A year after COVID-19 sent much of the world into lockdown, the pandemic remains the world’s dominant news story. As vaccines began rolling out across the nation, Rice faculty experts have been quoted and Rice research has been cited by national media outlets like CNN, Fox News, Forbes and Time as well as lesser-known outlets as diverse as Broadway World and Architect Magazine. Rice presidential historian Douglas Brinkley was quoted in an Associated Press article published by more than 2,000 newspapers and media websites nationwide.
Texas state lawmakers are tackling — some say dodging — the issues raised by the near-collapse of the state’s power grid during February’s deadly winter storm. Rice faculty experts — most notably the Baker Institute’s Dan Cohan, Ken Medlock, Jim Krane, Peter Hartley and Julie Cohn — have been an indispensable resource for journalists trying to make sense of the complicated efforts to repair the system before it fails again. The New York Times, NPR, Time and CBS News are among the media outlets that have quoted Rice experts or mentioned Rice research on this story which generated more than 12,000 media citations.
Scientists from the U.S. and China have created the first embryos that are a hybrid of human and monkey cells. The international team of scientists collaborating on the project said they intend to find new ways to make organs for people needing transplants, but last month’s revelation triggered a global ethical debate. Kirstin Matthews, a fellow for science and technology at the Baker Institute, became one of the most widely quoted experts on this issue, cited in outlets as diverse as NPR, the Hill, Reason and MSN.
For a full list of March and April media stars,
please see the last section of this report.
Government Relations
Government Relations represents Rice's voice on local state and federal issues
The weather wasn’t the only thing warming up as March began this year: State legislative activity in Austin started to heat up as well. Key committees began formally meeting for hearings on bills, and the governor announced the state was fully reopening for business after nearly a year of pandemic restrictions. Since March, Government Relations has been in Austin to ensure Rice’s voice is being heard on a variety of issues. We helped legislation for a new state-funded research institute — the Brain Institute of Texas — advance through the Texas House, supported our state association’s work to ensure consistent funding levels for private university student financial aid and worked to pass pandemic liability protections for businesses and universities. We also marshalled research universities from across Texas to collectively address problematic wording in a bill focused on research security and intellectual property theft.
Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., a major piece of pandemic response legislation was signed into law after Congress passed the Biden administration’s nearly $2 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP). We played a meaningful role in a weekslong push by private universities nationally to ensure the ARP included billions in funding for private universities and our students in the third round of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF). Government Relations was also involved in efforts to ensure this funding would not include a 50% reduction for institutions subject to the endowment excise tax, an objectionable provision attached to the second round of HEERF money. Government Relations also prepared for the April reintroduction of the bipartisan Endless Frontier Act, which would invest $100 billion in the National Science Foundation over the next five years and $10 billion into “regional technology hubs” for which our region — including the Midtown innovation district and the Ion — should be prepared to compete. Meanwhile, outlines for a massive infrastructure package — the American Jobs Plan — and long-term economic recovery plan — the American Families Plan — were unveiled by the Biden administration, and Government Relations is involved in advocacy where provisions of each may benefit the Rice community.
University Relations
Photos by Mary Mercado
Kitchen science makes Rice lecturer an international TV star
Rice professors have their work published in academic journals, featured on news programs and even promoted via social media, but by creating a class that allows her students to really sink their teeth into the chemistry of cooking, Lesa Tran Lu ’07 recently attracted a different kind of attention. In April, the Martel College kitchen became both a classroom and a television set as producers for the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) came to Rice to feature Tran Lu, a lecturer of chemistry, in “The Nature of Things,” the world’s longest-running science and nature documentary program. Tentatively titled “Cooking Science,” the program stars Tran Lu and her guest, Nick Wong, chef de cuisine at Houston’s popular UB Preserv restaurant, as they demonstrate and explain the chemical processes that transmute food ingredients into delicious recipes.
Approving and managing filming and photo shoot requests for the Rice campus is the responsibility of University Relations (UR). After this opportunity was initially identified by News and Media Relations, the UR team coordinated with Rice colleagues across campus and with the Canadian producers and their local film crew to secure location permissions, verify insurance compliance and handle everything from legal paperwork to parking and security.
Now in postproduction, the finished program is expected to offer Canadian viewers a taste of Rice’s unconventional wisdom in late 2021 and be distributed internationally following its CBC television debut.
Creative Services
Big Questions course flyer
Creative Services designed and edited a flyer to promote the School of Humanities’ new Big Questions course, titled Why Did So Many Die? The U.S. Response to COVID-19. Big Questions courses invite all Rice students to explore the ways in which humanities inquiry helps us face the major questions of our time.
Commencement programs
Creative Services designed and edited two commencement programs to honor the classes of 2020 and 2021. Last year’s graduating class was recognized in a virtual ceremony due to COVID-19, but Rice has invited them back to campus for an in-person celebration in addition to this year’s graduates. Commencement will be held in Rice Stadium May 14–15.
Foucault's Confessions series poster
Foucault’s Confessions, a lecture series hosted by the Department of Religion, brings together an international community of scholars to engage with the work of French philosopher Michel Foucault. Creative Services designed and edited a poster to promote the series’ 11 webinars, which will span from May to June.
Multicultural Community Relations
Task force discusses goals and accomplishments
Rice professors Alexander Byrd ’90 and Caleb McDaniel discussed the purpose and progress of the Task Force on Slavery, Segregation and Racial Injustice at the Community Dialogue Luncheon March 4. As co-chairs, Byrd and McDaniel spent more than an hour talking about the task force’s goals and some of the issues it plans to tackle. A diverse group of Rice board members, alumni and Houston community leaders attended the virtual luncheon sponsored by Multicultural Community Relations.
Rice At Large spring issue
The spring issue of Rice At Large features stories on topics such as helping public schools improve their mathematics programs, developing leaders in college, fighting for environmental justice and blocking the spread of COVID-19. Rice At Large is a quarterly newsletter that highlights Rice’s outreach in the communities of Houston and beyond.
The arts in Latin America
Three Rice professors — Gisela Heffes, Luis Duno-Gottberg and Fabiola Lopéz-Durán — shared their extensive knowledge about the status of Latin American art in a March 25 webinar. Heffes spoke about the new trends in Latin American literature, Duno-Gottberg focused on the film industry and Lopéz-Durán discussed the intersection of art and politics. Following the panel presentations, the three speakers engaged in a lively question-and-answer session on the impact of the pandemic and other international challenges for Latin American arts.
Helping the communities of Houston
On April 14, the Rice K-12 Outreach Council meeting featured three speakers who talked about their work in moving their communities forward. Carolyn White, a director with the Rice University School Mathematics Project, discussed coaching, mentoring and professional development in Houston-area schools. Joanne Baptista, manager of the Rice Welcome Center, talked about new outreach programs hosted by the center. Brandon T. Denton, associate director of education with the city of Houston, shared information on hiring Houston’s youth. The K-12 Outreach Council meets every three months to keep the Rice community informed about the university’s outreach efforts.
Marketing and Digital Communications
Rice.edu
Google Analytics for rice.edu shows an increase in traffic to the site in March and April from the previous period. Total page views were 989,152, with visitors spending an average time of 5 minutes, 21 seconds on the site and a bounce rate of 26%. The increase is most likely attributed to faculty, staff and students returning to campus, the advanced marketing around the Master of Data Science and Master of Computer Science degree programs and Canvas, Rice’s learning management system for all course-related curriculum needs.
March/April vs. January/February Page Views: 989,152 vs. 815,507 (21.29% increase) Average Time on Page: 5 minutes, 21 seconds vs. 4 minutes, 34 seconds (17.19% increase) Bounce Rate: 25.95% vs. 31.49% (17.62% decrease)
As of April 30, Public Affairs and the Office of Information Technology have successfully launched or are in the process of launching 249 Drupal 8 websites. In early March, we relaunched the completely overhauled Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies website in the Rice-branded theme. We are finalizing the development of the Rice Online site that will be the hub for all online courses at Rice. We will also focus on the Rice News and Rice Magazine conversions to Drupal 8 as well as accessibility and theme improvements leading into the summer.
Of the 249 sites, the two departments are collaborating on 31 websites that will be in the Rice-branded theme. Some of the websites currently under development are:
Assessment and Evaluation of STEM Programs (AESP)
Center for Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning (CERCL)
Ceremony (December Graduation)
The Chemistry of Art
Curriculum Management
Digital Accessibility
Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
Energy and Environment Initiative
Environmental Science
Gender Identity
Human Resources + Training
The Kinder Institute for Urban Research
KnOWLedge Café (Human Resources Intranet)
Medical Humanities
NEST360°
Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations (OCFR)
Office of Faculty Development (OFD)
Office of Institutional Effectiveness (OIE/OIR)
Office of the General Counsel (OGC)
Portrait Photography
Quantum Initiative
Research — Year in Review 2020 (Office of the Provost)
Rice 360°
Rice Emergency Medical Services
Rice Magazine
Rice News and Media Relations
Rice Online
Visit Rice
VP for Administration (Kevin Kirby)
Impressions: This reflects the number of times the content was seen. Followers: This is the number of people who follow the main Rice accounts. Engagements: This reflects the number of interactions (likes, shares, comments, clicks, etc.) on a post.
In March and April, Rice’s social media channels received more than 3 million impressions and more than 37,000 engagements. Overall, Rice’s channels have a combined 228,766 followers, a 1.1% increase from the January to February period.
Twitter followers increased to 38,701. The top tweet introduced incoming residential college presidents and received 16,379 impressions, 105 likes and an 11.6% engagement rate. This was followed by a tweet sharing a photo of James Turrell’s “Twilight Epiphany Skyspace,” which earned 20,065 impressions, 221 likes and a 5.8% engagement rate.
Facebook followers increased to 58,580. The top post shared news of the new undergraduate business major with 3,861 engagements, 415 reactions and a 22.9% engagement rate. This was followed by a reshared post announcing our continued mask mandate in March (Rice University Crisis Management). The post had 2,409 engagements, 596 reactions and a 24.9% engagement rate.
LinkedIn followers increased to 91,667. The top LinkedIn post shared news of the new undergraduate business major and received 47,533 impressions, 918 reactions and a 6.1% engagement rate. This post was followed by news that eight Rice graduate programs ranked among the country’s top 25 according to U.S. News & World Report. The post had 28,592 impressions, 445 reactions and a 6.8% engagement rate.
Instagram followers increased to 39,818. The top Instagram post welcomed Rice’s regular decision admitted students and earned 27,479 impressions, 3,503 likes and a 13.3% engagement rate. Our second-best performing post shared nighttime photos of campus. The post received 15,139 impressions, 3,198 likes and a 16.1% engagement rate.
Media Stars
Douglas Brinkley, the Katherine Tsanoff Brown Professor in Humanities, had the highest number of media mentions — 3,715 — during March and April, mainly for comments about the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine goals. Below are members of the Rice community who were mentioned in the media 10 or more times during March and April.
Douglas Brinkley
3,715
Kirstin Matthews
2,343
Mark Jones
2,293
Tony Payan
2,067
Vivian Ho
1,728
Jie Wu
1,453
Bill Fulton
1,296
Utpal Dholakia
1,002
Jeff Kripal
924
James Tour
511
Elaine Howard Ecklund
490
Lauren Anker
415
Jon Kimura Parker
413
Katharine Neill Harris
353
Ryan Brown
352
Max Fiedler
294
Daniel Cohan
214
Asa Stahl
204
Quincy Olivari
160
John Diamond
136
James Baker III
130
Jim Krane
110
Carly Graham
109
Genny Volpe
103
George Zodrow
83
Adrienne Correa
82
Gabriel Collins
71
Kristian Coates Ulrichsen
59
Michael Ertel
56
Rebecca Richards-Kortum
56
Yvonne Romero da Silva
55
Stephen Klineberg
50
Jim Blackburn
44
Gary Hale
41
Mikki Hebl
38
Quianta Moore
38
Rachel Meidl
37
Vikas Mittal
37
David Leebron
35
Tomás Morín
35
Emily Ellison
34
Ken Medlock
30
Bob Stein
30
Mark Finley
28
Bianca Mabute-Louie
27
Francisco Monaldi
27
Doug Schuler
27
Nicole Lennon
23
Lauren Stadler
21
Kirsten Siebach
18
Joe Karlgaard
15
Alexander Al-Zubeidi
14
Carsten Grupstra
14
Bella Killgore
13
Stephan Link
13
Saxton Hamilton
12
Christy Landes
12
Peter Lillehoj
10
The chart below shows Rice’s media mentions since 2007. The green column reflects the number of mentions through April 30, 2021.
