Edgar Odell Lovett
Bruce Wolfe
Bronze
Keck Hall Courtyard
Gift of the Wortham Foundation with support from Pam and Edgar Lovett II, Mary Nell and Malcom Lovett, Jr., Pat and Fred Burns, Marilyn Graves Lummis, Arthur and Karen Rogers, Mary Eliza and Park Shaper and individual donors.
Commissioned in conjunction with the university’s centennial, Wolfe’s statue depicts Rice’s founder and first president, Edgar Odell Lovett. Rice would not be the university it is today were it not for Dr. Lovett’s forward-thinking vision and years of dedication that shaped all sectors of the university—from academics and research to campus architecture and life. The statue portrays the younger Lovett who founded Rice and traveled the world to incorporate the best of what he saw in other universities into his vision for the Rice Institute. Wolfe’s statue stands as a dynamic, monumental marker of the achievements of Rice and its founding president during the university’s first century.