Katie Haugland Bowen.

Building better cities, building better lives.

The Kinder Institute for Urban Research is a multidisciplinary think-and-do tank housed at Rice University in central Houston, focusing on urban issues in Houston, the American Sun Belt and around the world. Through informed research, data and policy analysis, the Kinder Institute hopes to engage civic and political leaders to implement solutions to critical urban issues, including education, governance, housing, mobility and transportation, resilience, and demographics.

In addition to core research programs, the Kinder Institute partners with affiliates on campus and off, including the Greater Houston Community Foundation’s Understanding Houston project, Rice University’s School of Architecture, the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, and the Severe Storm Prediction, Education, and Evacuation from Disasters Center. The Houston Education Research Consortium, which is part of the Kinder Institute, has 11 school district partnerships, including Alief, Cypress-Fairbanks, Friendswood, Houston, Katy and other ISDs. The Kinder Institute also develops partnerships with a wide variety of other universities and think tanks, such as the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program, the Urban Institute, the University of Texas School of Public Health, and the National Resource Network.

Created in 2010, the Kinder Institute was endowed with a $15 million gift from Houston philanthropists Richard and Nancy Kinder. 

Interested in collaborating on research with the Kinder Institute? Learn more about our Affiliated Scholars Program. 

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Building better lives requires addressing underlying systemic inequities

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Annual Reports

Kinder Institute Annual Reports
 

Leadership

Bill Fulton

William Fulton

  • Director, Kinder Institute for Urban Research
  • Research Oversight Committee, Urban Data Platform
713-348-2698
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Head shot of Stephen L. Klineberg

Stephen L. Klineberg

  • Founding Director, Kinder Institute for Urban Research
  • Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Rice University
713-348-3484
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Head shot of Ruth Lopez Turley

Ruth N. López Turley

  • Director, Houston Education Research Consortium
  • Associate Director, Kinder Institute for Urban Research
  • Professor of Sociology, Rice University
  • Founder, National Network of Education Research-Practice Partnerships
  • Kinder Fellow
713-348-5713
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Head shot of Ed Emmett

Ed Emmett

  • Senior Fellow and Professor in the Practice
  • Expertise: Transportation Policy & Community Resilience
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Head shot of Rose Rougeau

Rose Rougeau

  • Senior Director, External Affairs, University Partnerships and Special Projects, Kinder Institute for Urban Research
713-348-4133
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Head shot of Kyle Shelton

Kyle Shelton

  • Deputy Director, Kinder Institute for Urban Research
713-348-3683
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Head shot of Evan Wildstein

Evan Wildstein

  • Director of Development, Kinder Institute for Urban Research
713-348-4171
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Cindy Wilkes

Cindy Wilkes

  • Director of Administration, Kinder Institute for Urban Research
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Head shot of Jie Wu

Jie Wu

  • Director of Research Management, Kinder Institute for Urban Research
  • Research Oversight Committee, Urban Data Platform
713-348-3856
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Kinder Institute Advisory Board

Head shot of Rich Kinder

Rich Kinder

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Chair
  • Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, Kinder Morgan
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Head shot of Nancy Kinder

Nancy G. Kinder

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board President
  • President, Kinder Foundation
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Head shot of Eric Anyah

Eric O. Anyah

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member
  • Chief Financial Officer, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
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Head shot of Tom Bacon

Thomas G. Bacon

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member
  • Founding Partner, Civicap Partners
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Head shot of Ann Barnes

Ann Barnes

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member
  • Houston Community Data Connections Steering Committee Member
  • Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Harris Health System
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Head shot of Anne Chao

Anne S. Chao

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member
  • Rice University School of Humanities
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Head shot of Algenita Scott Davis

Algenita Scott Davis

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member Emerita
  • Government and Community Affairs Officer, Central Houston, Inc.
  • Visiting Professor, Jesse H. Jones School of Business at Texas Southern University
  • Program Manager, Center for Civic and Public Policy Improvement
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Head shot of Robert M. Eury

Robert M. Eury

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member Emeritus
  • President, Central Houston, Inc.
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Steve Green headshot

Stephen W. Green

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member
  • President, Chevron North America Exploration and Production Company
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Head shot of C. Hastings Johnson

C. Hastings Johnson

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member
  • Vice Chairman, Hines
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Head shot of Steven Kean

Steven Kean

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member Emeritus
  • President and Chief Executive Officer, Kinder Morgan
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Head shot of George Levan

George Levan

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member
  • Chairman and CEO, Levan Group
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Head shot of Allen Matusow

Allen J. Matusow

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member
  • William Gains Twyman Professor Emeritus of History, Rice University, and Academic Affairs Director, Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy
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Head shot Patrick C. Oxford

Patrick C. Oxford

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member Emeritus
  • Chairman, Bracewell LLP
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Head shot of Armando Perez

Armando Perez

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member
  • Executive Vice President, H-E-B Houston
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Head shot of Scott Prochazka

Scott Prochazka

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member Emeritus
Head shot Jeff Shellebarger

Jeff Shellebarger

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member
  • Chairman, 23rd World Petroleum Congress
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Head shot of Herman Stude

Herman L. Stude

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member Emeritus
  • Former President, The Brown Foundation, Inc.
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Head shot of Y. Ping Sun

Y. Ping Sun

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Ex Officio Member
  • Representative, Rice University
  • Of Counsel, YetterColeman LLP
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Faculty Advisory Committee

Head shot of David Alexander

David Alexander

  • Professor, Physics and Astronomy, Rice University
  • Director of Rice Space Institute
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Head shot of Leonardo Duenas-Osorio

Leonardo Dueñas-Osorio

  • Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University
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Head shot of Fares El-Dahdah

Farès El-Dahdah

  • Professor, Humanities, Rice University
  • Director of the Humanities Research Center, Rice University
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Head shot of James R. Elliott

James R. Elliott

  • Kinder Fellow
  • Professor and Department Chair, Sociology
  • Chair, Faculty Advisory Committee, Kinder Institute for Urban Research
  • Co-Director, Social Analytics Cluster, and Steering Committee Member, Center for Energy & Environmental Research in the Human Sciences
  • Rice University
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Head shot of Richard Lavenda

Richard Lavenda

  • Professor, Composition and Theory, Shepherd School of Music, Rice University
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Head shot of Albert Pope

Albert Pope

  • Kinder Fellow
  • Gus Sessions Wortham Professor of Architecture, Rice University
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Head shot of Douglas Schuler

Douglas A. Schuler

  • Kinder Fellow
  • Associate Professor of Business and Public Policy, Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University
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Head shot of Moshe Vardi

Moshe Y. Vardi

  • Karen Ostrum George Distinguished Service Professor, Computer Engineering, Rice University
  • Director of Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology, Rice University
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