Established by the Association of Rice Alumni in 2005, the Builders Award honors recent alumni who have made outstanding contributions to Rice since graduation.
Past winners include notable regional alumni leaders, Annual Giving volunteers, affinity group trailblazers and other recent alumni who are committed to supporting Rice and its community of students and alumni through their dedication of time, talent and energy. Each has demonstrated one or more of the following:
- Sustained support of the Rice community through meaningful service and involvement.
- Provided guidance and leadership to current Rice students and/or fellow alumni.
- Enhanced the reputation of the university by representing Rice’s core values of respect, integrity, community and excellence.
- Dedicated time, talent and energy to advance the Rice community.
Meet the 2026 Honorees
Ashton Duke ’19
A proud Duncaroo, Ashton Duke graduated from Rice in 2019 with a degree in mechanical engineering, a minor in business and a certificate in engineering leadership. At commencement, he also received the Graham C. Stebbings University Service Award. Guided by his motto, “Support your people,” Ashton has served on the Rice Engineering Alumni (REA) Board of Directors, the Dallas-Fort Worth Rice Alumni Board and his class reunion committee, helping raise more than $350,000 through community building, event planning and data-driven outreach.
As an undergraduate, Ashton played men’s tennis, managed the women’s volleyball team and held leadership roles across campus, including campuswide Beer Bike coordinator, O-Week PAA and advisor, external vice president of the Rice Program Council, internal vice president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and undergraduate representative on the Faculty Senate Committee on Teaching. He also served as a tour guide, Duncan College head PAA and vice president of marketing for Rice Rally Club.
Beyond board service, Ashton has volunteered as a Rice Alumni Volunteer Association (RAVA) interviewer, supported the Rice Fund and mentored more than 25 students.
After graduation, Ashton worked as a software engineer while pursuing a law degree at Loyola University Chicago School of Law and a master’s degree in data science at Northwestern University. He is now an attorney at Caldwell Cassady & Curry in Dallas, specializing in intellectual property litigation.
Michaela Dimoff Pautsch ’16
Michaela graduated from Rice in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in bioengineering and distinction in research and creative work. She received the Graham C. Stebbings College Service Award and co-received Will Rice College’s Worden Endowed Award.
After graduation, Michaela joined GE HealthCare as an engineer. Within months, she and Allison Garza (BSME ’14) developed a 10-year plan to increase Rice graduate hiring across the company. Michaela transformed the internal Rice Relationship Council (RRC) to advance this goal, helping more than 70 Rice students launch their careers at GE or GE HealthCare over the past decade. She also partnered with organizations including the National Society of Black Engineers, Society of Women Engineers, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and Rice Women in Business to help ensure recruiting efforts reflect Rice’s diversity.
Michaela’s work extends beyond recruiting to student and alumni development. Under her leadership, the RRC has hosted about seven professional development events annually on campus and facilitated more than 500 resume reviews. She expanded the council’s mission to support GE HealthCare employees who are Rice alumni, organizing talks on career progression and salary negotiation. She also built community through an annual Friendsgiving and a sci-fi book club.
At GE HealthCare, Michaela designs medical imaging technologies. Based primarily in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she also spent time in Paris in 2018 learning software development and in Madison in 2020 supporting the ventilator production ramp-up during the COVID-19 pandemic. She earned a master’s degree in applied biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 2020.
Past Honorees
Explore the history of the Builders Awards with a complete list of honorees dating back to the inaugural ceremony in 2005.
ASSOCIATION OF RICE
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