MISSION

On July 25, 2002, Rice University and the Shell Oil Company Foundation announced the establishment of the Shell Center for Sustainability with a $3.5 million endowment.

The Center will create an interdisciplinary program of education, research, and outreach to address the role of the private sector in implementing a sustainable future. The Center will draw upon the various strengths of the university and will collaborate with other highly respected regional, U.S., and global institutions of higher learning and non-government organizations (NGOs) in this endeavor. Among others, Rice faculty members from the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, the Jones Graduate School of Management, and the Environmental & Energy Systems Institute will be involved in the Center's interdisciplinary endeavors.

The fundamental premise that corporate decision-making is a critical component to a successful strategy for improving social, environmental, and economic welfare will underpin the Center's work. Development and evolution of technologies and business models will focus areas since they help define the landscape within which private sector decision-making occurs.

Rice and Shell believe an interdisciplinary approach is critical to understanding and improving the implementation of corporate sustainability strategies. There are roles for both national and internatonal regulation, new echnologies, and improved management, measurement, and reporting systems that drive corporate actions. Improving both measurement, reporting and management of social and environmental impacts of xsting activities and proposed technologies requires contributions from the physical, social, and management sciences.

Read Shell Foundation press release