Lt. Colonel Frances Rice, U.S. Army (Ret.) is a Military Hero, native of Atlanta, GA. and retired from the Army in 1984 after 20 years of active duty. She received her BS Degree from Drury College in 1973, an MBA from Golden Gate University in 1976 and a J.D. Degree from University of California, Hastings College of Law in 1977While on active duty, Ms. Frances served in a variety of positions including Commander of a WAC company, Adjutant of a Basic Combat Training Brigade, Prosecuting Attorney and Chief of the Administrative Law Division. She also served as Special Assistant to the Army Judge Advocate General and Adviser to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Equal Opportunity.
Subsequent to her Military Career, Frances Rice was employed for McDonnell Douglas Corp. serving first as a member of their "Think Tank" and then as a Government Contractor. She subsequently taught Business Law for the European Division of the University of Maryland in Brussels, Belgium.
Ms. Rice became politically active in 1982 and served as a Member of President Reagan's Private Sector Initiatives Task Force and volunteered for the Presidential Campaigns for Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, as well as for Governor's Jeb Bush and Charlie Crist.
She is now active in the Executive Committee for the Republican Party of Sarasota County, FL. In 2005 she became the co-founder of the National Black Republican Association, an organization that is committed to returning African-Americans to their Republican Party roots. Recently she was honored as the Volunteer for the Year by the Republican Party of Sarasota County.
Among the rwards she received during her distinguished military career is the Legion of Merit, the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a non-combatant. In 1987 she was accorded the distinction of being one of America's Top 100 Black Business Professional Women by the Editorial Board of Dollars & Sense Magazine.
An Open Letter to the Democratic Party by Lt. Col. Frances Rice
