[May 7]
1957
Rice's 1st president, Edgar Odell Lovett, dies on August 13 at age 86. He lives long enough to see 5 residential colleges established, fulfilling his dream to create a residential college system for Rice, where students and faculty live and learn together. During the last years of his life, Dr. Lovett is acclaimed for his achievements as founding president of a major university. In 1954 Lovett receives an honorary degree from Princeton University, sharing honors with President Nathan Pusey of Harvard and Governor and presidential candidate Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois.