Donald B. Rice
| Donald B. Rice | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 17th Secretary of the Air Force | |
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In office May 22, 1989 – January 20, 1993 |
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| President | George H.W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Edward C. Aldridge Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Sheila Widnall |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
June 4, 1939 Frederick, Maryland, USA |
| Political party | Republican |
Donald Blessing Rice (born Frederick, Maryland, June 4, 1939) is a California businessman and senior government official. He has been president and chief executive officer of several large companies including RAND Corporation, and has sat on numerous boards of directors, including Wells Fargo & Company. Rice also served as the seventeenth Secretary of the Air Force, 1989–93.
Rice was born in 1939 in Frederick, Maryland, the son of Donald B. Rice, Sr., and Mary C. Rice. His father operated a service station, and later started a tire business, eventually becoming mayor of Frederick, while his mother kept the books for the family business. Both parents stressed the need for a good education. Business, public service and education were all important influences on Rice as he grew up.
Rice earned a BS degree in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 1961, a MS in industrial management from Purdue University in 1962, and a Ph.D in economics also from Purdue University in 1965. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Army Ordnance Corps upon graduation from Notre Dame in June 1961. On August 25, 1962, Rice married Susan Fitzgerald. The couple are the parents of three sons, Donald B. Rice III, Joseph J. Rice, and Matthew F. Rice.
After 4 years of graduate school while in the U. S. Army Reserves, from 1965 to 1967, he served on active duty as a lieutenant and then captain of ordnance. During that time, he was assistant professor of management and acting deputy director for academics at the Navy Management Systems Center in the Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey, California.
In 1967, Rice became director of cost analysis in the Office of the Secretary of Defense in Washington, D.C. Two years later, he was appointed as deputy assistant secretary of defense for resource analysis where he was responsible for cost analysis, manpower and logistics requirements, and budget planning for defense programs. From 1970 to 1972, he served as assistant director in the Office of Management and Budget. In this position, he managed Federal Government budget activities for agriculture, atomic energy, commerce, energy, environment, natural resources, public works, science and technology, space, and transportation.
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