The James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, also known as the Baker Institute, is an American think tank on the campus of Rice University in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1993, it functions as a nonpartisan center for public policy research. According to the 2015 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report (Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program, University of Pennsylvania), the institute is No. 18 (of 60) in the "Top Think Tanks in the United States" and No. 4 (of 45) of the "Best University Affiliated Thanks". Its Center for Energy Studies is ranked No. 2 (of 55) among the world’s energy- and resource-policy think tanks, according to the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program’s 2015 Index Report. It is named for James A. Baker, III, former United States secretary of state and secretary of the Treasury. The institute's director Edward P. Djerejian is the former United States ambassador to Israel and Syria and assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs. The institute's board of advisors include William Barnett (Chair), Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright and Rice University's President David Leebron.
