George McLendon was the Howard R. Hughes Provost and a Professor of Chemistry at Rice University. McLendon holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at El Paso and a doctorate from Texas A&M University. He assumed the role of provost from 2010-2015 after serving as Dean of Trinity College of Arts and Science at Duke University. Prior to his tenure at Duke, McLendon was the R.W. Moore Professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry at Princeton University.