Experts in the News

Nobel Prize-winning chemist Robert Curl, an internationally acclaimed scientist and nanotechnology pioneer whose 64-year career at Rice University made him one of the institution’s most beloved and respected figures, died July 3 in Houston.

High gasoline prices had an inordinate impact on consumer confidence, said energy fellow Mark Finley. “There is a sense of crisis with people saying, ‘There is something wrong here, and I need to be more careful.’”

In a paper commissioned by Texas 2036, public finance fellow Joyce Beebe found that over the last decade, Texas rural counties with state parks have higher GDP growth, higher population growth and higher employment growth compared to rural counties without state parks.

The president of the United States has no control over the price of our gas at the pump, said energy fellow Mark Finley, who has spent 35 years in the oil and gas industry.

President Biden’s upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia will likely draw a clear message from Riyadh: "Move the conversation away from human rights to focus on the positive sides of the relationship: energy and investments,” said Middle East fellow Kristian Coates Ulrichsen.