James Baker Institute
Encyclopedia
The James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, often shortened to Baker Institute, is a think tank
on the campus of Rice University
in Houston, Texas
. Founded in 1993, it has become a notable center of public policy
research
. It is named for James Baker, former United States Secretary of State
and Secretary of the Treasury. The institute's founding director, Edward P. Djerejian, is the former United States Ambassador to Israel
and Syria
and Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
. The institute's board of advisors include William Barnett (Chair), Colin Powell
, Madeleine Albright
and Rice President David Leebron
. The institute employs scholars and researchers from a variety of backgrounds.
The institute concentrates on the public policy questions of the day. It is an integral part of Rice University
, and the university's faculty and students are involved in its research programs and public events. The institute is located on the Rice campus in James A. Baker III Hall, which also houses the School of Social Sciences
(including the departments of Economics
and Political Science
).
The institute is non-partisan and tries to bridge the gap between theory
and practice in public policy. Its current research includes: Arab
media
and politics
, conflict resolution
, drug
policy, energy
, health economics
, homeland security
and terrorism
, international economics
, religion
and culture
, science
and technology
policy, space
policy, tax
and expenditure policy, the Americas Project (Latin American policy), the Transnational China
Project (Chinese culture and policy), urban studies, and the U.S.-Mexico Project (issues about the U.S. border with Mexico).
The institute hosts events with national figures, which are available on their website via streaming technology
. It is supported mainly by donor contributions.
The institute is a sponsoring organization for the Iraq Study Group
.
From 1995 through 2001, the Baker Institute awarded the Enron Prize for Distinguished Public Service.
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
on the campus of Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
in Houston, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Founded in 1993, it has become a notable center of public policy
Public policy
Public policy as government action is generally the principled guide to action taken by the administrative or executive branches of the state with regard to a class of issues in a manner consistent with law and institutional customs. In general, the foundation is the pertinent national and...
research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
. It is named for James Baker, former United States Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
and Secretary of the Treasury. The institute's founding director, Edward P. Djerejian, is the former United States Ambassador to Israel
United States Ambassador to Israel
The United States Ambassador to Israel is the official representative of the President of the United States to the head of state of Israel.Until 1948 the area that is now the state of Israel had been under British administration as part of the League of Nations/United Nations British Mandate for...
and Syria
United States Ambassador to Syria
The United States Ambassador to Syria is the official representative of the President of the United States to the head of state of Syria.From the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire in 1922 until 1944, Syria had been under the control of France as a part of the League of Nations French Mandate of...
and Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
The Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs is the head of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs within the American Department of State. The Assistant Secretary guides operation of the U.S. diplomatic establishment in various countries of North Africa and the Middle East and advises...
. The institute's board of advisors include William Barnett (Chair), Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
, Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Korbelová Albright is the first woman to become a United States Secretary of State. She was appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton on December 5, 1996, and was unanimously confirmed by a U.S. Senate vote of 99–0...
and Rice President David Leebron
David Leebron
David W. Leebron is the seventh president of Rice University. He has been a professor and dean of Columbia Law School, until he was named president of Rice University on July 1, 2004. Leebron is the first Jewish president of Rice University....
. The institute employs scholars and researchers from a variety of backgrounds.
The institute concentrates on the public policy questions of the day. It is an integral part of Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
, and the university's faculty and students are involved in its research programs and public events. The institute is located on the Rice campus in James A. Baker III Hall, which also houses the School of Social Sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
(including the departments of Economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
and Political Science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
).
The institute is non-partisan and tries to bridge the gap between theory
Theory
The English word theory was derived from a technical term in Ancient Greek philosophy. The word theoria, , meant "a looking at, viewing, beholding", and referring to contemplation or speculation, as opposed to action...
and practice in public policy. Its current research includes: Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
and politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
, conflict resolution
Conflict resolution
Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of some social conflict. Often, committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information about their conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest...
, drug
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
policy, energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
, health economics
Health economics
Health economics is a branch of economics concerned with issues related to efficiency, effectiveness, value and behavior in the production and consumption of health and health care...
, homeland security
Homeland security
Homeland security is an umbrella term for security efforts to protect states against terrorist activity. Specifically, is a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the U.S., reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do...
and terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
, international economics
International economics
International economics is concerned with the effects upon economic activity of international differences in productive resources and consumer preferences and the institutions that affect them...
, religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
and culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
, science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
policy, space
Outer space
Outer space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including the Earth. It is not completely empty, but consists of a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles: predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, and neutrinos....
policy, tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
and expenditure policy, the Americas Project (Latin American policy), the Transnational China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
Project (Chinese culture and policy), urban studies, and the U.S.-Mexico Project (issues about the U.S. border with Mexico).
The institute hosts events with national figures, which are available on their website via streaming technology
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
. It is supported mainly by donor contributions.
The institute is a sponsoring organization for the Iraq Study Group
Iraq Study Group
The Iraq Study group , was a ten-person bipartisan panel appointed on March 15, 2006, by the United States Congress, that was charged with assessing the situation in Iraq and the US-led Iraq War and making policy recommendations...
.
From 1995 through 2001, the Baker Institute awarded the Enron Prize for Distinguished Public Service.
Key people
- Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian
- George AbbeyGeorge AbbeyGeorge William Samuel Abbey is a former director of the Johnson Space Center and Fellow in Space Policy at the Baker Institute of Rice University.-Biography:Born in Seattle, Washington, Abbey attended Lincoln High School there...
- Dr. Douglas BrinkleyDouglas BrinkleyDouglas Brinkley is an American author, professor of history at Rice University and a fellow at the James Baker Institute for Public Policy. Brinkley is the history commentator for CBS News and a contributing editor to the magazine Vanity Fair...
- Dr. Elaine Howard EcklundElaine Howard EcklundElaine Howard Ecklund is an assistant professor of sociology at Rice University, current director of the program on Religion & Public Life for the Institute for Urban Research, and a Rice Scholar at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy in collaboration with Dr. Kirstin Matthews, where...
- Dr. Yair HirschfeldYair HirschfeldDr. Yair Hirschfeld is an Israeli lecturer at the University of Haifa. A prominent academic in Israel, Dr. Hirschfeld was a key architect of the Oslo Accords in 1993...
- Amy Myers JaffeAmy Myers JaffeAmy Myers Jaffe is the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow in Energy Studies at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston, Texas.Jaffe holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Near Eastern Studies and Arabic from Princeton University...
- Dr. Neal Lane
- Dr. D. Michael LindsayD. Michael LindsayDavid Michael Lindsay, is a scholar in sociology and the current president of Gordon College, a private, liberal arts college on Boston's North Shore. Prior to arriving at Gordon, Lindsay was on faculty for five years at Rice University and the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy...
(former) - Dr. Kirstin MatthewsKirstin MatthewsKirstin Matthews is a Fellow in Science and Technology Policy at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy. Matthews received a bachelors degree in biochemistry from the University of Texas at Austin and a PhD in molecular biology from the University of Texas Health Science Center...
- Joe Barnes