Joseph L. Rice III, Class of 1954, Doctor of Laws
“The only thing that counts is persistence,” you have said, an adage that has served you well through a career that has included the Marine Corps, Harvard Law School, and leadership in the field of private equity in this country and abroad. You helped found two private investment firms, including in 1978 that of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, which you have served as President and now Chairman. In doing so you also helped to pioneer the field of private investment — creating value in companies by focusing attention and expertise on previously overlooked subsidiaries. You also helped lead the effort to increase public understanding of the private equity field as a force for constructive change in the U.S. economy in the face of foreign competition. You invested similar savvy and persistence in your role as Williams Trustee — providing wise counsel, strong direction of the Board’s Budget and Financial Planning Committee and Private Equity Investments Committee, among others, and successful leadership of the effort to raise the funds needed to build the magnificent Science Center that, with gratitude, we stand before here today.
I hereby declare you recipient of the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, entitled to all the rights, honors, and privileges appertaining thereto.
June 5, 2005