Ross R. Rice Papers

Ross Richard Rice, political scientist, historian, and educator, was born on January 13, 1922 at Shenadoah, Iowa. He attended public schools and completed undergraduate coursework at Creighton University (Omaha, Nebraska) and Iowa State Teacher's College at Cedar Falls. In 1949, he completed his Masters degree in Social and Political Science at the University of Chicago, where he also served as a research assistant under Dr. Charles E. Merriam. Rice completed his PhD at the University of Chicago in 1955.

After a brief period teaching in public schools in Iowa, Dr. Rice accepted an appointment as an instructor at the Arizona State College at Tempe. Rice was promoted to Assistant Professor of Political Science in 1953 and became a full Professor in 1960. He served as chair of the Department of Political Science from 1959 to 1962 and as chair of the Faculty Assembly in 1965-1966. In 1969, Rice was appointed Curator of the Carl T. Hayden Papers at the Arizona State University Library. He was awarded Professor Emeritus status in 1989.

Ross Rice also served the City of Tempe as City Councilman from 1958 to 1961 and as Mayor from 1961 to 1962. He was Vice-Chairman of the Tempe Charter Commission in 1964. Rice died in Tempe on December 29, 2002.