Powering Partnership

By Avery Ruxer Franklin

Energy security has become one of the defining global challenges of the 21st century, and a new center at the Baker Institute for Public Policy will place Houston — and Rice — at the center of a major international effort to meet that challenge.

In June, leaders from the United States, Cyprus, Greece and Israel gathered at the Baker Institute to launch the Eastern Mediterranean Energy Center, an initiative designed to advance energy security, regional stability and international collaboration.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright; Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Cyprus, Michael Damianos; Minister of Environment and Energy for Greece, Stavros Papastavrou; Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter; and Rice University President Reginald DesRoches signed a declaration of intent to establish the center. The agreement creates a framework for cooperation among the four nations and advances an initiative envisioned in the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act of 2019.

As the Eastern Mediterranean becomes increasingly important to global energy markets and energy security, basing the center in Houston connects regional expertise with a global energy ecosystem — creating new opportunities for research, dialogue and collaboration that extend beyond national borders.

The center will focus on shared priorities, including natural gas development, U.S. liquefied natural gas infrastructure, energy transportation networks, grid reliability, critical infrastructure resilience and emerging technologies. It will also facilitate scientific and technical exchanges, research partnerships, workforce development initiatives and engagement with industry stakeholders.

At the launch event, President DesRoches said that the university has long approached complex global challenges through interdisciplinary research, international partnerships and practical solutions that inform policy and action. “Today’s launch is a powerful example of that commitment, drawing on the Baker Institute’s internationally recognized expertise in energy markets and policy and its ability to convene leaders to address complex global challenges.”

David Satterfield, director of the Baker Institute and former U.S. ambassador to Turkey and Lebanon, said the center will help deepen the institute’s engagement in a region with significant energy and geopolitical importance. “The Eastern Mediterranean has enormous further potential, not just for development, for coordination of development,” Satterfield said. “It is a positive thing for energy, it’s a positive thing for industry, for all of the three states represented here today. It’s good for the region in a geopolitical sense as well.”

Wright framed the partnership as both an energy initiative and a diplomatic one. “The Eastern Mediterranean is an increasingly important region for global energy development, and this agreement strengthens cooperation among key allies while advancing our shared goals of energy abundance, economic prosperity and regional stability,” Wright said. “By establishing the Eastern Mediterranean Energy Center at Rice University … we are ensuring all member nations of this agreement will benefit from a lasting partnership bound together by the brightest minds and industry leaders in hydrocarbon development.”

From the Fall 2026 issue of Rice Magazine