Baker Associates
The Associates Program at Rice University is an integral part of the residential college system where faculty, staff, and community members commit to supporting the intellectual, cultural, and social life of the 11 residential colleges by engaging in the community and providing mentorship, guidance and support to students. Check out the Committees Page to contact our Associates Committee Chairs!
Faculty Associates
Tom Stallings
Professor in the Practice & Director of Career Development, Department of Sport Management
ts2@rice.edu
A houston native, Professor Tom Stallings attended Strake Jesuit for high school and earned a degree in English at the University of Texas where he met his wife, Kathy, the first day of school and who he married six weeks after graduation. For fifteen seasons after graduating from college, Tom worked in professional sports with the Houston Astros and Minnesota Wild organizations in sales roles. A couple guest lectures at Rice turned into a one night a week part time role teaching a sales class and that was enough to convince Tom he had found a greater calling. In 2007, Tom left professional sports to teach full time at Rice in the Department of Sport Management. On his first day at Rice while parking his car in the west lot, Tom parked next to Dr. Jose Aranda, his former English teacher from Strake Jesuit who was now a professor at Rice and the current magister at Baker College. Dr. Aranda invited him to lunch at Baker that day and Tom has been an associate ever since that first semester. Tom and Kathy raised four now grown children who spent a big part of their childhood at Rice and Tom enjoyed 31 years of marriage before Kathy's passing in 2022. A former marathon runner, Tom spends his time while not at Rice on the west side of Houston watching college football, collecting coins, reading history books and caring for two stupid cats his daughters adopted while they were in high school that they abandoned when they went away to college (although rumor has it that Tom actually like cats so maybe that was not so bad). Tom has been honored with various campus awards including the George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching, the Rice University Faculty Divisional Advisor of the Year, Baker College Associate of the Year and Rice Scholar Athlete Favorite Professor designation and is the faculty club sponsor for the Rice Phils, the Rice Chess Club, the Rice Hockey Club, Rice Baseball Club, the Rice Sport Management Society and the Rice Native American Student Association.
Karen Lozano
Department Chair and Trustee Professor of Materials Science and NanoEngineering
kl206@rice.edu
Karen Lozano graduated with her MS (96’) and PhD (99’) from Rice University. She worked for 25 years at UTRGV and now, since January 2025, back at Rice as the Trustee Professor and Department Chair of the Materials Science and NanoEngineering department. During her time at UTRGV she was the Julia Beecherl Endowed Mechanical Engineering Professor, Founding Director of the UTRGV Nanotechnology Center and PhD program of the College of Engineering and Computer Science (first Ph.D. program in the College of Engineering). Since 2000, Lozano creatively combined undergraduate (UG) education with state-of-the-art research projects. She has driven an exciting educational/social/economic mobility experience for hundreds of at-risk students, all now leading successful careers in industry, academia, or government labs. She led a far-reaching transformation at a once, non-PhD teaching institution. Her efforts led to 100% retention and graduation rates for over seven hundred students who worked on her NanoTeam. She successfully opened pathways to graduate school, over 50 students from her team pursued PhD degrees in Engineering. She is the recipient of several honors such as member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, US Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM), Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, TEDx Speaker, and Engineer of the Year by Great Minds in STEM. Lozano’s team, composed primarily of UGs published >180 peer reviewed scientific journal articles and gave >600 proceedings/conference presentations. She is a prolific inventor, and has co-founded two companies, one of which received international awards such as the R&D 100. Her technology coined Forcespinning® is leading industrial production of nanofibers. She outreaches to thousands of K-16 students through summer camps, magic/science shows, and social media. Lozano received a Lone Star EMMY award for the developed Energy & U TV show. Dr. Lozano earned her BS in Mechanical Engineering from Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM).
Fatima Baig
Lecturer of German, Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
fatima.baig@rice.edu
Fatima joined Rice in 2016 and is a Lecturer in German in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (MCLLC). Her students know her as "Frau Baig", that’s "Ms. Baig" auf Deutsch! Originally from the beautiful city of Heidelberg/ Germany, Fatima still visits often to spend time with family and friends (and maybe sneak in a few pretzels). A passionate educator since 2001, she's earned both an M.Ed. and a Ph.D. along the way. When she's not in the classroom, you might find her soaking up art at the MFAH, enjoying a play, cheering on the Astros, or savoring a laid-back brunch at Snooze. Fatima serves as a Humanities Divisional Advisor for Baker College.
Is there life on Mars? What are the chances of a nuclear conflict in the next five years? How will next-generation generative AI change our social worlds? These are the sorts of things that I get to explore as the Baker College Chair for the History of Science, Technology, and Innovation. I’m based in the history department, and I am also the co-director of the interdisciplinary Science and Technology Studies program. I decided to get my PhD in History of Science in 2006 from Harvard University and began teaching at Rice in 2022. For more about my academic side, you can see my faculty page at: https://profiles.rice.edu/faculty/Luis-campos . But when I’m not nerding out about science and society issues, I’m off to travel and explore this beautiful world and would love to swap stories—this past year brought me to Ethiopia, Uzbekistan, Malaysia, and Rarotonga. I pop into Baker for lunch at least once a week, so please come and introduce yourself, and tell me where you want to go next!
Matthew Patterson & Robert Beaird
Assistant Director for Contracts, Office of Technology Transfer (Matt)
Associate Teaching Professor, Physics and Astronomy (Bobby)
pattermc@rice.edu; rpb5@rice.edu
Matt is a Baton Rouge, Louisiana native and Rice undergraduate alum (B.A., physics, Jones ‘07), whereas Bobby attended Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana prior to making his way down to the "big city" of Baton Rouge where he eventually met Matt as a fellow student in the Ph.D. program in physics at Louisiana State University. (Formally speaking, Bobby is a condensed matter theorist and Matt is a condensed matter experimentalist, but neither of them pursues research as a career at this point.) Bobby has been an Associate Teaching Professor of physics at Rice since 2015 and is now a natural sciences divisional advisor for Baker, while Matt manages a team in the Rice Office of Technology Transfer that negotiates contracts for research funding from for-profit sponsors. They got married in March 2017 and were shortly thereafter chosen as resident associates at Baker, serving a full term from 2017 – 2024, throughout several hurricanes and a global pandemic. In no particular order, one or both of them are avid fans of Star Trek, the Texas Renaissance Festival, LGBTQ+ political advocacy, sewing and costuming, tattoos, sourdough and commercial yeast breads, craft beer, and American Staffordshire Terriers – get to know them to find out who does what!
University Staff Associates
Officer Philip Roach, affectionately known as "Papa Roach" by Rice University students, is a dedicated member of the Rice University Police Department, where he has served since 2006. His commitment to student safety and well-being is evident in his community policing approach, often patrolling on his bike to be more accessible to students during his shifts and at campus events.
Roach's involvement extends beyond patrols. He is an active participant in the Rice University community, particularly with Baker College and Will Rice College, where he attends cabinet meetings and various events. His interaction with students, whether at meetings, parties, or during calls for service, demonstrates his respect and genuine care for their well-being, earning him the affectionate "Papa Roach" nickname. This dedication has also earned him recognition and respect from fellow officers, supervisors, faculty, and staff alike. Roach received an Honorary Associate award at Baker in 2017.
Fun facts: Papa Roach nickname came from a band called "Papa Roach" and got stuck through out the years. In 2010, Papa Roach got married and since then he had 12 cruises, been to New Zealand, South Africa (twice), Paris, and Venice. In 2012 he was awarded a Centennial Star, an honor recognizing staff members who embody the best of Rice culture. Roach has a daughter (32) stepdaughter (41) stepson (42) four grandkids and four lovable dogs.
Nick Dombrowski
Senior Campus Minister, Rice InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
nicholas.dombrowski@intervarsity.org
Nick is married to Chelsea Dombrowski and has three children: Robin (8 years-old), Crosby (6 years-old), and Reid (4 years-old). Nick has worked being a campus pastor with the national para-church organization, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, for over 20 years. He spent 10 years on the border in South Texas, 2 years in Minnesota, and the last 8 years here at Rice and as an associate at Baker. He likes reading, playing board games, golfing, wrestling with his kiddos, and having thoughtful conversations about life and faith in general and Jesus and the Bible in particular.
Greg is a Rice graduate (Baker 1986), a former Baker RA (1994-2002), has been a University Associate at Rice's first and best residential college since 1992, Together with his wife, Leslie Hammond, (a robotics engineer at NASA Johnson Space Center) he is the parent of current Baker junior Rowan Marshall. Greg works next door to Baker in Allen Center in the university's Public Affairs Office, where he is responsible for community relations and local government relations and supervises the Rice Welcome Center. In his misspent youth, he was a MOBster, and since was a founding member of the Rice Historical Society, so he has extensively researched the history of such notable Rice traditions as Baker Shakespeare and Baker 13. In his spare time, Greg maintains a Baker College Alumni Facebook group. Hell yeah!
Curtis grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, went to Vanderbilt University, and majored in Engineering Science and Economics(2008). After doing an internship with Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, he worked for an energy data startup (Urjanet) in Atlanta, where he met his wife Marisa. He went to seminary and got a Masters of Divinity at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina (2012-2015) and then moved to Malaysia to be the RUF pastor at City Discipleship Presbyterian Church in Kuala Lumpur (2016-2022). He likes that so many Rice students try to make money in the hardest possible ways (electric cars, rockets, new tech capabilities that haven't been done before, embracing the struggle against entropy, etc). When he's not wrangling munchkins, (born 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022) he likes reading the best books he can find and talking about them, doing his best to give people huge laughs, and playing disc golf.
Sondra Hernandez
Engineering Design Coordinator
sh74@rice.edu
Sondra was originally born in Idaho, but moved down to Texas when she was 9, growing up in the Golden Triangle portion of the state. She always loved animals, but ultimately got her degree in Maritime Studies from Texas A&M University Galveston, with minors in Anthropology and Nautical Archaeology. She is passionate about exploring history, culture, and preserving nature. She is an avid outdoors person who loves to camp, hike, and take in the beauty of nature whenever she can. Sondra has the personal goal to visit all of the Texas State Parks and all of the National Parks in the US (Glacier NP is the best, and you cannot convince her otherwise). She would love to one day 'run' a trail ultramarathon, but would settle for a thru-hike of either the PCT or CDT. She also likes to express her creativity through hobbies, such as sewing, crocheting, costuming, and collecting more hobbies. She is an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy novels, and is a self-proclaimed nerd over many topics and genres, including Renaissance festivals.
Community Associates
Mason grew up in Montana, served two tours in the U.S. Navy as a cryptologist, and graduated from Rice University in 2001 with a bachelor's degree in English supplemented by an eclectic collection of interesting courses ranging from linguistics to philosophy to physics. He works as a writer and creative director for a marketing and communications agency, leveraging his diverse background to feign expertise across a wide range of topics and industries. He lives on the west side of Houston with his wife Kathy, two teenage children, a Great Pyrenees dog, and a surly cat. He's been a Baker Community Associate since 2005.
Lyahn is a proud Bakerite (c/o 2013) and met her Caltech grad husband Mike during her plastic surgery residency in New York City while he worked in the finance world. Despite the challenges associated with the pandemic, they grew closer over their mutual love for fine dining but also ethnic hole-in-the-wall establishments, word games (ask about their Wordle wedding cake!), and traveling the world. They have since escaped the Northeast winters so Lyahn could join the faculty at BCM and be a mentor for aspiring surgeons.
Scott Singleton is a Baker Community Associate who is also an alumnus (BA 1988). He's married with two adult children and lives in Houston's East End, where he's an activist for neighborhood issues. Professional pursuits include supply chain and the maritime industry. Mr. Singleton's father, an uncle and a cousin are also all Baker alumnae, so Baker's in his blood.
Lynn is a native Houstonian with two degrees from Rice. His undergraduate degree is in Chemistry and he was a proud member of Baker College. If you look hard enough you will find his name at Baker. Later he returned to Rice and earned an MBA from the Jones School.
Lynn has spent much of his professional career in the energy sector (mostly related to electricity) and has held C-Suite positions in both public and private companies. While raising his family - a son who lives in Houston and a daughter who lives in Scotland - literally across the street from Rice, Lynn stayed connected to Rice. He knows all kinds of random factoids about Rice, past and present.
Lynn has been a Baker Community Associate for over 15 years. He has also been a member of the Association of Rice Alumni Board, President of the Jones School Alumni Association, and is a Rice University Trustee Emeritus. You are likely to see Lynn at Shepherd School concerts, Baker Institute or Jones School lectures, at Baker, or the Rec Center.
Michelle (Lindley) Dupré
West Natural Gas Asset Optimization Lead at BP Energy Company
mlindley@alumni.rice.edu
Michelle Dupré was an ECON major and graduated from Rice in 2003. She served in lots of Baker cabinet positions and was an O-Week mentor and Coordinator as well as Beer Bike Coordinator. She even got to live in the 2100 of yore over the servery.
Since graduation Michelle has worked at bp in the Gas and Power trading group and is now the head of west natural gas physical trading, leading a team of 10 traders. She's often on the Rice campus recruiting for bp!
Michelle's ex-husband Andrew is a fellow Bakerite (COMP SCI/ELEC 2002) and together they have 3 kids - Paul (13), James (11) and Libby (9). Michelle and her kids live in Spring Branch (just past Ikea!) and stay busy with all the kid activities - scouts, soccer, taekwondo, choir, orchestra, band, piano. Michelle also has a 4 year old goldendoodle named Jewel.
Travel is a passion of the Dupre family and Michelle and the kids have been all over the US and most recently took summer trips to Australia (technically winter too?) and Japan. Next up is Puerto Rico for Thanksgiving and summer 2026 looks like it'll be Ireland?
Michelle plans to retire in San Diego and recently bought her "forever" home in La Jolla that is temporarily an airbnb until she's ready to pull the trigger. She gets there as often as she can to enjoy the beach and perfect weather.
We've been trying to get the family into skiing and so far have gone to Park City, Utah, Winter Park, Colorado, and Whistler, BC. Still trying to figure out next year.
Mark B. Ryan
Retired. Formerly Dean, Jonathan Edwards College, Yale University; Regente (Magister) of Jose Gaos College and Dean of the Colleges, Universidad de las Americas, Puebla
mark.ryan@aya.yale.edu
Throughout his academic career and since his official retirement, Mark has been intensively involved in the life and organization of residential colleges. A native Houstonian, he holds a Ph.D. from Yale University, where he was on the faculty in American Studies and History for 22 years. For more than 20 years, he was Dean of Yale’s Jonathan Edwards College, becoming Yale’s Senior Residential College Dean. Subsequently, he was instrumental in founding the first system of residential colleges in Latin America at the Universidad de las Américas in Puebla, Mexico, where he served as Regente (Magister) of José College and as Dean of the Colleges. He is author of a classic book on the subject, A Collegiate Way of Living: Residential Colleges and a Yale Education, and co-author and editor of The Spider’s Way, a history of Jonathan Edwards College. Mark’s writings on the educational value of residence have been published in Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning and other journals; one received the “Article of the Year Award” by the Association of College and University Housing Officers – International (ACUHO-I). Currently he serves as a Trustee of the Jonathan Edwards Trust, which promotes the educational and cultural life of the College, and on the Advisory Board of Collegiate Way International, an organization of administrators of residential colleges throughout the world. Mark and his wife Ginger Clarkson have been Associates of Baker College since 2016.
Jordan P. Smith
Planning Manager, Harris County Housing & Community Development
jordan.paul.smith@gmail.com
Jordan Smith (Baker ’10) is more-or-less grew up in Denton, Texas, and earned bachelor’s degrees in earth science and environmental science from Rice. Through his involvement in Rice’s LGBT student association (now Rice PRIDE), he led the successful student effort to establish the university’s first designated all-gender restrooms in 2009.
After graduating, Jordan worked as an environmental geologist assessing contaminated sites but eventually grew tired of visiting very polluted places. He went on to earn a master’s and PhD in geography from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, specializing in urban green infrastructure and the built environment.
Jordan returned to Houston in 2020 and now manages the Planning Division at Harris County Housing & Community Development. He oversees environmental compliance and community planning for a range of housing and public infrastructure projects and serves as one of the department’s principal subject matter experts in floodplain management, climate adaptation, land use, sustainability, survey design and analysis, environmental justice, and contamination.
Jordan lives in Montrose with his 28-year-old ball python, Sir Hiss, and enjoys collecting rocks and going to estate sales.
Alice Rhoades
Serials Catalog Librarian, Fondren Library (retired)
alicer@rice.edu, loptwyn@hotmail.com
Alice Rhoades was the Serials Catalog Librarian at Rice's Fondren Library for 21 years until she retired in 2020. Before becoming a librarian, she was an actress and is still active in Houston theatre. She has took up writing during the COVID quarantines and is currently working on the second draft of a young adult novel. She first became involved with Baker by working on Baker Shake productions and finally hung around long enough to be invited to be an associate. A native of Fort Worth, Texas, she has also lived in New England and New York City before coming back to settle on the Gulf Coast. When not doing theatre, she enjoys hiking, camping, and exploring interesting new things in Houston.
Ann is a proud Bakerite who graduated in 1993 with a degree in German and Computational & Applied Mathematics. Other Rice connections are her brother (Baker ‘91), her niece (current Bakerite), and father (professor emeritus of Computational & Applied Mathematics). One of the highlights of her college career was spending a year as an exchange student at the Technical University Berlin. After graduating from Rice, she went on to get an MS and PhD in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University. Ann has worked for Aspen Technology for the past 25+ years as a supply chain consultant - building mathematical models with Aspen software to solve supply chain problems. Outside of work, Ann likes to volunteer for the Women’s Athletics Advisory Board at Rice and the Rodeo Merchandise Committee. She is also an avid runner who has completed 3 marathons, but regrets her life choices every time she goes out for a run in the Houston summer. Other hobbies include sewing, reading, and attending lots of sporting events. Go Owls!
Sacha Abinader
Managing Director - Accenture
SACHA.ABINADER@GMAIL.COM
Sacha is a proud Baker '05 Rice alum who was an Electrical and Computer Engineering degree. He served on several positions in Baker cabinet, including President his senior year. He also played a variety of Baker sports (Freshman basketball Champions!) and was Powderpuff coach for 2 years. He now serves on the Association of Rice Alumni board where his committee is focusing on re-engaging with "Stray Owls". He has been on the reunion committee for his 5th, 10th, 15th, and now 20th year union.
He is now a Managing Director at Accenture where he serves as the US Energy Consulting Lead. He is married to Maconda O'Connor Abinader (Brown '07) and has two children - Marcus (10) and Alice (7) - both hopefully future Owls.
Baker Hell Yeah!