Recently retired Rogers State University President Dr. Larry Rice has been named by the Oklahoma Higher Education Heritage Society as one of 11 individuals to be inducted into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame.
The 30th annual induction ceremony will be held Monday, Nov. 4, in the Nigh University Center Grand Ballroom at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.
Dr. Rice served as Rogers State University’s president from 2008 until his retirement from the position in early July 2024. Prior to this, he was the executive assistant to the president at the University of Tulsa from 2004-2008.
“It’s an incredible honor to be selected for induction by your peers. It’s one of the highest honors you can receive, to be recognized for your lifetime commitment to education, in my case, higher education,” Rice said. “I’m very appreciative of those individuals that nominated me.”
In addition to Rice, other 2024 inductees include John F. Barthell, who served from 2013‑2020 as provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Central Oklahoma; James Halligan, who served as president of Oklahoma State University from 1994-2002, and his wife, Ann, who supported his presidency; Joseph Harroz Jr., who served as the University of Oklahoma’s 15th president since May 2020, and nine years as the dean of the OU College of Law; Ann Holloway, Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education Regent Emeritus and a managing member of EAH, LLC., and president of Holloway, Inc.; and John M. McArthur, who served as president of Cameron University from 2013 to 2024, from 2004-2006 as dean of Cameron’s School of Science and Technology, and from 2006-2013 as vice president for academic affairs at Cameron.
Additional inductees include Dr. Clyde Montgomery Jr., who was the vice president of academic affairs at Langston University for 12 years; Dr. Marion Paden, who served as vice president for enrollment and student services at Oklahoma City Community College from 1992-2015, then president and CEO of Leadership Oklahoma from 2015-2024; Robert L. Spurrier Jr., who served 14 years as the director of the Honors College at Oklahoma State University and has been its director emeritus since 2014; and Russell D. Vaught, who was instrumental in founding and developing Oscar Rose Junior College, now Rose State College.
The Oklahoma Higher Education Heritage Society was established in 1991 as a nonprofit to support awareness of higher education’s vital role in Oklahoma’s history and to honor individuals, living and deceased, for outstanding service to higher education in the state. Since its establishment, the society has inducted over 330 educators, administrators, and others who have made distinguished contributions to higher education into its Hall of Fame. To learn more, visit www.ohehs.org.
To learn more about Rogers State University, visit www.rsu.edu.