Dr. Bill Wilson

Bill Wilson, professor of electrical  and computational engineering, was a resident associate at Wiess College for 28 years, 1978-2006.  He was affectionately known as “Dr. Bill” to everyone at Wiess and supported students in every possible way. Dr. Bill’s teaching style was “know the students and become part of their lives”.  The keeper of many Wiess traditions, he was arguably one of the most influential persons in the college’s history.  Dr. Bill took countless photos of student life at Rice and Wiess.  He helped students screen print T-shirts to commemorate events or raise money.  He spent hundreds of hours working as a theater technician and a sound engineer, helping to present more than 50 TableTop shows at Wiess.  He taped shows at other colleges and recorded performances by the Rice Philharmonics, the comedy ensemble Spontaneous Combustion and other student groups.

A celebrated teacher, Dr. Bill won the George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching multiple times, as well as the George R. Brown Prize for Excellence in Teaching, during his 34 years at Rice.  His personalized touch earned him the Nicolas Salgo Distinguished Teaching Award in 2006, the year of his retirement.  Dr. Bill passed away at his Vermont home on January 20, 2009, following a brief illness.

Fund Creation

The Dr. Bill Grant was created in 1999 when a Wiess alumnus, Keith Meehan (Wiess ’81), honored Dr. Bill at an event celebrating his 20th year as a Wiess Resident Associate.  Meehan and other Wiess alumni proposed creating a fund in Wilson’s name for the use of his choice.  Dr. Bill decided that a fund to help students improve student life would be most beneficial.  An endowed Dr. Bill Wilson Student Initiative Grant was established in 1999 and the first recipients received awards in 2000.  Each fall, proposals are solicited to further improve undergraduate student life on the Rice campus.