Rice names seven to board of trustees

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– May 2, 2002Posted in: Current News

Rice
names seven to board of trustees
…………………………………………………………………

BY MARGOT DIMOND
Rice News Staff

Seven distinguished
individuals from Singapore to Wall Street have been named
to the Rice University Board of Trustees, as five current
members, ranging from the 61st U.S. Secretary of State to
the owner of the 32nd National Football League team, wrap
up their terms June 30.

The new members are Alfredo Brener, Robert T. Brockman,
Bruce W. Dunlevie, Lynn Laverty Elsenhans, Karen Ostrum
George, Marc Shapiro and L.E. Simmons.

The five retiring board members are James A. Baker, III,
Raymond D. Brochstein, Lee Hage Jamail, Robert C. McNair
and Harry M. Reasoner.

“Rice University is very fortunate to have people of
this caliber to serve on its board,” said E. William
Barnett, chairman of the Rice Board of Trustees. “They
are all accomplished individuals with a strong record of
professional and community service. We have benefited greatly
from the experience, talent and dedication of our retiring
board members and plan to keep them active in Rice affairs
in various ways. We look forward to the same level of commitment
from our new board members as we guide Rice into an exciting
new era of achievement.”

Brener, a native of Mexico City who lives in Houston, is
president of Houston’s Breco Holdings Inc., a diversified
holding company involved in real estate, investments, management
services, cattle ranching and supermarkets. He serves on
the boards of SpinCycle, SuperStand Entertainment Company,
Industrias Tecnos, Xabre S.A. de C.V. and Taycon S.A. de
C.V. His volunteer board service includes the Greater Houston
Partnership, the Houston Symphony Orchestra and the U.S.-Mexico
Chamber of Commerce Southwest. He is a founding member of
the Mexican Cultural Institute of Houston.

Brockman is
founder and president of Universal Computer Systems Inc.
of Houston, which produces completely integrated in-house
computer systems for automobile dealerships. He serves on
the board of trustees of Centre College in Kentucky and
was instrumental in bringing the 2000 vice presidential
debate to its campus. He also is a member of the council
of overseers for the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management
and is president of the Robert T. Brockman Charitable Foundation,
which gives to charities focused on education, health, medical
research, public affairs/government and religion. He received
his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida.

Dunlevie, a
1979 Rice graduate who received an MBA from Stanford, is
a general partner of Benchmark Capital LLC, a venture capital
firm he co-founded in 1995. A former director of the Western
Association of Venture Capitalists, he currently serves
on the boards of BridgeSpan, Good Technology, Guild.com,
Handspring, Matrix Semiconductor, Rambus, Raza Foundries
and Wink Communications. He and his wife, Elizabeth, have
endowed chairs in English and history at Rice.

Elsenhans, a
1978 Rice graduate currently residing in Singapore, is president
of the East Zone of Shell International Petroleum Co. Ltd.
in that city. Elsenhans also has served on the boards of
the Shell Exploration and Production Co., the DePelchin
Faith Home and the Deer Park Education Foundation. As a
Rice alumna, she has served on the Jones School Partners
Board, the Rice University Fund Council, the Alumni Nominations
Committee and the Nanotechnology Leadership Committee. She
has been class chairman several times, led the Annual Fund
Campaign twice and has served as treasurer for the Association
of Rice Alumni (ARA). In 2000, she and her husband, John,
also a Rice alumnus, established the Lynn Laverty Elsenhans
Scholarship for students majoring in the mathematical sciences.
After graduating from Rice, she received an MBA from Harvard.

George, who earned a bachelor’s degree from Rice in
1977 and a master’s in ’78, is a certified public
accountant with Ralph S. O’Connor & Associates
and serves on the boards of several small companies and
the Greater Houston Women’s Foundation. At Rice, she
has served on the board of directors of the Jones School
Alumni Association and as a member of the Fund Council,
the Gene Hackerman Scholarship for Women’s Athletics
Fund Steering Committee and the ARA. In 1998 she was honored
with the IMPACT Award, given by the Women’s Resource
Center at Rice, and in 2002 received the Meritorious Service
Award, given to members of the Rice community who have significantly
contributed to the enrichment of Rice. She is vice president,
treasurer and a director of the Marian and Speros Martel
Foundation. She and her husband, Larry, established the
Larry and Karen George Athletic Scholarship in 1996.

Shapiro, a Houston native whose parents are Rice alumni,
currently lives in New York City, where he is vice chairman
for finance, risk management and administration for J.P.
Morgan Chase & Co. He also serves as a director of Burlington
Northern Santa Fe Corp., Weingarten Realty Investors and
Kimberly-Clark Corp. Shapiro has extensive experience with
nonprofit organizations, including serving as an overseer
for Cornell University Medical College, serving on the boards
of United Way of New York City and Baylor College of Medicine,
and as a member of the board of visitors of the M.D. Anderson
Cancer Center and co-chair of the Houston Music Hall Foundation.
He also serves on the board of the Local Initiatives Support
Corporation, which assists community development corporations
in efforts to transform distressed neighborhoods into healthy
communities. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard
and an MBA from Stanford.

“Rice
University is very fortunate to have people of this caliber
to serve on its board. They are all accomplished individuals
with a strong record of professional and community service.”

E.
WILLIAM BARNETT
Chairman, Rice Board of Trustees

Simmons
is founder and president of SCF Partners, an investment
firm in Houston that provides management expertise to energy
service companies. He also is chairman of Oil States International,
an oil services and equipment firm, and serves as a director
of Varco International Inc., an oilfield services and equipment
company; Zions Bancorporation, a commercial banking company;
and Simmons Media Group, a media and entertainment company.
He serves as vice chairman for The Institute for Rehabilitation
and Research Systems and treasurer for Texas Children’s
Hospital, and he is a director for Houston Endowment Inc.,
the Gordon and Mary Cain Pediatric Neurology Research Foundation
and the Virginia & L.E. Simmons Family Foundation. At
Rice, he serves as chairman of the Jones School Council
of Overseers and serves on the Century Campaign Leadership
Committee. He has an undergraduate degree from the University
of Utah and an MBA from Harvard.

Baker, senior partner at Baker Botts L.L.P. and secretary
of state in the George H. Bush Administration, joined the
board in 1993. He has made many contributions to Rice through
the years, most notably serving as honorary chairman of
the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice.

Brochstein, a Rice alumnus, classes of ’55 and ’56,
and president of Brochsteins Inc., joined the board in 1998.
His board involvement includes an unusually active role
on the Building and Grounds Committee and serving on the
Campaign Leadership Committee.
Jamail, a volunteer with several charitable organizations
in Houston, joined the board in 1994. Her board involvement
includes serving on the Campaign Leadership Committee, the
Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) Leadership
Committee and the Building and Grounds Committee.

McNair, chairman and CEO of The McNair Group, joined the
board in 1994. His board involvement includes serving as
honorary co-chair of the Campaign Leadership Committee and
as a member of the Baker Institute Leadership Committee.
He and his wife, Janice, have endowed a chair in public
policy at Rice.

Reasoner, Rice alumnus, class of ’60, and former managing
partner of Vinson & Elkins L.L.P., joined the board
in 1994. His board involvement includes serving as chairman
of the CNST Leadership Committee and as a member of the
Campaign Leadership Committee.

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