Rice receives gift from Kraft family to advance athletics and Jewish studies

Donation supports football practice pavilion and humanities professorship

HOUSTON, Aug. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Rice University has received a generous gift from alumna and trustee Patti Lipoma Kraft '87 and her husband, Jonathan Kraft, to support two university priorities. The gift will support the construction of a state-of-the-art, covered football practice pavilion and establish the Kraft Family Professorship in Jewish Studies, strengthening both student-athlete development and academic leadership in the humanities.

"I am deeply grateful for Rice and the many ways it has impacted my life, and Jonathan and I are proud to invest in the university's future," said Kraft, who earned her bachelor's degree in economics and managerial studies from Rice and was reelected to the Rice Board of Trustees in 2024 after previously serving two four-year terms from 2015–23.

"Supporting both the new football practice pavilion and Jewish studies at Rice reflects our belief in the students, faculty and staff who make Rice so exceptional. We hope our gift helps Rice continue to grow, build community and bring people together across all parts of campus."

Rice President Reginald DesRoches thanked the Kraft family for their far-reaching, visionary support of the university.

"Patti and Jonathan Kraft's generosity reflects a deep belief in Rice's mission and in the power of higher education to shape lives and communities," DesRoches said. "Their investment will have a lasting impact by strengthening the student-athlete experience, advancing academic excellence and helping Rice continue to serve as a place where opportunity, innovation and discovery thrive."

Kraft Pavilion

The new covered Patricia Lipoma Kraft '87 and Jonathan A. Kraft Football Pavilion will significantly enhance daily training for Rice student-athletes. The approximately 80,000-square-foot, open-air structure will feature a synthetic turf field beneath a split-gable roof designed to maximize airflow and cooling during Houston's hot summer months.

Located immediately adjacent to the program's current outdoor practice field, Kraft Pavilion will provide convenient access for the team and all Rice Athletics teams and create a seamless practice environment. The pavilion was first announced last November as part of Rice's Gateway Project, which includes a comprehensive renovation of Rice Stadium. The inflatable practice facility currently in the west stadium parking lot, the Robert L. Waltrip Indoor Training Center, will be removed following the completion of Kraft Pavilion. This will make room for a redesigned space featuring expanded greenspace, an enhanced pedestrian pathway that creates a direct connection to Rice Village and improved access for fans and the surrounding community. The facility will also be available for major university and community events.

"The Krafts' extraordinary generosity will have a transformative impact on our athletic department and the daily experience of our student-athletes," said Eric George, interim director of athletics. "This state-of-the-art practice pavilion provides a safe, efficient and elite training environment directly adjacent to our existing facilities, allowing our team to prepare at the highest level while prioritizing student-athlete well-being. We are deeply grateful to Patti and Jonathan for their belief in Rice Athletics and their investment in the future of our program."

The groundbreaking for Kraft Pavilion is scheduled for the week of Aug. 24.

Advancing Jewish studies

The Kraft Family Professorship in Jewish Studies is a permanent endowment in the School of Humanities and Arts designed to support a senior faculty member whose work advances Jewish studies at Rice while laying the groundwork for expanded academic programming and long-term leadership in the field.

"This professorship provides the stability and intellectual leadership needed to support innovative teaching, new research initiatives and meaningful interdisciplinary collaboration while signaling Rice's long-term commitment to the humanities as essential to understanding the world we live in," said Kathleen Canning, dean of the School of Humanities and Arts.

Distributions from the endowment may also support graduate and post-graduate fellowships, research initiatives and related scholarly activities, extending the impact of the gift beyond a single faculty line. The endowed position is a cornerstone of the new Center for Jewish Studies.

The center offers an interdisciplinary approach that examines Jewish history, literature, religion and culture across multiple departments. The Kraft Family Professorship will help deepen course offerings, attract visiting scholars and engage students in rigorous, globally informed scholarship.

Patti Kraft is a lawyer, entrepreneur and active volunteer in the greater Boston community, and the owner of Bellezza Home in Newton, Massachusetts. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School. Her husband, Jonathan Kraft, is president of the Kraft Group, which includes companies in sports and entertainment, paper and packaging, real estate and private equity investing, and he also serves as president of the New England Patriots.

The Kraft family has a long history of philanthropy at Rice. In 2020, the university opened the Patricia Lipoma Kraft '87 and Jonathan A. Kraft Hall for Social Sciences, the 78,000-square-foot home to Rice's School of Social Sciences, for which they were the lead donors. They also established the Patricia Lipoma Kraft '87 and Jonathan Kraft Endowed Scholarship and supported a wide range of areas across Rice, including athletics, Jewish studies, the social sciences, music and residential college life.

About Rice University
Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Texas, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of architecture, business, continuing studies, engineering and computing, humanities and arts, music, natural sciences and social sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy and Kinder Institute for Urban Research. Internationally, the university maintains the Rice Global Paris Center, a hub for innovative collaboration, research and inspired teaching located in the heart of Paris, and Rice Global India in Bengaluru, India. With 4,793 undergraduates and 4,185 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked in the top 10 for best quality of life by the Princeton Review. 

SOURCE Rice University