Leebron takes office, appoints alums as deputy and adviser
New Rice President David Leebron took office July 1, moving into offices in the Allen Center. Leebron and his family also settled into Wiess House, the new president’s house at Main St. and Sunset Blvd.
Leebron, his wife, Ping Sun, and his children, Daniel and Merissa, moved from New York City, where Leebron was the dean of the Columbia University School of Law.
Leebron appointed two former Rice students — one who was an undergraduate and one who did graduate work at Rice — to assist him. Melissa Kean (M.A. ‘96, Ph.D. ‘00) began her job as deputy to the president July 1. Maryana Iskander (Wiess ‘97) started as adviser to the president Aug. 9. Assistant to the President Mark Scheid (Baker ‘67) will continue in his position.
Leebron said Kean and Iskander’s familiarity with Rice will be an important asset to him, as they will advise him and will serve as liaisons to the Rice community.
“My hope is they make this a more responsive office,” he said. “It’s another way to ensure that students have very direct access to the top administration.”
Kean, whose master’s and doctorate are in history, was the executive director of the presidential search committee that selected Leebron. She has published histories of the School of Continuing Studies and the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management.
Although her job is still evolving, Kean said her focus will be on working with faculty members on their concerns. Because she has a thorough knowledge of Rice history, Kean said she will provide Leebron with context.
“Things are going to change,” Kean said. “The question is: Are they going to change in ways that harmonize with the sense of
the place?”
Iskander was president of the Student Association her junior and senior years. During that time, she established the Envision Grants, a program funded by the Office of the President that provides grants of $200-$2,500 to students for a variety of service projects. Iskander spent two years studying comparative social policy at Oxford after graduating from Rice. She then returned to Houston, where she spent two years working as a consultant before attending Yale Law School. She worked as a clerk for a federal appellate judge in Chicago before taking the job at Rice.
Iskander said she will be responsible for working with students and representing their needs to Leebron.
“I lived [at Rice] for four years,” Iskander said. “You add a lot when you come from that background. … I’ll be advising [Leebron] on how a decision will affect students or how it fits into the Rice community from the student perspective.”
Iskander said she recognizes that Rice has changed since she graduated.
“I need to get up to speed on what’s different since I was a student here,” she said. “I can only do my job well if I am interacting with students day-in and day-out.”
Leebron also said he plans to be accessible by visiting the colleges and talking with individual students.
“I want to meet with students who aren’t just here to petition me for something or wearing the hat of the Thresher or the Student Association or a college president,” he said.
He and Sun also plan to invite seniors to visit their house in four groups over the course of the year.
“We hope that before students graduate, that all students will be invited to the house,” he said.
The offices of Admission and Alumni Affairs will move into the Ralph S. O’Connor House, the former residence of President Malcolm Gillis, in fall 2005, Director of Project Management John Posch said.
The provost will join the president on the fourth floor of the Allen Center. Both offices were moved from Lovett Hall during the summer. The offices of Research and Graduate Studies, Public Affairs and the General Counsel will also leave Lovett Hall for the Allen Center.
Leebron said he chose the Allen Center because it is handicapped accessible and more architecturally suited to his needs than was Lovett Hall.
“Lovett, with all the separate arches, breaks up all the offices into separate pods,” he said. “That makes no sense from a managerial perspective. By coming over here, we were able to combine the top administration under the authority of the president and the provost into one place so that we can collaborate more effectively.”
Leebron said he has spent the time since his arrival learning about various aspects of the university.
“I think what each new president is expected to bring is some new perspective,” he said. “I’m looking to see: What are the ways I can help improve this? What are the things that people would like to see? What are they complaining about?”
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