Laban Lacy Rice

{{Short description|American university president}} {{Infobox person | name = Laban Lacy Rice | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1870|10|14}} | birth_place = Dixon, Kentucky, US | death_date = {{death date and age|1973|02|13|1870|10|14}} | death_place = Kentucky, US | occupation = educator and author | spouse = Blanche Alexander Buchanan | children = 2 }} '''Dr. Laban Lacy Rice''' (October 14, 1870 – February 13, 1973) was an educator, author, and president of Cumberland University. He was an international authority on relativity.

==Early life== He was born in Dixon, Kentucky, to Laban Marchbanks Rice, a Confederate veteran and prominent tobacco merchant, and his wife, Martha Lacy. He was the older brother of the poet Cale Young Rice. Lacy Rice grew up with his family in Evansville, Indiana, and Louisville, Kentucky.<ref name="Hale">{{cite book|last1=Hale|first1=Will Thomas|last2=Merritt|first2=Dixon L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CDkVAAAAYAAJ|title=A History of Tennessee and Tennesseans The Leaders and Representative Men in Commerce, Industry and Modern Activities · Volume 6|publisher=Lewis publishing Company|place=New York|date= 1913 |page=|accessdate=2022-07-01}}</ref>

He received his BA, MA, and PhD degrees from Cumberland University.<ref name="Obituary"/> While a student at Cumberland, he was one of five men to found the Theta chapter of Kappa Sigma fraternity on October 7, 1887. Rice married Blanche Alexander Buchanan in Lebanon, Tennessee, and was the father of two daughters, Katherine and Anne. After his retirement, he made his home in Warwick, Virginia.<ref name="Hale"/>

==Career== He served as a professor of English at Cumberland University, as headmaster at Castle Heights Military Academy, and as associate editor of the ''Cumberland Presbyterian'' prior to being elected as president of Cumberland University. He also founded a private girls' camp called ''Camp Nakanawa'' and was an amateur astronomer. The Rice Observatory on the Cumberland University campus is named after him. In 1902 he along with Edward E. Weir, PhD (who also taught with him at Cumberland University) were on faculty at the Lebanon College for Young Ladies.<ref name="Hale"/>

His birthplace in Webster County, Kentucky, is designated by Historic Marker #1508, which reads:

{{blockquote|Birthplace of Rice brothers, Cale Young, 1872–1943, noted poet and author; Laban Lacy, 1870–1973, well-known educator and author. Lacy published The Best Poetic Works of Cale Young Rice after Cale's death. Included in famous collection is poem, "The Mystic." Cale married Alice Hegan, also a distinguished Kentucky writer. Home overlooks Memorial Garden.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://explorekyhistory.ky.gov/items/browse?search=Historical+Marker+%231508+&sort_field=relevance&submit_header-search=Submit|title=Search For Markers|accessdate=1 July 2022|work=explorekyhistory.ky.gov}}</ref>}}

==Death== He died in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1973, at the age of 102, and was buried at the Cedar Grove Cemetery in Lebanon, Tennessee.<ref name="Obituary">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51674573/obituary-for-laban-lacy-rice-aged-102/ |title=Dr. Laban Lacy Rice, 102, Educator, Author, Lecturer|work=The Miami Herald|place=Miami, Florida|date=15 Feb 1973|page=46|accessdate=2022-07-01}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.rootsweb.com/~kywebste/families/rice.htm Rice family page] *[http://www.webstercountyky.com/index.php Rice family home on Dixon, KY site]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Laban}} Category:1870 births Category:1973 deaths Category:Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Category:People from Webster County, Kentucky Category:Writers from Evansville, Indiana Category:Writers from Louisville, Kentucky Category:American men centenarians