Lawrence D. Rice was born on May 21, 1919 in Brownfield, Texas, the son of Mary Augusta Houck and Charles Lawrence Rice. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in history from Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, NM and his Ph.D. in history from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX.

Dr. Rice taught as an instructor at Navarro Junior College in 1960. Only a year later, he was promoted to Department Head of Social Science, which he remained until 1965. After moving to Lafayette, Louisiana in 1965, he was hired as an instructor of history at the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette). He was promoted to assistant professor in 1967, associate professor in 1969, and finally full professor in 1973. He served as Chairman of the Department of History from 1972-1982 and retired in 1990.

Dr. Rice was a member of several different historical associations, including the Louisiana Historical Association, Southwestern Social Science Association, Red River Valley Historical Association, USL History Series, and the Scholarly Evaluation of Book Manuscripts for Publications. In several of these associations, he served as secretary-treasurer and editor.

Dr. Rice was married to Norma Jean Davis of Lafayette, Louisiana and they had three daughters. He died on February 1, 1993 and is buried at Fountain Memorial Gardens, Lafayette, Louisiana.