Photo:
Frances Presley Rice, Lieutenant Colonel (USA Retired) – Golden Gate University
(GGU) Alumni Association Director
Audrey Tilson and Alex Wheeler recently sat down with noted GGU alum Frances Presley Rice for an interview about her experience at GGU and its impact on her career in the military, as an attorney, and more recently as a historian, author, screenwriter, and film producer.
Frances was elected to the GGU Alumni Association Board of Directors in July,
and we are pleased to present her as the first Alumni Association Director
Profile Interview.
Here is a taste of the conversation. To view the full interview, please go
here.
Alex: What was your path to GGU? How did you come to attend the school
and why?
Frances: It may surprise you to learn that the Army led me to GGU.
In 1973, while assigned to the Presidio of San Francisco Army base, I decided
to acquire an MBA to enhance my military career and competitiveness in the
business world after I retired from the Army. I conducted research and became
aware of GGU’s stellar reputation for having experienced business executives as
MBA instructors, particularly for evening courses.
In 1974, after I completed one year of the GGU MBA program, I was afforded an
opportunity by the military to attend a civilian law school during the day
while still in the Army. So, for the first two of my three years in law school,
I attended GGU at night and Hastings Law School during the day, graduating from
GGU in 1976 and Hastings in 1977.
Both my law degree and GGU MBA proved invaluable for my professional
advancement.
Audrey: You were recently elected to the GGU Alumni Association Board of
Directors. What would you like the members of the Alumni Association to know
about you?
Frances: The primary reason I want to be part of the Board is to use my
experiences to help ensure GGU students remain inspired to achieve their
dreams.
My story of going from impoverishment at the time of my birth in 1944 to a
measure of success today is reflective of the exceptional and inspirational
accomplishments of blacks over a 400-year period from 1619 to the present that
are omitted from or inadequately represented in history books.
The lack of inclusion of the complete picture of black history in history books
is why, with educator Sandra K. Yocum, I co-wrote the book "Black History
1619-2019: An Illustrated and Documented African-American History" that is
available
on Amazon.com and through all national bookstores. The award-winning
documentary "Black Seeds: The History of Africans in America" is
inspired by the book.
