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 non-partisan center of public policy research. According to the 2014 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report (Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program, University of Pennsylvania), the Institute is number 18 (of 60) in the "Top Think Tanks in the United States" and number 9 (of 45) of the "Best University Affiliated Thanks". It is named for James A. Baker III, former United States Secretary of State and Secretary of the Treasury. The institute's founding director, Edward P. Djerejian, is the former United States Ambassador to Israel and Syria and Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.