Provost plans year

By Kaleb Underwood     9/30/10 7:00pm

Provost George McLendon has already made his spacious corner office on the fourth floor of the Allen Center his own. The decorations include many things that might seem unexpected in an administrator's office. There is a wide variety of art on the walls and several paintings are still in bubble wrap waiting to find their place on the wall. A baseball collection adorns the bookshelves and several bottles of wine sit on a shelf for potential guests. A native of Fort Worth, Texas, McLendon returned to his home state to become Rice's provost July 1 after spending the last six years at Duke University. He said he is proud of his Texas roots that can be traced back to the 1830s and his extended family still calls Texas home.

"[Coming to Rice] is the only career move my mother ever approved of," McLendon said.

His face lights up with a huge smile when he mentions his two daughters who now live in New England and his wife who will soon be joining him in Houston. After she arrives, they will spend the ensuing months refurbishing their new home in River Oaks. McLendon said he is looking forward to the task because he grew up in a family of carpenters.

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In addition to his academic pursuits, McLendon collects wide varieties of art, enjoys sports and plays classical guitar. After learning that several members of the administration are also instrumentalists, he hopes to put together an administrator zydeco band, a style of folk music rooted in Louisiana Creole culture.

"I am sure we could find someone to play the washboard," he said.

An avid Yankees fan, he is the owner of several valuable autographed baseballs, including one from the 1927 World Series signed by every member of "murderer's row" including legends Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. The most interesting item in his collection is a "official NL" baseball, but NL in this case stands for "Nobel Laureate" because the baseball has the signatures of several Nobel Laureates in chemistry, including Rice's own Richard Smalley who, along with Robert Curl, won the 1996 prize for the discovery of the buckyball.

McLendon graduated from the University of Texas - El Paso and received his doctoral degree from Texas A&M University, so he has always been well aware of Rice's prestige.

"Rice is the best university in Texas by a lot," he said. "So far my experiences here have been great."

He said Rice has a lot in common with the last two institutions where he taught, Duke University and Princeton University. Although all universities of higher education have a lot in common, they all have something that is uniquely theirs, he said.

At Rice, the obvious unique characteristic is the residential college system. Several colleges have already extended McLendon offers to be a faculty associate, but he said he prefers the idea of associating with a different college each year. Joining just one college wouldn't make sense because he is the chief academic officer of all Rice students, he said.

He said he also wants to engage students by teaching a college-based freshman seminar in the spring on energy, combining both scientific and policy aspects to create a well rounded course.

"To solve big problems for your generation you will need to combine different backgrounds," he said.

To get diverse opinions, McLendon spent his initial moments at Rice listening and learning. McLendon spoke one-on-one with faculty members in every school to get an idea of what they wanted Rice to do academically. After listening to faculty from every school, he was able to recognize three distinct areas that they believe deserve focus, a rare accomplishment at a university since there are usually many different ideas, he said.

The three areas are energy/environment, biosciences/human health and a global strategy.

He described his role as a facilitator of ideas and was quick to point out that these plans were not his initiatives.

"I am just trying to be a catalyst, lowering the barriers," McLendon said. "Even if they weren't my personal favorite, they are now."

McLendon plans to use his connections in Central America and South Africa to help increase Rice's presence in those regions. He also wants to increase the number of students who study or work abroad while at Rice.

"I am interested in engagements that aren't pure classroom engagements," he said. "It's both study abroad and doing stuff abroad."

McLendon is aware that most students come to Rice for its strong academics which directly connects his role as chief academic officer to the students. He is ready to talk to students and get their input about Rice's academic future.

His message to the Rice student body is simple.

"I work for you guys, let's do some great stuff together," McLendon said.

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