Rowe rows ashore Rice University

Rice University has appointed Gaby Rowe (pictured) as the executive director of The Ion, a newly-renovated startup incubation facility that will host support services from multiple local academic schools, MySA reported on Tuesday.
Rowe is currently CEO of Station Houston, the local tech accelerator responsible for overseeing The Ion initiative, but will leave to join Rice University’s payroll to be replaced by Stewart Cory, Station Houston’s chief-of-staff, on a temporary basis.
Rowe joined Station Houston in August 2018 and is credited with spearheading the incubator’s evolution from a profit-driven enterprise into a body with nonprofit ethos.
She was previously head of the fee-levying Village School from 2014 until 2018, championing curriculum enhancements including mandatory coding classes for middle-school students and an entrepreneurship diploma formulated by Wharton School faculty at University of Pennsylvania.
Rowe currently holds appointments as a professor of entrepreneurship at University of St Thomas and as director of project management for corporate development at Nord Anglia Education, according to LinkedIn.
Her earlier resume highlights include almost a decade and a half leading another private school – Mandell School – as well as spells as vice-president of municipal bond reinsurance startup Amcal between 1992 and 1993 and as an analyst with financial services firm Merrill Lynch between 1988 and 1990.
The Ion will launch in early 2021 from within a 270,000 square-foot redevelopment currently taking place as part of the Rice University-led South Main Innovation District project.
In addition to Station Houston-run programming, The Ion is slated to provide resources from a diverse range of providers, including local academic institutions such as University of Houston, University of St Thomas and Texas Southern University.
Allison Thacker, president and chief investment officer of Rice Management, responsible for the institution’s $6.3bn endowment, said: “We know that under Gaby’s leadership The Ion will become an innovation hub for not only all Houstonians, but for anybody looking to thrive and collaborate in an entrepreneur-first, tech-forward environment.”
– Picture of Gaby Rowe courtesy LinkedIn