Reginald DesRoches is making history as the first Black man and first immigrant to serve as president of Rice University.
“Did you ever think as a little boy that you would be sitting here right now,” KPRC’s Sabirah Rayford asked?
“Definitely not, definitely not,” he responded.
A doctorate degree later, a decorated career in civil engineering, and 25 years as a researcher, educator and leader, DesRoches, a black immigrant from Haiti, is the eighth President of Rice University.
“In all my roles I’ve been the first, right,” he said. “I was the first Black dean at Rice, the first Black provost, and clearly the first Black president. I think it speaks to the power of the university and transforming lives. I think if there are kids that look at me and see somebody that looks like them and that empowers them to do it, I think that’s great. I love that.”
“When you received that nomination were you surprised?” Asked KPRCs, Sabirah Rayford.
“I was surprised I had only been here a year and multiple people were telling me, ‘You should think about president,’ and I said, ‘Well, I’m not sure I’m ready,’” he said
His peers disagreed. While serving as provost he helped launch several new majors and professional master’s programs and created the school’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
“How do you take this to the next level?” KPRC’s Sabirah Rayford asked.
“We need to continue to show that we are a global university,” DesRoches said. “Not just in the sense that we have students from all over the world, but also that we have programs all over the world.”
In 2010, he returned home to Haiti, leading a team of 28 Americans to help rebuild the country.
“To be able to help the country of my birth was really something that I’ll never forget,” DesRoches recalled. “It was a career-changing event for me in many ways since it really brought home what we do as educators.”
This is a lesson he hopes to pass along to his three children, one of those being a senior at Rice University.
“We run into each other periodically on campus and she’ll give me a halfway hug (laughs). No, but they are really proud,” he said.
His wife, Paula DesRoches is proud, too.
“He really is somebody who can talk to people and can establish relationships so naturally,” Paula DesRoches said. “So, that’s the type of person they are getting. He’s not only a leader, he’s just a real person.”
Part of DesRoches’ legacy will inevitably include his many “firsts,” but he’s also hoping it will include opening the door wide.
“I’m a first-generation student, I come from a working class community and I can be president of a place like Rice,” DesRoches said. “I hope they believe no matter what their backgrounds are that they too can be whatever they want to be.”
The investiture ceremony is Saturday, Oct. 22 on Rice University’s campus.
DesRoches says one of the best parts is his 90-year-old father will get to witness the historic moment.