 |
| Lester and Barbara Rice |
BRADFORD, PA – The
University of Pittsburgh at Bradford will dedicate its newest residence hall,
Lester and Barbara Rice House, at 4 p.m. Sept. 10.
Following a
dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony, tours of the residence hall will be
given and light refreshments will be served. The public is invited. Those
wishing to attend the dedication are asked to RSVP to Barbara Uscinski by Sept.
5 at 814-362-7501 or uscinski@pitt.edu.
The all-suite
residence hall, which has been named in honor of longtime university supporters
Lester and Barbara Rice, is the fourth such residence hall built in eight years
to keep up with a growing demand for on-campus housing. Rice House will bring
Pitt-Bradford’s on-campus capacity to 1,047.
“This rate of campus
construction reflects not only the growth in our student population, but also
its changing profile. Since more of our students are coming to us from distant
locations, more of our students now require on-campus accommodations,” said Dr.
Livingston Alexander, president.
Alexander spoke about
the Rices’ impact on the campus.
“Les Rice, and his
wife, Barbara, are tireless advocates for our campus and, by example, helped to
establish a legacy of giving not only to our campus, but to this community in
general,” Alexander said.
The Rices, along with
KOA Speer Electronics and the Mukaiyama-Rice Foundation, have provided
substantial gifts to Pitt-Bradford over the course of many years and at
critical times in the university’s development. The gifts have supported such
initiatives and activities on the Bradford campus as the renovation and
expansion of the Frame-Westerberg Commons, the renovation and expansion of what
is now the Richard E. and Ruth McDowell Sport and Fitness Center, and the
creation of an annual scholarship fund that has supported an average of 10
students each year since 1998.
In 1997,
Pitt-Bradford awarded Lester Rice its highest honor, the Presidential Medal of
Distinction, given to those who make significant contributions to the campus
and the community.
The Rices are Detroit
natives, and Lester Rice got his start in electronics in the U.S. Navy, where
he attended Electronics Technician School. Later, he earned a Bachelor of
Science degree in electronics engineering from the University of Michigan in
1951.
They also lived in
Elmira, N.Y., Pittsburgh, and St. Marys before settling in Bradford, where they
raised five children, Scott, Jeff, Jody, Judy and Tim. They have 12
grandchildren.
Lester Rice’s
professional career began in 1951 when he joined Westinghouse Corp., where he
worked seven years with the Electronic Tube Division in Elmira before
transferring to the Semiconductor Division in Youngwood, where he remained for
nine years.
In 1969, Lester Rice
joined Airco Speer, which was then located in St. Marys. The U.S. operations
merged with KOA Corp. in 1980, and KOA Speer Electronics was established in
Bradford. Today KOA is one of the largest resistor suppliers to the U.S. market
and has 17 plants worldwide with distribution operations in Bradford, Germany
and Singapore.
Lester Rice has been
active in trade groups and the Bradford community, where he has been active in
the Bradford Rotary and Exchange clubs, the Bradford Family YMCA, the Bradford
Area Alliance, the Pitt-Bradford Advisory Board and the board of directors of
Beacon Light Behavioral Health Systems.
Barbara Rice
graduated from Michigan State University in 1955 with a degree in education.
She then taught elementary school and flew as a TWA stewardess prior to
marrying Lester Rice and staying home to raise her family. Barbara Rice has
been very active in the First Presbyterian Church of Bradford, including
long-term service as a Deacon. She has served on the boards of the YWCA,
Bradford Creative and Performing Arts, and the Bradford Regional Medical Center
Auxiliary, where her accomplishments included initiating the Surgical Liaison
Function and revitalizing the resale shop.
Rice House is the
first-phase of a multi-phase housing master plan that will include two or three
new residence halls and the renovation and replacement of some of the university’s
town houses, its original housing. The 109-bed, $9.3 million residence hall is
located between Blaisdell Hall and Hanley Library.
While similar to its
predecessors, Reed-Coit, Fesenmyer and Dorn houses, Rice House is a bit more
architecturally interesting, with more angles.
Rick Esch, vice
president of business affairs, said Rice House architects from MacLachlan,
Cornelius and Filoni in Pittsburgh designed the residence hall that way because
of its prominent location.
Rice House will be
one of the first buildings visitors see as they arrive on campus. In addition,
plans call for it to one day face onto two quadrangles – one residential, one
academic.
The additional angles
also make some of the suites more spacious than the standard suites at
Pitt-Bradford. The two and three bedroom suites have full bathrooms, living
rooms, kitchenettes and storage closets.
John Savoy and Sons
of Montoursville manufactured all of the beds, desks and closets for the suites
from sustainable wood. With the exception of three singles reserved for
resident advisors, all rooms in the hall are doubles.
Mascaro Construction
of Pittsburgh was the construction management firm overseeing the project’s
completion, including the addition of 65 new parking spaces across Dorothy Lane
from the university’s Hangar Building.
The university has
also made a few adjustments to its auxiliary services to accommodate more
students living on campus.
It built an
additional laundry facility in the Ceramics Building two years ago to provide
more washers and dryers for students living on campus. An automated system lets
students go online to see when washers and dryers are free and tells them when
their laundry is finished. Additionally, more space was added to the Ken
Jadlowiec Fitness Center in the Richard E. and Ruth McDowell Sport and Fitness
Center by moving some of the free weights into an adjacent space that wasn’t
being used to accommodate students during those peak usage times.
While the KOA Dining
Room is bound to be busy during peak hours, Esch said this academic year, the
university will conduct a study to examine the feasibility of expanding the
dining hall.
