Pathbreaking institute's research, partnerships improve lives, policy and services

HOUSTON, March 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ --  A new $55 million grant from Kinder Foundation will empower Rice University's Kinder Institute for Urban Research for decades to come as it focuses on its bold vision for "prosperity for all" and service to the public, ensuring that everyone can contribute to Houston's success and share in its opportunities. The grant includes $50 million restricted for the institute's endowment and $5 million for immediate research and program needs to benefit Houston.

Ruth López Turley, director of the Kinder Institute, applauded the foundation's visionary generosity and called the grant "a gift to all of Houston and its future generations" as the institute works to improve lives, policy and services through data, research, engagement and action. "This grant will preserve our research as a public good, and we are focused on the long term to address future societal issues and needs."

Since its founding in 2010, the institute has had a measurable impact on the Houston region, advancing research and insights of value to cities across the United States and world. Researchers have helped the city find sustainable solutions to a multi-billion-dollar pension liability, forged partnerships with the Houston Independent School District and other districts to improve educational outcomes, and built robust survey platforms, including the Greater Houston Community Panel, to capture the experiences and attitudes of Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties, a region home to 1 in 5 Texans.

"Over the past 15 years, we've seen firsthand the strength of the institute's leadership and impact of its work," said Nancy Kinder, president and CEO, Kinder Foundation. "By growing the endowment, the institute will have the stability and independence to advance meaningful solutions for generations to come."

This new gift comes less than five years after the foundation's landmark $50 million endowment grant to the institute in September 2022. The new grant is also in addition to the approximately $30 million given prior to 2022 by Kinder Foundation to Rice on behalf of the Kinder Institute and its affiliates and to facilitate the building where it is housed. The foundation's giving to the institute over the past two decades now surpasses $135 million.

"Kinder Foundation is widely respected for its transformative gifts and sustained commitment to work that creates lasting impact" Turley said. "We are grateful for their continued support."

The institute focuses on the intersecting issues of housing, education, economic mobility, health and population. Research initiatives are housed under five research centers. The Kinder Institute is also a critical partner in Rice's 10-year strategic plan, Momentous: Personalized Scale for Global Impact, which has a key goal to build thriving urban communities through research and programs.

Research that drives action and change

Using a research-practice partnership model, the institute advances the public good by working hand in hand with government agencies and social services organizations that are positioned to solve critical challenges facing the nation's fifth largest and most diverse metropolitan area. In this model, projects are jointly developed with long-term partners who contribute their insight and expertise.

The contribution to the Kinder Institute's endowment not only ensures its longevity but also equips the institute to work with partners regardless of whether they can afford to pay for research, Turley noted. It also allows the institute to respond to community research needs quickly during times of crisis — such as a catastrophic storm or pandemic — when there isn't time to raise funds first, she said.

The Kinder Institute will continue raising funds for longer-term research projects, with this substantial additional boost to its endowment greatly increasing its capacity to engage in responsive research, Turley said.

"Timely, on-the-ground research is the answer to addressing so many of society's biggest issues," said Rice President Reginald DesRoches. "The Kinder Institute has done a remarkable job in advancing Houston and cities across the Sun Belt with its transformative work, and thanks to Kinder Foundation's continued support, they're only going to grow in impact."

Kinder Foundation's support will also allow the institute to build on existing partnerships
with organizations and government entities across the city and conduct research to improve outcomes, develop solutions and make systemic change.

Since its founding, the institute has become known for its research, data and policy analysis of critical issues, including housing, transportation and education. It's also home to the long-running Kinder Houston Area Survey, which has documented significant changes in the way area residents perceive and understand Houston's ongoing challenges and opportunities.

"I am thrilled to see this continued support for the Kinder Institute, which has become a leader in urban research," said Amy Dittmar, Rice's Howard R. Hughes Provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. "This gift ensures that their important work will have a lasting and deeply engaging influence on many of the most pressing issues in Houston and serve as an exemplar for other urban research."

Record growth, innovative studies

The institute has more than doubled the size of its staff over the past five years. Under Turley's leadership since July 2022, the institute's notable Houston research includes an in-depth study of Houston parks and greenspace in collaboration with Kinder Foundation, the Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation and the Cullen Foundation; several key reports assessing HISD classrooms, services and programs as part of the Equity Project, along with a comprehensive study of college and workforce outcomes of Houston-area high school graduates; and a multiyear, multilingual study revisiting the Asian American community in the Houston metro area, which grew in population by 53% from 2010 to 2020.

"Working together, I know we can make prosperity for all a reality for Houston," Turley said.

About Rice University
Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Texas, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of architecture, business, continuing studies, engineering and computing, humanities and arts, music, natural sciences and social sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy and Kinder Institute for Urban Research. Internationally, the university maintains the Rice Global Paris Center, a hub for innovative collaboration, research and inspired teaching located in the heart of Paris, and Rice Global India in Bengaluru, India. With 4,793 undergraduates and 4,185 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked in the top 10 for best quality of life by the Princeton Review. 

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SOURCE Rice University