BYRNE INSTITUTE (doing business as Houston Institute)

Byrne Institute, now operating publicly as the Houston Institute, is a Houston-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports liberal-arts study—especially philosophy and literature—for Rice University students and the broader community through reading groups, one-on-one mentoring, public lectures, debates, and short seminars. The organization runs recurring student-facing programs (weekly reading groups, faculty lectures, high-school seminars, and salons for professionals) and reports active programming in the 2023–2026 period, including a Spring 2026 faculty lecture series and semester reading groups. Byrne Institute/Houston Institute is an established, donor-facing charity with annual Form 990 filings through fiscal year 2024, measurable program activity (reading-group attendance averages reported around 15 participants), and recent grant-supported growth that has increased contributed revenue in 2023–2024.