Neurologist Huda Zoghbi announced as commencement speaker

By James Cancelarich     3/27/25 1:43pm

Huda Zoghbi was announced to be the speaker for Rice’s 122th commencement, March 26. Zoghbi is a professor of molecular and human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine.

Zoghbi, a Rice trustee emerita, is also the founding director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital and is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute researcher.

Zoghbi was born in Lebanon. She moved to the United States following the outbreak of civil war in 1975. She completed her residency in pediatric neurology at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital.

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Zoghbi’s most prominent work was in finding the genetic basis of Rett’s syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that primarily affects young girls and leads to progressive motor skill and language loss. Her work has also concerned other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s.

In an email announcing Zoghbi as the commencement speaker, President Reggie DesRoches said that Zoghbi’s engagement with Rice’s academics and research “reflect her commitment to advancing knowledge and mentoring future generations.”

“At this moment in history, when the world is increasingly shaped by advancements in research and technology, her insights could not be more timely or relevant,” DesRoches wrote in the schoolwide email.

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