Founding director of Rice University's Doerr Institute for New Leaders to step down

The founding director of the Ann and John Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University announced his departure, and the university has launched an international search for his successor.

Tom Kolditz will leave the Doerr Institute effective June 30 to pursue leadership consulting work, but he will join the institute's external advisory board.

Kolditz has been the director since the Doerr Institute was founded in 2015. The institute takes an evidence-based approach to the early development of leader abilities in young people. Both former Houston Mayor Annise Parker and former Harris County Judge Ed Emmett became fellows at the institute after their political roles ended. By 2019, the Association of Leadership Educators recognized the institute as the top program.

"In six wonderful years, Tom and the team at the Doerr Institute have brought world-class, personalized leader development to all interested Rice students — and the Rice community at large,” said John Doerr, who founded the institute with his wife, Ann, both Rice alumni. Their $50 million donation to Rice to start the institute was a record for the university at the time.

Kolditz, a former brigadier general, said he is proud of creating the CoachRICE program, where Rice students are able to build strong leadership skills, and teaching other universities across the country best practices in developing leaders. Thus far, the Doerr Institute has formed a consortium of 152 universities, including Yale University, University of Colorado, and all military service academies, such as the United States Coast Guard Academy.

"When we talk about 152 universities, to some people, that doesn't sound like much, but that's more colleges and universities (than there) are in the United Kingdom. It's twice as many (than there) are in Canada," Kolditz said in an interview.

Even still, the goal is to expand and reach more future leaders. In March, Kolditz and his team are launching the Carnegie Elective Classification for Leadership for Public Purpose in partnership with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The classification will be available to every college and university in the U.S., but they will have to provide evidence of extraordinary institutional commitment to receive the endorsement.

The goal is to have 1,000 schools participate in the classification, Kolditz said.

"The institute is poised to continue for 30 or 40 years, continuously doing things that are at a scale that improve or help colleges and universities do better at leader development," Kolditz said. "Because right now, they're terrible."

Kolditz said the hope is to create a ranking system of universities to celebrate those doing well and put pressure on the others to improve their leadership programs.

“As our team transitions into refining and expanding both its service to Rice and its national and global impact, a new director will bring energy, creativity and a fresh look to the challenges it faces,” Kolditz said.