Dr. Raymond J. Rice has served as President of the University of Maine at Presque Isle since 2016. A professor of English, he has been a member of the University of Maine at Presque Isle faculty for 25 years. His leadership roles on campus have included serving as Chair of the College of Arts and Sciences, and, since 2014, as Provost and Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs.

The University of Maine at Presque is a state and nationally recognized leader in personalized learning. As UMPI’s academic leader, Dr. Rice has directed the campus pedagogical, curricular, and assessment transition. The New England Board of Higher Education recognized UMPI’s achievements in personalized learning with its 2016 Maine State Merit Award.

During his tenure, Dr. Rice has overseen the expansion of Early College offerings at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone and area secondary schools, and led efforts to establish both the Zillman Family Greenhouse and a $1.2 million solar array field. In addition, he has led UMPI in becoming the first public university in New England to offer a fully accredited, online Competency Based Education degrees–all part of UMPI’s YourPace degree completion program–which help adults with some college but no degree to finish their coursework. In 2020, under Dr. Rice’s direction, UMPI began offering its very first Master’s degree program, a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership through the YourPace program.

Dr. Rice graduated from Dickinson College in 1989 with a B.A. in English and Latin with a secondary school certification. He went on to earn his M.A. in English in 1992 and his Ph.D. in English in 1998, both from the University of Connecticut.