Rice’s Kinder Institute Secures Future and Advances Solutions for Houston with $55M Kinder Foundation Grant

A transformational $55 million grant from Kinder Foundation will empower Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research for decades to come. The gift supports the institute’s bold vision of “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 Kinder Institute has become a national leader in urban research, shaping policy and improving lives in Houston and beyond. Its work has helped the city address a multibillion-dollar pension liability, partnered with school districts to strengthen educational outcomes and built robust surveys, most notably 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 of the 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 follows the foundation’s landmark $50 million endowment grant in 2022 and brings Kinder Foundation’s total support for the institute to more than $135 million. “Kinder Foundation is widely respected for its transformative philanthropy,” Turley said. “We are profoundly grateful for their sustained commitment.”

The institute’s research focuses on the interconnected issues shaping urban well-being —housing, education, economic mobility, health and population change — housed across five specialized research centers. It also plays a pivotal role in Rice’s 10-year strategic plan, Momentous, which prioritizes building thriving urban communities.

Using a research-practice partnership model, the institute works directly with government agencies and community organizations to develop and implement solutions. Turley emphasized that the expanded endowment will allow the institute to take on work regardless of a partner’s ability to pay and respond quickly during crises such as major storms or public-health emergencies. “Timely, on-the-ground research is essential to addressing society’s biggest issues,” said Rice President Reginald DesRoches. “Thanks to Kinder Foundation’s continued support, the institute’s impact will only grow.”

Under Turley’s leadership, the institute has doubled in size and produced innovative studies, including major reports on parks and greenspace, comprehensive assessments of Houston ISD classrooms and services, and a multiyear study of the region’s rapidly growing Asian American community.

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