Melissa Sibley joined the Office of General Counsel in 2015 and serves as Director of Legal Operations, managing the professional staff and legal operations supporting the Vice President & General Counsel and the in-house legal department. Her experience at Rice has varied, with focus in contracts, employment, public information requests, compliance, corporate governance, and operations. Before joining Rice, Melissa spent 12 years in different legal roles at an insurance company, where she held a property and casualty license. In this position, she handled internal and external audits, worked with regulatory officials, trained producers, and managed litigation with outside counsel.

For her counterparts across the country, Melissa organized and hosted a 3-day conference in September 2024 at Rice’s Suzanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies. Twenty-seven institutions, 14 speakers, and over a dozen Rice offices participated and contributed to the endeavor.

Melissa is pursuing a Master in Public Service & Administration degree at Texas A&M University full-time, with a principal focus in nonprofit management and operations. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the University of Houston-Downtown. She is the founding group leader of the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium Higher Education Affinity Group. She is also an Advanced Certified Paralegal with the National Association of Legal Assistants and has held her paralegal certification since 2002.