Dr. Rolundus R. Rice

Dr. Rolundus R. Rice is a thought leader, professor, and university administrator. Dr. Rice has used these platforms to inspire thousands of students to earn high school diplomas, baccalaureate, and advanced degrees, respectively.

Dr. Rice was lured into university leadership at a young age. At 33, he was appointed Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts at Talladega College in Talladega, Alabama—one of the youngest academic deans at an accredited four-year institution in the United States. In this capacity, Rice was responsible for leading the reorganization of the History, English, Music, Mass Media, and Fine Arts curricula, respectively. He was also instrumental in securing a $1.25 million implementation cluster grant from the United Negro College Fund’s (UNCF) Career Pathways Initiative to fund projects to increase Talladega College students’ chances of finding meaningful employment upon graduation.

Dr. Rice’s subsequent work and experiences at various colleges and universities include Chief Diversity Officer, Assistant Provost for Academic Affairs/Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, Central Region Director of Adult Education, Southern Association for Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) Liaison, and Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs at Rust College. He is currently serving as the Chief Operating Officer/Vice President for Student Affairs at Tuskegee University.

Dr. Rice is a professional historian who has taught a variety of lower and upper division undergraduate courses, including World History, United States History, The Civil Rights Movement, Martin and Malcolm, The Cold War, American Constitutional History, and American Religious History, respectively. Dr. Rice has also been identified as a subject-matter expert on the Civil Rights Movement and has been interviewed by CNN, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the Montgomery Advertiser. His research and publishing agenda are focused squarely on the Modern Civil Rights Movement. Dr. Rice’s book, Hosea Williams: A Lifetime of Defiance and Protest, was published by the University of South Carolina Press in 2021. This book is the first scholarly biography on one of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s closest lieutenants and organizer of Bloody Sunday and the subsequent Selma to Montgomery March. The esteemed Vanderbilt professor and MSNBC contributor, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, wrote that Rice’s “pathbreaking book rightly establishes Hosea Williams as one of the most colorful and creative personalities to emerge in the pitched battle to make America a just nation.”

Dr. Rice has also worked in the non-profit sector, specifically with The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, Georgia, where he served as the Special Assistant to Dr. Bernice King—the youngest child of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King. After the tragic death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Dr. Rice traveled with Ms. King as part of a team that included civil rights activists and trainers who engaged educators, law enforcement officers, civic leaders, gang members, and business leaders in the philosophy and techniques of her father.

Dr. Rice graduated from DeVry University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, magna cum laude. He holds two advanced degrees: a Master of Arts in History from Alabama State University and the Doctor of Philosophy degree in History from Auburn University, where he became the second African American to receive the Ph.D. in the discipline.

Dr. Rice is married to the former Dana Lee. They have four children and aspiring Tuskegee University Golden Tigers: Madison (15), Marley (10), Rolundus II (7), and Remington (5).