RECREATION DIRECTOR
Summer Youth Activity Program Director

(713) 348-5398

Tina Villard
tvillard [at] rice.edu

Tina graduted from Brock University (Canada) with a BRLS (Bachelor of Recreation and Leisure Studies) in April of 1998 while officiating and supervising several intramural sports. While receiving her Masters of Science degree in HPERS (Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Safety) in December of 1999 from Middle Tennessee State University, she developed, implemented, and monitored an outstanding intramural sports program, along with working in outdoor, aquatic, and fitness programs. She is currently serving as an associate for Martel College.

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

Marketing, Intramural Sports, Club Sports

(713) 348-2739

Evan Stein
estein [at] rice.edu

Evan joined the Recreation Center in the Summer of 2003 as the Intramural Sports Coordinator. He began working in Intramural Sports at the University of Florida where he completed his Bachelors in Telecommunications in 1998, and also received a Masters in Exercise and Sport Sciences in 2001. Evan is also a CPR and First Aid Instructor, and Certified Pool Operator. He is currently in his fourth year as a Resident Associate at Sid Richardson College.

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

Aquatic, Outdoor Programs, Dance, LPAP, Fitness

(713) 348-2739

This position has been filled.

Graphic and Web Designer

(713) 348-5763

David Stagg
dstagg [at] rice.edu

David Stagg currently serves as the Graphic and Web Designer for both the Student and Recreation Centers. After receiving his BA in Media Arts from the University of South Carolina, he lived in New York City before moving back to Houston to work for Rice University. He is responsible for the Willy's Pub, Rice Coffeehouse, Student Center, and Rec Center Web sites, as well as all the marketing and design for all Rec Center programs. Stagg is also an active speaker and teacher. He has taught Intro to Web Design, as well as speaks on a variety of design related topics. He has been a part of Rice University for over two and a half and is an active associate of Jones College.

Department Coordinator

(713) 348-4058

Teresa Tucker
ttucker [at] rice.edu

Teresa Tucker served as Reservationist for the Student Center since 1998 and was promoted to Department Coordinator of the Recreation Center in March of 2000.

Teresa is responsible for managing memberships, facility reservation requests, and the business functions of the Recreation Center. She also serves as a Summer Youth Activity Program Administrator. She is an Associate at Jones College.

Office Assistant

(713) 348-4058

Liza Sambrano
als5@rice.edu

Liza (pronounced "Lisa") joined the Rec Center team in October of 2006. An Alvin, TX native, she used to work for the Health and Human Service Commission assisting elderly and disable clients with the Texas Medicaid program, and more recently at Resource Corporation. She has two children and loves to watch her son play football on Saturdays (while her daughter cheers), and pro football on Sundays.

Assistant Director for Operations

(713) 348-4069

Sean Towery
towery [at] rice.edu

Sean has been the Assistant Director for Operations at Rice since May of 2004. As well as serving as the Assistant Director for Operations in the Rec Center, Sean also does Game Management for Athletics. Sean has a B.S. in Recreation Management from Ferris State University and a M.A. in Sports Administration from Central Michigan University. He is also an Associate at Martel College.

Operations Supervisor

(713) 348-4036

Deirdre Joseph
deedeejo [at] rice.edu

Deirdre was hired as an Operations Assistant in 1988. She now oversees the entire Operations Desk. Patrons can count on a smile from "Dee" or "Deedee" every time they use the facility.

Dee enjoys working with our Student Operations Assistant Supervisor to coordinate the large number of student employees that now work at the Desk. She was the recipient of the 2007-2008 Staff Choice Award at the annual Rec Center Awards Picnic.

Evening and Weekend Facilities Coordinator

(713) 348-5046

Frank Smith
fesjr [at] rice.edu

Frank Smith started at Rice in 1994 with Facilities & Engineering as a Custodian II. In 1996 he became the Lead Custodian at the Student Center which led to him becoming the Facilities Coordinator in 1998. He remained in that position until 2007 after accepting another position on campus. This in turn led to him becoming the Facilities Coordinator at the Recreation Center.

Operations Assistant II

(713) 348-4059

Guadalupe Galvan
glup [at] rice.edu

Lupita Galvan has been with Rice for 25 years, and can always be counted on to be there. She navigates patrons through the facility, is responsible for opening the building Monday through Friday, and facilitates the sale of all program passes and pro shop items. She is also responsible for making sure that all the fitness equipment is cleaned on a daily basis.

Lupita was honored at the Recreation Center's 2005-2006 Awards Picnic as Staff Choice.

Operations Assistant I

(713) 348-4059

Rudy Rojas
rosas [at] rice.edu

Rodolfo "Rudy" Rosas has been working at Rice since 2000 in FE&P's Custodial Department. He moved over to the Rec Center in 2006 and is "loving every minute of it. The staff that I work with is the best." He has a wife and two kids, and also works part-time for the Houston Dynamo as the confetti cannon ball operator; a side perk is a great view of the games. In his off-time he has become quite an awesome racquetball player.

Rudy was honored at the Recreation Center's 2006-2007 Awards Picnic as Staff Choice.

Assistant Director for Aquatic & Outdoor Programs

(713) 348-2742

Liz Harwood
harwood [at] rice.edu

Liz oversees the Aquatic Center and all of its programs. She teaches a wide variety of aquatic classes in LPAP.

Liz recieved her M.Ed. in Outdoor Education Administration from Georgia College & State University and a B.S. in Adventure Recreation from Ohio University. She is a Certified Pool Operator, Wilderness First Responder, and American Canoe Association Instructor.

Assistant Director for Dance Programs

(713) 348-5773

Rebecca Valls
rvalls [at] rice.edu

Becky directs the Dance Program in the Recreation Center. She is the director and a choreographer for Rice Dance Theatre, and teaches LPAP dance classes. Becky also teaches core dance courses for the University of Houston School of Theatre, Dance Division.

She holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Choreography from Sarah Lawrence College in New York, where her choreography was selected by the American College Dance Festival for the national performance at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.

Dance Theatre Coordinator

(713) 348-5773

Christine Lidvall
lidvall [at] rice.edu

Christine has been a member of the dance faculty of Rice University since 1988. During this time, Lidvall has also been a teacher/ choreographer for Rice Dance Theatre. From 1997 to 2001, she served as faculty advisor for the Rice Social Dance Club. After receiving her certification as a teacher in the Alexander Technique, Lidvall developed and taught a new LPAP course in the Alexander Technique during 2000-2001. Lidvall received a BS in speech from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, where she majored in theatre, and an MA in dance from the UH, Clear Lake.

Social Dance Coordinator

(713) 348-5773

Tracy King Perry
tracyk [at] rice.edu

Tracy coordinates the Social Dance program and is staff liaison to all student dance organizations at Rice. She studied jazz, ballet and tap with The Rubio Company in San Antonio, Texas for more than ten years, eventually teaching for the organization. After working in other industries for many years, Tracy returned to teaching dance in her spare time in 1997, and made it her fulltime job in 2001 when she started teaching at Rice. Tracy is certified in American Style Rhythm and her Social Dance specialties include American style Ballroom, Swing, and Latin, as well as Country Western. She has a B.A. in English from The University of Texas at San Antonio, and a MBA from the University of Houston Bauer School of Business.

Assistant Director for Fitness Programs

(713) 348-5765

AJ Moore
aj.moore [at] rice.edu

AJ received an Electrical Engineering (Bioengineering focus) and Anthropology Bachelor's degree from Rice University in Houston, TX in 2001. She is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with the NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association) and is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine; she is also certified in First Aid and CPR w/ AED.

Assistant Director for Intramural Sports

(713) 348-8810

Justin Stafford
jstafford [at] rice.edu

Justin graduated with a B.S. in Sports Administration from Fort Lewis College. While there, he participated as a student facilities supervisor and intramural sports official. He received his Masters from Middle Tennessee State where he worked as a Graduate Assistant of Intramural Sports. He currently works as the Assistant Director of Intramural Sports since June 2006.

Fencing Coordinator

(713) 436-1240

Mauro Hamza
mauro [at] rice.edu

Mauro is the Fencing Coordinator at Rice University and has long been hailed as one of America's top fencing instructors. For years he has guided fencers of a variety of ages and levels to excellence. Since arriving in the United States in 1994 and working at Rice since 1995, he has had great success developing students who have reached world level competitive results.

His students have won dozens of Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals nationally and abroad, as well as numerous U.S. National Titles. In 2000-2001, he was coach to the Cadet and Junior National Men's Foil Team. He has also coached the fencing team at Texas A&M University and is the fencing coordinator for the Rice Recreation Center. For Mauro, his professional career reached an all time high when he was asked to be the Coach for the 2004 Olympic Egyptian Foil Fencing Team.