After serving as the president-designate of Rogers State University since January, Dr. Larry Rice is now the official RSU president.

He succeeds former President Dr. Joe Wiley who retired on June 30.

Rice’s appointment was made earlier this year by the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma, the governing board for RSU.

An Oklahoma native, Rice has 29 years of experience in higher education, most recently as executive assistant to the president at the University of Tulsa.

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 RSU from 1979 to 1986 and associate director of academics

for the RSU campus in Pryor from 1986 to 1991.

“I have enjoyed becoming involved in the day-to-day operations of the university during the past few months as president-designate and am excited to continue my work at RSU as president of this growing institution,” said Rice. “I look forward to continuing to build relationships with RSU students, faculty, staff and community supporters.

“RSU has been one of the primary success stories in the history of Oklahoma higher education in terms of enrollment growth and institutional stature. I believe RSU has the potential of becoming one of Oklahoma’s highest quality universities.”

Rice and his wife, Peggy, plan to live in the President’s House on the RSU campus.

Rice received a doctoral degree in education from Oklahoma State University, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on “Eighty Years of University Preparatory Education on College Hill,” which was essentially a history of the institution presently known as RSU.

At TU, Rice served as 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 was a state representative in House District 8 from 1986 to 2004. He received an appointment to the Interstate Oil and Gas Commission representing Oklahoma.

In 2006, he was appointed by Gov. Brad Henry as chairman of the Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust to oversee and administer the federally funded Tar Creek relocation efforts.

He has served on a variety of boards for various organizations, including president and founding member of the Chouteau-Mazie Public Schools Foundation; member of the Board of Directors for the Oklahoma Academy from 1992 to present; and former member of the boards of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Green Country and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation of Tulsa.