{"406951":{"#nid":"406951","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Storied Athletic Director Shares Legacy of Leadership","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech has long been lauded as the breeding ground for the NCAA\u2019s Life Skills, an effort modeled after Tech\u2019s Total Person Program to equip college athletes with skills to help them be successful long after they retire from sports.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EThe father of the Total Person Program, Homer Rice, spoke May 15 to a room of Tech alumni, athletes, employees, and friends at an event hosted by the Georgia Tech Business Network. The former athletic director brought copies of his book, \u003Cem\u003ELeadership Fitness\u003C\/em\u003E, as he does whenever he speaks to a group.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cMy father was a Methodist minister, and I asked him if I had to be a minister too. He said I could be a minister in any field, so sports has been my field,\u201d Rice said. \u201cGiving out the book is part of my silent ministry.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003ERice spoke about some of his personal methods from the book and how to be an effective, positive leader. He also uses his book to teach current Tech students about this topic in an elective course by the same name.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EThe 88-year-old newlywed \u2014 he recently wed a longtime friend \u2014 exudes positivity in both philosophy and practice. He talked about one of his practices, the \u201cattitude technique,\u201d and how it shapes who you are.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cYou become what you think, so you have to replace negative thoughts with positive ones,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s very simple, but you have to work at it.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EOne trademark of his leadership style is giving others the space they need to grow.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cI believe in other people, and I always believed in giving my people the freedom to do their jobs,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019d ask, \u2018What do you need?\u2019 \u2014 then get out of the way.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003ERice served as Georgia Tech\u2019s athletic director from 1980 to 1997. He took a $62,000 a year pay cut to come to Tech from the Cincinnati Bengals, where he was head coach, but made the establishment of the Total Person Program his mission with the move.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EUnder Rice\u2019s leadership, Georgia Tech won the 1990 national championship in football, had nine consecutive appearances in the NCAA basketball tournament, and won three consecutive ACC basketball championships. Rice is also credited with developing the women\u2019s athletic program, raising $100 million for facilities, and increasing athletics fundraising from $700,000 annually to $5 million.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EFrom one athletic director to another, Rice credited Tech\u2019s current leader Mike Bobinski as a model of positive leadership. Rice also acknowledges Bobinksi and President G.P. \u201cBud\u201d Peterson in the \u201cTracking Positive Leaders\u201d chapter of his book.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EThough his tenure as athletic director ended in 1997, Rice has never truly left Tech. In addition to the leadership elective course, which he has taught 12 out of the past 19 years, Rice continues to be involved at Tech as chair of the Lee Candler Fund, which supports the Total Person Program. He chooses not to stray too far from the Institute.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cI\u2019m on call if ever I\u2019m needed.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe father of the Total Person Program, Homer Rice, spoke May 15 to a room of Tech alumni, athletes, employees, and friends at an event hosted by the Georgia Tech Business Network.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The father of the Total Person Program, Homer Rice, spoke May 15 to a room of Tech alumni, athletes, employees, and friends at an event hosted by the Georgia Tech Business Network."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2015-05-26 16:34:07","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:18:21","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-05-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-05-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"407151":{"id":"407151","type":"image","title":"Homer Rice","body":null,"created":"1449254168","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:36:08","changed":"1475895132","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:12","alt":"Homer Rice","file":{"fid":"202135","name":"rice_homer_at_desk.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rice_homer_at_desk_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rice_homer_at_desk_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":475538,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rice_homer_at_desk_0.jpg?itok=W3ZU3Mzb"}}},"media_ids":["407151"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/gtbn.org\/","title":"Georgia Tech Business Network"}],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"14494","name":"Georgia Tech Business Network"},{"id":"6154","name":"GTBN"},{"id":"64601","name":"Homer Rice"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kristen.bailey@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EKristen Bailey\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}