David W. Leebron became Rice University’s seventh president in 2004. Under Leebron’s guidance, the institution has undergone a period of growth and transformation.

Early in his presidency, Leebron engaged in extensive consultations that produced the Vision for the Second Century (V2C), a plan for Rice’s growth and advancement as one of the world’s premier research universities. As Rice enters the next phase of strategic planning, the Vision for the Second Century/Second Decade (V2C2), the university is well positioned for its second hundred years.

Perhaps the biggest change has occurred in undergraduate enrollment, which has increased 30 percent since 2004. President Leebron, as part of the V2C2, also introduced The Rice Investment - groundbreaking financial aid initiatives for the middle class. International applicants have increased fivefold, and undergraduate and graduate students now come from more than 90 countries.

International experience is an important part of Leebron’smission to provide students with a holistic education. New study abroad programs in Argentina and India have been added, along with study and research opportunities in China, Brazil and Turkey. Under Leebron’s leadership, the campus has also added considerably to the campus construction and amenities.

Prior to taking the helm at Rice, Leebron was dean of Columbia Law School. A native of Philadelphia, he is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, where he was elected president of the Law Review in his second year.

In 2006, Leebron was awarded France’s Commandeur de l’Ordre national du Mérite, and the Encomienda de la Orden de Isabel La Catolica by the government of Spain. In 2008, he received an honorary doctorate from Nankai University. In 2010, Leebron and his wife, University Representative Y. Ping Sun, were selected by the Greater Houston Partnership as the city’s International Executives of the Year for helping make Houston a center of international business.