Expanding the Boundaries of Inquiry

At Rice, the Center for the Impossible explores that question by bringing academic rigor to phenomena that challenge conventional understanding - mystical encounters, telepathy, UFO sightings and other extraordinary events that don't fit neatly within traditional disciplines. By convening scholars and collecting documents across fields, the center creates space for careful, critical inquiry into ideas long considered outside the bounds of academia.

For Sydney Lamb, that mission resonates deeply.

A pioneering linguist and cognitive scientist, Sydney spent his career studying how language is structured in the brain, developing theories that connect linguistic systems to neural networks and human cognition. Yet alongside that work, he remained interested in broader questions about consciousness - questions that were often dismissed within mainstream scholarship.

"I believed in that kind of exploration for a long time," he says. "But during my academic career, it wasn't considered respectable to explore these topics."

Sydney first came to Rice in 1980 as a visiting professor and soon joined the faculty as the Arnold Professor of Linguistics and Cognitive Science. Even after retiring in 2000, he continued teaching as a volunteer for nearly a decade, maintaining a strong connection to the university.

His wife, Susan, also played an active role in campus life. In the 1980s, she helped establish a coffeehouse at Palmer Memorial Church across the street from Rice. The gathering space became a popular place for students and faculty to connect over drinks and even hosted the occasional class session.

The couple's shared curiosity of the impossible eventually led them to the work of Jeffrey Kripal, the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought, whose research examines extraordinary human experiences across religion, philosophy and culture. His efforts began with the founding of the Archives of the Impossible at Rice's Woodson Research Center and grew into the broader Center for the Impossible. As Jeffery describes it, the goal is not to prove or disprove such phenomena, but to take them seriously as subjects of study and consider what they reveal about human experience and the limits of knowledge.

Through a charitable gift annuity, Sydney and Susan have created a future gift to support the center's work, including conferences and collaborations that bring scholars together to study these questions with openness and rigor. Initially funded with appreciated assets and later augmented after the sale of their home, the annuity also provides the couple with fixed income for life.

"It's a win-win situation," Sydney says. "You can make a gift to Rice, receive income in return and support something you believe in."

By supporting the Center for the Impossible, the Lambs are helping ensure that future scholars can continue to explore questions at the very edges of understanding.