Dr. Larry Rice, President of Rogers State University, has been named Director at Large for the State Chamber of Oklahoma.
The state chamber is a legislative advocacy organization for the business community in Oklahoma.
An Oklahoma native, President Rice has 30 years of experience in higher education and is the 14th president of RSU. President Rice began his academic career in 1979 as a full-time faculty member at RSU, which was then known as Rogers State College, where he taught classes in criminal justice, psychology and sociology.
He was Director of the Applied Science Division at Rogers from 1979 to 1986 and Associate Director of Academics for the Rogers campus in Pryor from 1986 to 1991.
He received a doctoral degree in education from Oklahoma State University, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Northeastern State University.
He wrote his doctoral dissertation on “Eighty Years of University Preparatory Education on College Hill,” a history of the institution presently known as RSU.
Before he was named as president of RSU, he served as Executive Assistant to the President at the University of Tulsa. At TU, Rice was chief of staff for the president with responsibilities for government relations and the Presidential Scholars Program for high-achieving students. He joined TU in 1991 as a member of the advancement staff and served as interim vice president for advancement from 1997-1998 and director of public affairs from 1991 to 2004.
He served the citizens of Oklahoma as a state representative in House District 8 from 1986 to 2004. While in the Legislature, he was actively involved in promoting increased funding for the state’s higher education system.
Dr. Rice has been dedicated to community service since 1975 when he worked as a Detective for the Pryor Police Department. He has also served on a wide variety of boards for various organizations, including service as president and founding member of the Chouteau-Mazie Public Schools Foundation. He is a former member of the boards of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Green Country and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation of Tulsa.
Dr. Rice was part of Leadership Oklahoma Class 13 and has served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Oklahoma Academy since 1992.
He has received many awards and commendations for his public service and commitment to higher education. His honors include the “Lifetime Friend Award” from the Higher Education Alumni Council of Oklahoma and being recognized as Legislator of the Year by several organizations including the Oklahoma Rural Water Association and the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association.
Dr. Rice and his wife, RSU First Lady Peggy Rice, live in the President’s Residence on the RSU campus.