By Kathy Quirk
Nancy Rice built and nourished many communities in her life, according to her family, friends, and colleagues.
Rice, who passed away on Dec. 3, was a professor of exceptional education in the School of Education’s Department of Teaching and Learning. Her celebration of life was held at United Methodist Church in Whitefish Bay on Jan. 3.
“The pastor said there were the most people at that service that he had ever had in the church,” said Nancy Rice’s long-time friend and former colleague MaryAnn Fitzgerald.
“Nancy had circles of community,” she added. “She had her UWM community. She had a fantastic neighborhood community in Glendale. She had a sports community because (her son) Dylan was in every sport imaginable. She had a spiritual community through her church.”
Rice, who grew up in Minnesota, was one of six children. She was inspired to go into exceptional education by a family member who faced education challenges, her sister, Barbara Van Hauer recalled. Her parents were activists and advocates for equity, which also contributed to Rice’s career path, Fitzgerald said.
She earned her undergraduate degree at Barry University in Miami, Florida; her master’s degree at Arizona State University, and her doctorate from Syracuse University.
“She just knew what she wanted and went after it,” said Van Hauer.
After student teaching in Miami, Rice went on to teach and study in Arizona, Hawaii, Japan and Italy before coming to UWM in 2001.
A long career at UWM
During her 24 years at the university, she served as a program coordinator, assistant professor, associate professor, professor and chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning.
Dr. Rice was a respected scholar, leader, mentor, and teacher who highly valued the impact she had on numerous students who went on to become educators, researchers, teachers, and leaders in their communities
Educational Psychology & Head of School (2023-2026)
School of Education
“Dr. Rice was a respected scholar, leader, mentor, and teacher who highly valued the impact she had on numerous students who went on to become educators, researchers, teachers, and leaders in their communities,” said Andrew Davis, professor of educational psychology and head of school/associate dean of the School of Education from 2023-2025.
“She was a dedicated and passionate advocate for her colleagues and her students,” said Tina Freiburger, dean of the College of Community Engagement and Professions. “She was deeply committed to the department and to the mission of teaching and learning to prepare excellent teachers for urban school districts.”
“She was so passionate about the needs of children with special challenges,” said Fitzgerald.
“She was dedicated to her students,” said Laura Owens, professor of teaching and learning, and a long-time colleague in exceptional education. “She encouraged them to push themselves and always helped them understand the purpose behind their work and how it could make a real difference for students with disabilities.”
Rice’s research focused on literacy and topics related to how students with special needs were treated in different types of schools, said Liz Drame, professor of teaching and learning. “Her research really focused on equitable services and supports for people with disabilities,” said Owens.
Reaching out
Nancy Rice reached out to many people in the communities she was part of. Her friends and colleagues said she had a truly multicultural approach to life, including people from a variety of international, racial and ethnic backgrounds in her circle of communities.
Gilbert Johnson, who worked with her when he was an administrative assistant for several subdivisions in the School of Education, stayed in touch on social media after he left UWM. When he earned his degree in information systems technology, Rice insisted on a celebration.
“I’m thinking I should be planning a party for my family, and she’s like ‘no, you just bring them all here,’” he said. It also happened to be her son Dylan’s birthday, so it became a birthday/graduation party, he added. ‘We had a great time. It was just so Nancy.”
Fitzgerald recalled Rice’s visit after her oldest son died. Friends were bringing food, but Nancy Rice showed up with a red Sendiks bag.
“One thing you should know about me is I don’t cook,” Rice told her, but she brought rotisserie chicken and diet coke, two of Fitzgerald’s favorite comfort foods. And, then she stayed and grieved with her. “She didn’t just drop something off; we sat around the kitchen table and she listened.”
The two colleagues became close friends. When Rice adopted her son, Dylan, and became a single parent, Fitzgerald helped raise him. “We were family.”
Liz Drame, professor of teaching and learning, served as chair prior to Rice, and the two worked closely together during the transition.
“She was very committed,” said Drame. “She was texting about students and making sure there was coverage in her classes while she was in the hospital. She just had such a commitment to make sure everything was going to be okay for everybody.”
Kevin Beisser, director of international student and scholar services in the Center for International Education, worked with Rice at UWM. He and his wife, Andrea, were also long-time neighbors and friends. She was always organizing neighborhood get-togethers, he recalled.
When their Glendale neighborhood was devastated by flooding last summer, Beisser added, “she brought lunches for the entire neighborhood during the clean-up — at least seven households — even though she was going through her own crisis.”
When Rice was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to teach in Hungary in 2017, she continued her research and teaching on an international level but also took time to seek out a UWM alum, Matt Tiby, who was playing for a pro basketball team there. She and Dylan went to one of his games.
“She was just the most caring individual you will ever meet in your life,” said Beisser.
Equity and advocacy
As chair, Rice advocated for everyone in the department, Drame said. “Advocacy for the department and her colleagues was part of her DNA. She always brought a strong lens of equity to make sure that the work and contributions of our instructional staff were viewed and acknowledged not only within our department, but within our school and college as well.”
She also brought aspiring teachers in general education and exceptional education together, especially in a class on inclusive education in high school. “She really believed that we should all be working together and learning from each other,” said Owens. “Her idea was that special education is special, but it doesn’t have to be isolated.”
The concepts of inclusion, diversity, and equity may have come under attack in recent years, said Fitzgerald, but that’s what Nancy Rice stood for. “She lived by those words in her daily and her academic life.”
In lieu of flowers, the family suggested donations in Nancy Rice’s memory to ABCD (After Breast Cancer Diagnosis) in Glendale; the American Lung Association or the Alzheimer’s Association.
Her obituary is posted at https://obits.cremationsocietyofmilwaukee.com/nancy-rice