Support for global learning helps Owls take flight

Ann Ludwig '61 discovered the importance of being a global citizen during her time at Rice. Now, she is ensuring future students have the opportunity to receive a world-class education inside and outside the classroom.

"Growing up in Houston, I was very aware of the advantages a Rice education could give you," Ann Ludwig '61 explained. From a young age, Ann knew she wanted to attend Rice, but she didn't know that her undergraduate experience would include finding her husband Karl '61 and traveling the world together.

"As an English major, I had wonderful classes on the American novel and 18th-century poetry, and I had incredible professors," Ann recalled. "But my favorite memories of Rice are wrapped up with the early days of my romance with Karl." Ann met Karl at Sunday school before beginning college, but they were reacquainted at Rice when they discovered their shared love of dancing. By their sophomore year, Ann says they were officially "an item."

Her junior year, Ann discovered her passion for travel. "I participated in a program where college students worked in settlement houses in London and Bristol, England," she explained. "It was my first time abroad, and I learned how to see the world from a broader perspective."

After graduating from Rice, Ann and Karl were married and started their professional journeys - Karl attended medical school while Ann taught at a local high school. During summer break, they embarked on the first of many adventures together. "That summer, we bought a 1964 Volvo in Copenhagen and drove across Europe," Ann said. "It was life changing."

Ann and Karl moved to New York City as Karl started his residency program and Ann began working as an editorial assistant at McGraw Hill. The two loved the city but knew they would soon have to leave when Karl completed his residency and would have to serve in the Vietnam war as a surgeon. Luckily, Karl had six months before his deployment, so the two decided to travel across Europe again.

"After those six months, Karl went to Vietnam, and I didn't want to stay home with mother and daddy," Ann recalled. "So, I went to Japan and got a job at Charles Tuttle publishing company as a senior editor."

Following Karl's service, they moved back to the states and settled down in San Fransisco, where Karl worked as a general surgeon and Ann worked as a freelance writer for the New York Times. In their free time, they continued to travel around the world. Ann was also passionate about education and was a board member on an international diplomacy council and for scholarship programs supporting limited-income students hoping to attend college.

"One of our keen interests has always been education and helping students have experiences like ours," Ann explained. "Karl and I had the extreme fortune of receiving a free education from Rice, so we decided to make an estate gift to the university in addition to the annual gifts we made."

After Karl passed away in 2020, Ann worked with Rice's Office of Gift Planning to a gift to benefit Rice in her estate plan to benefit two of their passions: the Ann and Karl Ludwig Endowed Fund for Study Abroad, which supports study abroad scholarships for students, and the Ann and Karl Ludwig Endowed Fund for Access and Opportunity, which provides supplemental funding for limited-income students to pay for materials and other expenses that aren't covered by their scholarships.

Ann hopes that supporting these important initiatives at Rice will help students broaden their experience with learning beyond the classroom and give them a boost when limited resources might impair their progress. "I hope students take advantage of these diverse opportunities and go somewhere new. You may not know what your path is, you can learn by expanding your world view," Ann said. "I very am optimistic for the future."