Stephen Rice earned B.S., M.Eng. & Ph.D. degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. He has professional experience with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, with industry, and with the federal government. Dr. Rice has held faculty and administrative appointments with the University of Connecticut, the University of Central Florida, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Twice he was appointed as a Senior Fulbright Scholar, first with the University of the South Pacific, based in Fiji, and later, with several universities in Germany. Dr. Rice was elected Eminent Engineer with Tau Beta Pi, and Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He has published extensively in the literature in tribology, particularly in areas related to the wear of materials under repetitive impulsive loading. For nearly a decade, Professor Rice was the United States’ delegate to the OECD Research Group on Friction and Wear of Materials. His published work extends also to engineering design innovation and education, and to healthcare informatics, particularly in electronic medical records. Dr. Rice was licensed as a Professional Engineer in Connecticut and Florida, and registered as a Certified Professional in Health Information Technology.

Professor Rice came to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) as Chief Research Officer, responsible for administration and development of research and creative activity for the institution. During his tenure, extramural support more than tripled, the University’s Research Council and Research Foundation were created, several internal award programs were developed, and planning was initiated for UNLV’s Research Parks, and for the Office of Technology Transfer. After more than a decade in research administration, Dr. Rice served as Professor of Healthcare Informatics, focusing on both biomedical and social informatics. Later, he served as Professor of Mechanical Engineering, teaching in materials technology and design innovation, and developing collaborative programs with universities in China, India, Thailand, South Africa and Brazil.