External Advisory Board

The HRC External Advisory Board meets yearly to advise the Director on community outreach, productive liaisons, and development of a broad vision for the Center's future. Board members have provided support for developing the Center's Public Humanities Initiative, the undergraduate fellowship program, and the dissertation-writing fellowship program. Through their guidance and active participation, the Center is creating new links to the Houston community. The board's wide and varied range of expertise offers the HRC an invaluable perspective on the larger social and cultural impact of the intellectual infrastructure that the Center sponsors.

John Paul Beltran (Rice BA in history) is the CEO and a majority partner of John Paul Richard, Inc., a sportswear company that he co-founded in 1996.  Beltran is also active in educational, religious, musical, and theatrical organizations.

Nancy Carlson (Rice BA in economics and sociology) earned a JD from the University of Texas School of Law and practiced law for a number of years.  She is a partner in Carlson Capital, L.P., a member of the Rice University Board of Trustees, and a board member of TACA, the Dallas Children's Theater, and Texas Ballet Theater.

Alex Dell earned a DDS from Columbia University College of Dental Medicine and an MS in Orthodontics at SUNY Buffalo. Dell is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics. He also serves on the boards of the Society of Fellows of the Aspen Institute, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and the Aspen Music Festival and School.

John Eldridge (Rice BA in anthropology) received his J.D. from University of Texas and is currently a partner at Haynes and Boone, L.L.P. He works primarily in environmental litigation and regulatory practice, and was named one of the Best Lawyers in America 2010 in Environmental Law by Woodward/White, Inc. Eldridge is also a member of the Greater Houston Partnership Environmental Advisory Committee and serves as a board member for the French-American Chamber of Commerce.

Jerry E. Finger is a managing partner of Finger Interests, Vice Chairman of the Bank of America Texas, and the President and Director of Ambassador Life Insurance Company. He has been an adjunct professor at Rice's Jones School of Management, Chairman of the Board of Visitors of Texas A&M University-Galveston, and a board member of the Wharton Graduate School at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2002, Finger became a member of the board of the Foundation for the National Archives.

Nancy Mauney Mafrige (Rice BA in English and French) earned her MA in English at the University of Houston, where she taught for many years.  Mafrige has served on several Rice boards including the Alumni Board, the Alumni Institute, and the Women's Athletic Board. She is currently chair of the Golden Scholarship Fund Drive for her class.

Robert Martin (Rice BA in history) received the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2008 for his leadership in strengthening libraries and museums in the US. A member of the National Council for the Humanities, Martin served as director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services from 2001-2005 and in 2001 was the acting chair of the National Endowment for the Arts. From 2003 through 2008 he served on the US Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Emily Bailen McKeage earned her MA and PhD in the Department of Comparative Literature of Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. She currently does freelance editorial work and teaches in New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study.

Jonathan F. "Jay" McKeage (Rice BA in English) earned his MA and PhD in Comparative Literature at Harvard and a certification in business administration from The Wharton School of Business. After eighteen years on Wall Street in investment banking and equity analysis, Jay is now Vice President for Corporate Development of Digital Angel Corporation, an advanced technology company in the field of animal identification and emergency identification solutions.

Rob Quartel (Rice BS in biology) is a former Member of the US Federal Maritime Commission and an internationally recognized expert in homeland security and US national maritime and transportation security policy.  He is Chairman and CEO of NTELX, a provider of advanced rules-based technology solutions in intelligence, logistics, security, health and human services and food and product safety.  He has throughout his career taken an active role in politics and public policy, and has written and testified extensively on regulatory, maritime and homeland security issues.  His government service includes stints at the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Federal Energy Office during the 1973 Oil Embargo.  He ran twice for federal office, and served in a senior policy position in both the Ford and George H.W. Bush presidential campaigns. His insights after the events of 9/11 led to the container security paradigm used today to protect the country against smuggled weapons of mass destruction.  He has been a member of the Council on Foreign Policy, the board of the Northern Virginia Technology Council, the Army Science Board, and the Wilson Council, among others.

Sandra Robbins (Rice BA in French studies) earned her JD from the University of West Los Angeles and practiced law for a number of years. She helped to form the California Women's Savings and Loan Bank, which specialized in loans to single, divorced, and widowed women, and is active in commercial real estate development and the arts in San Francisco.

Charles Szalkowski (Rice BA in economics and political science and BS in accounting) earned an MBA and JD from Harvard and is a venture capital and private equity transactions lawyer at Baker Botts L.L.P. and is the firm's General Counsel.  Long active at Rice, he was formerly chair of the Rice Fund Council, was President of the Association of Rice Alumni, and is currently a committee member of the Board of Trustees.

Troy L. Williams (Rice BA in history) earned his JD from Harvard Law School. He founded and was the President and CEO of Questia, the largest online library of copyright-cleared books accompanied by a set of sophisticated bibliographic tools. He is currently a consultant for high tech internet start-ups. He also served on the Board of Directors for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Houston, the Education Foundation of Harris County, and the Friends of Fondren Library.