Rice University, formally William Marsh Rice University, is a private research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It sits on a 300-acre campus adjacent to the Houston Museum District and the Texas Medical Center. Opened in 1912 as the Rice Institute after the murder of its namesake William Marsh Rice, Rice is a research university with an undergraduate focus. It has a 6:1 student-faculty ratio. Rice has been a member of the Association of American Universities since 1985 and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". The university is organized into eight schools of academic study. Rice competes in 14 NCAA Division I varsity sports and is a part of the American Athletic Conference. Its teams are the Rice Owls. The university's alumni include 26 Marshall Scholars, 12 Rhodes Scholars, 7 Churchill Scholars, and 3 Nobel laureates. The Rice Space Institute has collaborated with the Johnson Space Center for more than 50 years. In business, Rice graduates include CEOs, founders of Fortune 500 companies and four billionaires; in politics, alumni include politicians and cabinet members. Source: Wikipedia (en)