Peer academic advisors are competitively selected members of Martel College who receive extensive training from the Office of Academic Advising to provide academic guidance and mentorship to their peers.
The PAAs have personal experience as a Rice student and offer accurate advice regarding specific courses, co-curricular opportunities, degree programs, study habits, academic rules and procedures, and more.
The Martel PAAs are friendly, fun and approachable! You’ll find them hosting open office hours, advising groups of new students, organizing meet & greets and academic planning events, or just hanging out in the Commons.
Head PAAs
Brendan Frizzell | Class of 2024 | frizz@rice.edu
Sociology, Spanish & Portuguese; Latin American & Latinx Studies; Civic Leadership and Portuguese Certificates; Pre-Grad
Carolyn Teng | Class of 2025 | cht5@rice.edu
Neuroscience; Art History; Pre-med
Dean Toumajian | Class of 2025 | dat6@rice.edu
Political Science; Sociology; Politics, Law, and Social Thought; Pre-Law
O-Week PAAs
Lillian He | Class of 2025 | lhh5@rice.edu
BioSciences; Business; Pre-Med
Danielle Okuseinde | Class of 2026 |doo2@rice.edu
Computer Science; Mathematics; Data Science
Elsabet Samuel | Class of 2025 | ess7@rice.edu
BioSciences; German Studies; Pre-Med
Samantha Wibawa | Class of 2026| ssw15@rice.edu
Civil Engineering/Environmental Science; History, Asian Studies
Year-Long PAAs
Emily Aspey | Class of 2024 | ea34@rice.edu
Neuroscience; Statistics minor; Pre-Med, Pre-Grad
Aishi Ayyanathan | Class of 2025 | aaa32@rice.edu
Biosciences (Cell Bio & Genetics); Sociology; Pre-Grad
Olivia Chang | Class of 2026 | oac3@rice.edu
Health Sciences; Medical Humanities; Spanish Certificate; Pre-Med
Priya Bapna | Class of 2025 | pb36@rice.edu
BioSciences (Cell Bio & Genetics); Medical Humanities; Data Science; Pre-Med
Shreya Challa | Class of 2025 | sc152@rice.edu
Mathematical Economic Analysis, Data Science
Rachel Dang | Class of 2025 | pnd2@rice.edu
BioSciences, Economics; Global Health Technologies; Spanish Certificate; Pre-Med
Josh Gill | Class of 2025 | jg100@rice.edu
Linguistics, Psychology, Asian Studies; Anthropology; Japanese Certificate
Amanda Kiesel | Class of 2025 | ack5@rice.edu
Psychology; Sociology
Chacko Mathai | Class of 2024| cm92@rice.edu
Electrical Engineering, Physics; Pre-Grad
Chloe Pesqueira | Class of 2026 |cap12@rice.edu
Social Policy Analysis, Political Science; Politics, Law, and Social Thought; Pre-Law
Kyra McKauffey | Class of 2025 | kz32@rice.edu
English; Cinema and Media Studies; Pre-Grad
Grace Xu | Class of 2025 | gdx1@rice.edu
Mathematical Economic Analysis, Mathematics; Pre-Grad