Robert V. Rice


Robert Vernon Rice was a retired American biochemist from Carnegie Mellon University and the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusetts primarily known for work in the area of biochemistry and physiology of muscle proteins and neuromuscular interactions.

Biography

Robert Vernon Rice was born 13 August 1924 in Barre, Massachusetts to Laurence Vernon Rice and Edith Rice. Rice is a direct patrilineal descendant of Edmund Rice, an early immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony from England. Rice married Betty Jane Marts on 13 July 1945 in Phoenix, Arizona, and he earned his master's degree in 1952 and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1954 at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Rice spent most of his academic career from 1955 to 1995 at the Department of Biological Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and served as department head. He was also a scientist-in-residence at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusetts during the summer months. His research focused on the biochemistry and cellular physiology of muscle contraction and nerve transmission. In retirement he has taken up an interest in genetic genealogy.

Selected publications