People, papers and presentations

Bill Fulton, director of Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, has been appointed to the MetroLab Network’s newly launched executive steering committee. Fulton will help guide the activities of the network, which focuses on pairing cities and universities to bring data, analytics and innovation to local government. Rice and the city of Houston joined with 20 other cities and 25 other universities in September to create the network of 34 city-university partnerships.

Brandon Mack ’06, senior assistant director in the Office of Admission, was named by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner to the city’s first Mayor’s LGBT Advisory Board. Mack is among 49 people chosen to serve, a number meant to be a symbolic nod to the 49 victims of The Pulse massacre in Orlando. The board will serve as a direct link between the mayor’s office and the LGBT community and provide advice and recommendations on issues. A full list of board members is available at http://www.houstontx.gov/mayor/press/lgbt-advisory-board.html.