viranis’ values and what they believe in,” Rodriguez says.
A NEW BUILDING FOR THE BUSINESS UNDERGRADS
The new undergraduate school will officially host a celebration in the Spring. “We’re really starting from scratch with the undergraduates,” says Rodriguez, who sees much opportunity to build the program.
This gift will help them further build their undergraduate career services, experiential opportunities, faculty team to support the growth, and strong community involvement and engagement.
The undergraduate program will be housed in a new 112,000-square-foot building next to McNair Hall, home to the school’s graduate students. The new building is slated to open in February 2026.
“Things are coming together, and that’s part of building a great undergraduate school that will be competing with some of the best in the country,” says Rodriguez. “Rice has always needed this, I think it’s a great opportunity for the school. This gives us the opportunity to push much harder than we could have before, and we are really excited.”
