Rich and Nancy Kinder, center, surrounded, from left, by Michael Emerson, President David Leebron, Chairman of the Rice Board James Crownover, Mayor Annise Parker and Stephen Klineberg.
Learn more about the Kinder Institute for Urban Research: ›› › kinderinstitute.rice.edu
KINDER
I N S T I T U T E
For URBAN RESEARCH
Engagement The Kinder Institute’s directors intend to use objective, broad social science quantitative data collection and analysis to gain deeper insight into the contemporary urban experience and, thanks to the resources provided by the Kinders, to share that insight in ways that improve cities and urban life. “The institute includes a strong community outreach component to ensure that the research informs and inspires the communities on which it is based,” Emerson said. “We want people to think of Rice as a model of how universities can work with cities so that we become a national and global leader not only in studying urban areas, but in being able to work with cities to lead to better cities.” One of the most critical issues in cities is education and closing the achievement gap, and the institute plans to help create a Center for Educational Innovation. Another project, which institute researchers are in the midst of right now, is a study of the arts, education and health in Houston. Funded by the Houston Endowment, this study will include a new survey that will be added to the HAS’s repertoire. The grant also will enable the institute to host two major national conferences — one on the arts and the other on education and health — and spotlight Houston as a place
“Houston has major connections to Latin America as well as to Asia, and comparative analyses of cities with different traditions but facing similar challenges can benefit us all.” —Stephen Klineberg
where innovative art initiatives and important educational reforms are taking place. “A big commitment with the Kinder gift is to enhance the visibility of the institute within the city,” Klineberg said. “We want to make the study of Houston and an understanding of the options and choices that we Houstonians have about the kind of city that we’re building capture the imagination of the Houston community.” Toward this end, the institute is creating a state-of-the-art interactive website called “Ask the HAS.” Visitors can send in questions, and institute staff will research the answer and provide it within 24 hours. “Anybody will be able to use it,” Emerson said, “from individuals at home to governmental entities to overseas users.” Another intriguing item on the agenda is a coffee-table book that celebrates
Houston during the past 30 years. “The book will combine quantitative research from the HAS with photographs and qualitative interviews that illustrate the lived experiences we’ve researched with the data,” Klineberg said. “It will be a book that puts together the whole range of ways of knowing about a city. And Rice is excited about that because it’s approaching its centennial, and 2011 is the year in which the university will focus on Rice and its relationship to Houston.” Catalyst for Change The Kinder Institute presents a tremendous opportunity to develop an informed understanding of the urban changes under way in Houston and elsewhere that will be enormously important for helping civic and community leaders develop policies that will help navigate those changes successfully. And the opportunities for Rice are no less inspiring, making it a catalyst for a qualitative change in Houston and the rest of the country and world. “Rice is a place where really exciting research has direct implications and outreach to communities,” Klineberg said. “It also provides a powerful model — maybe the best there is — of how research universities can work with cities to enhance the quality of life in urban America and elsewhere.”
Rice Magazine
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No. 8
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2010
31