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.

In addition to core research programs including educational inequity and transportation, the Kinder Institute partners with affiliates on campus and off, including 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 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. 

Annual Reports

Kinder Institute Annual Reports
 

Leadership

Head shot of William Fulton

William Fulton

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

  • Founding Director, Kinder Institute for Urban Research
  • Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Rice University
713-348-3484
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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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Rose Rougeau

  • Director of Communication, Kinder Institute for Urban Research
713-348-4133
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Kyle Shelton

  • Kinder Fellow
  • Director of Strategic Partnerships, Kinder Institute for Urban Research
713-348-3683
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Hilary Toma

  • Director of Administration and University Partnerships, Kinder Institute for Urban Research
713-348-3716
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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

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Rich Kinder

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Chair
  • Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, Kinder Morgan
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Nancy G. Kinder

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board President
  • President, Kinder Foundation
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Eric O. Anyah

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member
  • Chief Financial Officer, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
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Thomas G. Bacon

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member
  • Founding Partner, Lionstone Investments
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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
  • Chief Medical Officer, Legacy Community Health Services
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Anne S. Chao

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member
  • Rice University School of Humanities
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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
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Robert M. Eury

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member Emeritus
  • President, Central Houston, Inc.
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C. Hastings Johnson

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

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member Emeritus
  • President and Chief Executive Officer, Kinder Morgan
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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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John Mingé

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member
  • Chairman and President, BP America, Inc.
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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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Armando Perez

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member
  • Senior Vice President, HEB Houston
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Scott Prochazka

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member
  • President and Chief Executive Officer, CenterPoint Energy
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Jeff Shellebarger

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member
  • President, Chevron North America Exploration and Production Co.
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Herman L. Stude

  • Kinder Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board Member Emeritus
  • Former President, The Brown Foundation, Inc.
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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

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David Alexander

  • Professor, Physics and Astronomy, Rice University
  • Director of Rice Space Institute
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Leonardo Dueñas-Osorio

  • Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University
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Farès El-Dahdah

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

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

Richard Lavenda

  • Professor, Composition & Theory, Shepherd School of Music, 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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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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Head shot of Sarah Whiting

Sarah Whiting

  • Kinder Fellow
  • Dean of Architecture, William Ward Watkin Professor of Architecture, Rice University
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