In May of 1941 Edgar Odell Lovett submitted his resignation after 34 years as president of Rice. At a dinner held at Homecoming that November he was presented with the second Rice Alumni Medal for Distinguished Service by Harvin Moore, president of the ARA:

Lovett didn’t get out quite so cleanly, of course, as the press of war made finding a replacement impossible. He continued to serve until the arrival of William Houston in 1946. I admire very much the selflessness of the work he performed these last years, laboring on at a time when age and weariness must surely have made it a struggle.

I recently ran across the copy of Will Rice’s remarks that were read by Moore at this event:

Mr. Rice got his wish 71 years later, but that’s really not so bad in University Time and it’s a beauty:

Bonus: