Rice University, located in Houston, Texas, is the lead institution and the site for the SSPEED Center. Other regional academic institutions include the University of Houston (UH), the University of Texas at Austin (UTA), Texas A&M University (TAMU), Texas A&M University at Galveston (TAMU-G), Texas Southern University (TSU), the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB), and Louisiana State University (LSU) (Table 1). These universities were carefully chosen because each brings unique talent to the Center and many of the involved faculty have worked together on related evacuation and flooding projects in the region. Other public and private agencies that participate in the Center are listed in Table 2.

For more information about each member's representatives, please go to "Researchers".

Table 1. University Activities

University and Main Investigators	Focus
Rice University P.B. Bedient, Center Director J. Blackburn Co-PI, R. Stein, J. Padgett, L. Dueñas-Osorio, Nick Fang	Flood prediction and warning; Urban hydrologic models; Web integration of real time data; Regional Forecast Testbed 1; Public policy and response.
University of Houston H.S. Rifai, T. Colbert	Educational outreach for public and high schools; Infrastructure risk assessment; Land use planning and design for severe storm mitigation and coastal preservation.
University of Texas-Austin Center for Space Research G. Wells, C. Dawson, J. Proft	Disaster planning; Storm surge modeling; Remotely sensed data; Evacuation and transportation systems.
Texas A&M University - College Station S. Brody, F. Olivera	Coastal flood evacuation; Storm surge impacts; Community response.
Texas A&M University – Galveston B. Merrell
Texas Southern University C. Lewis	Transportation systems and evacuation planning.
University of Texas at Brownsville J. Benavides	Coastal flood response; Regional Forecast Testbed 2; International border issues
Louisiana State University Hurricane Center J. H. Pardue B. Wolshon	Storm surge model prediction; Evacuation and transportation planning.