Omar Syed, general counsel at Rice University. Courtesy photo
Rice University has named Omar Syed as vice president and general counsel.
Syed succeeds Richard Zansitis, who served as vice president and general counsel of the Houston university for two decades.
Syed has 15 years experience in higher education. He comes aboard from the University of Texas System, where he was associate vice chancellor and deputy general counsel. He led a 31-attorney office that represents a diverse group of research institutions, academic medical centers, Hispanic-serving institutions and regional institutions.
"Higher education improves lives, and even saves them," Syed said in a statement. "Rice believes this as resolutely as I do. I am enthused about leading during an era of transition and thoughtful change and am committed to helping make Rice ever better."
Rice is a private university with more than 7,000 undergraduate and graduate students. It ranks 17th among national universities on US News' latest best colleges list.
Syed is a first-generation American, son of an Ecuadorian mother and Pakistani father. He joined the UT System's Office of General Counsel in 2007. He managed its generalist practice group from 2014 until assuming his current titles in 2016.
Prior to UT, he was an associate at Austin, Texas-based law firm Hays & Owens. Early in his career, he served as assistant attorney general for the state of Minnesota and assistant U.S. attorney in Minneapolis.
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