Mark Scheid adds new post at Baker Institute to his Rice resum

Mark Scheid adds new post at Baker Institute to his Rice resumé

BY B.J. ALMOND
Rice News staff

Mark Scheid has experienced Rice University as a student, a teacher, an alumnus, a parent and an administrator — most recently as assistant to the president and executive director of international programs and scholarships. Now he is about to add another dimension to his Rice career.

Mark Scheid

Starting July 1, he will fill the newly created position of managing director for programs and international studies at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.

“Mark has served the Office of the President well through two administrations, and I am especially grateful for Mark’s extraordinary help to me during these last two years over a wide range of issues,” President David Leebron said. “Mark’s administrative experience and commitment to both undergraduate education and internationalization will be of great help as the Baker Institute takes the next steps in realizing its strategic vision and unique role at Rice.”

The managing director role at the Baker Institute encompasses the responsibilities of associate director for management — the position that Maggie Cryer is relinquishing June 30 to pursue other challenges — as well as administration of the institute’s programs and worldwide scholarly endeavors.

“Maggie Cryer has done a great job in bringing the financial, budget and management operations to higher levels of effectiveness,” said Edward Djerejian, director of the Baker Institute. “Mark Scheid will help bring the Baker Institute to the next level of excellence and outreach by capitalizing on his six years of experience in executive-level university administration as well as extensive experience in the academic side of student affairs, crisis management and international programs.”

Scheid will essentially serve as chief financial officer and manage the day-to-day operations of an institute that has brought to campus such world-renowned dignitaries as Nelson Mandela, Yasir Arafat, Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Gorbachev and Madeleine

Albright. The Baker Institute celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2003 and now boasts research expertise in the Middle East conflict, terrorism, public diplomacy in the Arab and Muslim world, oil and gas, Latin America issues, China’s transnational society, tax reform, U.S.-Mexico border issues, national security, health economics, science and technology, space policy, religion, drug policy, society and health, nanotechnology and new energy sources. The institute’s staff has grown to 36, including fellows, scholars and support personnel.

Noting that the Baker Institute went “from zero to 100 miles per hour” during its first decade, Scheid said Djerejian would like to see the institute progress even faster during its next 10 years. “The institute has gone through a very dynamic period of creation and is now entering a new and challenging phase of consolidation and future growth,” Scheid said.

“Ambassador Djerejian wants the Baker Institute to get more deeply involved with the Rice community as well as more engaged with the rest of the world,” said Scheid, whose experience at Rice parallels those two needs. “I’ve been engaged in strengthening and broadening the Rice educational experience for years, through initiatives like the Rice Fellows and the establishment of the Office of Scholarships and Fellowships,” he said, adding that student interaction is a traditional Rice value.

“More recently, I was able to represent Rice when internationalization blossomed in higher education, and so I was able to make a number of important international connections for the university, both with individual institutions overseas and as a member of influential international boards.”

Scheid graduated from Rice with a bachelor’s degree in English and history in 1967 and a doctoral degree in English literature in 1972. He taught at Texas Southern University (TSU) from 1971 to 1997, becoming a full professor of English in 1985.

While a member of the TSU faculty, Scheid began his teaching and administrative affiliation with Rice in 1984, serving as a visiting professor of English and a member of the Rice University Athletics Committee, for which he developed a metric to help identify academically qualified student-athletes. Since then, Scheid has held a number of administrative appointments, including director of academic advising, major scholarships adviser, assistant dean of student affairs for academic and career advising, assistant vice president for student affairs and interim vice president of enrollment.

Since 1998 he has been executive director of international programs and scholarships, sending 250 students per year to Rice-approved study-abroad and international internship sites. In this role he has also served on the advisory boards of four of the largest study-abroad providers in the U.S., sending 8,000 U.S. students overseas.

In 1999 Scheid became assistant to the president, with duties ranging from serving as chief of staff and leading the Crisis Management Team to administering the budget and organizing commencement and other large university events. The latter experience should also benefit the Baker Institute, which hosts a number of events as part of its public policy, educational and fundraising initiatives.

Scheid met his wife, Mary Jacobs, at Rice when they were both students, and two of their daughters (Troy, Baker ’02; Claire, Hanszen ’05) have since become Rice alumni as well.