Alayne Potter ’11

Senior Water and Sanitation Manager, RTI International
B.A. 2011, Rice University
MEM 2015, Duke University



ARA Board Term ends: 2025

Get to Know Alayne

What part of serving on the ARA Board are you most excited about?

I look forward to giving back to the Rice community. Serving as a member of the ARA board will be a new and exciting way to connect with our alumni and students. The university has gone through and will be continue to undergo big changes in the upcoming years. I look forward to serving as a contributing voice to maintain and strengthen the diverse alumni connections to the university and the student body and making sure that Rice is an institution that past, current, and future alumni can be proud to support.

What is your favorite “Only at Rice” memory or story?

While a lot of schools provide opportunities for students connect, Rice is truly unique in the number or opportunities students have to connect with the university staff and faculty. The residential college system alone is an example of how this is embedded into Rice's ethos. It is hard to pick just one, but I had the good fortune to participate as a member of the common reading selection committee while I was a student at Rice. The common reading was a book that is given to all first year students as way to shape a campus-wide conversation about a pressing local or global topic. Usually a series of events were also hosted in supporting the topic of the book. The selection committee would meet regularly to share our thoughts and ideas over what the would be meaningful to first year students and how the reading could influence what was happening on campus. The program itself was sponsored by the Dean of Undergraduates Office and provided such a unique way to share and solicit opinions with faculty and staff as equals. Going into Dr. Matt Taylor's office to pick up a new book to read and review for consideration by the committee was always a highlight for me! Plus I was exposed to so many new books I would never have had the opportunity to read otherwise.

If you could give one piece of advice to Rice students, what would it be?

Don't be afraid to try something new or different! Everyone at Rice is a rockstar in their own way so it's easy to get wrapped up in the familiar and the things you know you're good at. But take the time to try something new (either on or off campus). If it wasn't for that one environmental policy class I took sophomore year that excited me enough to take some environmental engineering courses, I would probably be in an entirely different career. Plus everyone wants you to succeeded so if you ever do feel stuck there are many places you can go to ask for help.