Much has changed since NET Power CEO Dan Rice IV ’03 attended Bryant University. The Financial Markets Center, a signature element of the university’s new Business Entrepreneurship Leadership Center, where he is standing now, for instance, was more than 20 years away.
But much has remained the same, he finds, including a focus on ensuring that students have the skills and know-how they need to succeed and the mentorship that will help them to make an impact.
Surrounded by high tech equipment and students eager to absorb whatever wisdom the industry leader can share, Rice runs through his history and credentials: multiple companies launched, hostile takeovers successfully completed, industries reimagined, and billions earned — details you could find in the many profiles of him published by Forbes magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and other news outlets.
But Rice is not here to relive past, and present, glories. He’s here to help.
Making connections
A little more than an hour before, Rice quietly slips into the back of Sarkisian Chair in Financial Services Peter Nigro, Ph.D.’s. “Management of Banking Institutions” class, eager to take in the show. Today, the subject under discussion in Nigro’s classroom is risk: How to see it coming, how to manage it, and how to take advantage of it when everyone else succumbs. As he lectures, Nigro stalks the tiered classroom like a tiger, seamlessly tying together everything from the Glass-Steagall Act of 1932 to the collapse of SVB Bank in 2023 — with examples from pop culture like the bank run from It’s a Wonderful Life thrown in to bring the concepts home.
He also makes a point of involving every member of his class on the fly, asking them to define certain concepts, provide context to others, and to extrapolate what they’ve learned beyond their readings. In short, he’s ensuring that he’s getting the best out of every person in the classroom.
Nigro treats Rice no differently. With his lecture concluded, Nigro grills him for information that will help this current generation of Bryant students launch their own successes.
“Companies need young kids that are curious, that are hungry, that are digitally enabled, and that are prepared to be the future of the organization."
Risk, Rice notes, is an apropos topic for him to chime in on. It was a key factor when he launched Rice Energy with his brothers Toby and Derek while they were in their mid-20s — and managed to grow it into one of North America’s largest public natural gas production and transportation companies.
“Everything you’re learning here today is incredibly relevant,” Rice tells the students. “Being able to evaluate risk is a skill you use wherever you work in the real world.”
And a key aspect of managing risk, Rice shares, is being able to make sense of the world. “One of the best things to have is the curiosity to learn, because the world is evolving so quickly.”
It’s that rapid evolution, and revolution, that Rice’s NET Power, a clean energy technology company with a mission to globally deploy affordable and reliable zero-emissions energy solutions, seeks to lead. But innovation requires innovators, he notes.
Sam Bachand ’27 is intrigued. He is weighing a host of potential futures in everything from marketing to entrepreneurship, but he knows he likes seeing the big picture and wants to have as much information as possible before making the call. Having the chance to learn from visiting professionals, he says, is one of his favorite parts of his Bryant education, as it gives him a chance to learn directly from experts in the field.
So, Bachand is quick to raise his hand and query Rice on what his companies look for when they’re hiring graduates. Rice, in turn, goes through the process, including the exercises candidates go through, but he also describes the kind of graduate organizations like his look for.
“Companies need young kids that are curious, that are hungry, that are digitally enabled, and that are prepared to be the future of the organization. They aren’t just thinking about where they’re going to be in 20 years, they’re thinking about where they’re going to be in two or three years — and how they’re going to transform to get there,” Rice shares.
“That requires folks like you all that fundamentally understand the way businesses work, historically, but also have the tools to be able to transform those companies.” he continues.
Expert advice
When the class ends, Rice, who is also a partner with Rice Investment Group, makes his way across the hall to Bryant’s Financial Markets Center (FMC) to attend the “Archway Equity Portfolio Management” course co-taught by Archway Investment Fund Director and Professor of Finance Kevin Maloney, Ph.D., and Adjunct Lecturer of Finance John Fellingham, DBA. It’s here that the Equity fund portfolio managers for Bryant’s $4 million student-managed fund learn how to understand the financial markets, test their ability to make important decisions, and gain an edge that will aid them throughout their careers.
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Today, the class is focused on learning how to value assets. Fellingham and Maloney walk students through a range of valuation practices using the FMC’s industry standard tools including financial software from Bloomberg, FactSet, MSCI ESG, and Morningstar and companies ranging from Apple to Lululemon as examples.
The students are surrounded by impressive equipment but that’s not enough, Maloney reminds them. “People aren't going to pay you to be really fast at reading and writing down numbers on a spreadsheet. They're going to pay you to analyze them.”
“This is going to be new, and it's complicated,” Fellingham warns. If they have questions, they should ask them now.
Fortunately, for this class, there’s a third expert in the house.
Rice’s eyes light up when Maloney introduces him to the members of the Energy, Materials, Utilities, and Industrials (EMUI) sector team. “These are my people,” Rice notes.
“Sometimes, it’s more defensible to value a company on the investment thesis you’ve developed than the numbers other people are assigning it."
After another quick introduction, Rice hunkers down at the students’ station and asks the team to walk through their process and tell him more about their portfolio. He gives a small, almost imperceptible nod at the names of the companies in their holdings as Financial Services major Andrew Furlong ’26 rattles them off. Rice, of course, knows them — colleagues and competitors both — extremely well.
Investing and picking a company, he tells them, is about more than equations and marks on a spreadsheet. It’s about understanding a field intimately. “There’s a million ways to make money in this industry,” he points out.
It’s also about being able to trust yourself.
“Sometimes, it’s more defensible to value a company on the investment thesis you’ve developed than the numbers other people are assigning it,” he advises.
Eventually, Finance major Avy Panta ’26 finds the courage to ask Rice how he sees the energy sector.
As if he’s been waiting for the moment, Rice offers a casual yet deep dive into his field, off-handedly sharing insights. From the need for energy solutions to support data centers and artificial intelligence to the political climate that drives decisions, he’s an open book.
And he can’t quite resist a plug. “If you’re looking for an energy company to invest in, NET Power is a pretty good one,” he says with a mischievous glint in his eye. “But I’d encourage you to research it for yourself.”
By the time Rice leaves, the EMUI team has a new perspective on their sector, and their area of expertise, as well as parting words of encouragement from a titan of industry.
Rice knows how far a Bryant education can take them. He’s living proof.