U.S. General Services Administration
Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse named for Judge Walter H. Rice
DAYTON, OHIO — The U.S. General Services Administration and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio today commemorated the naming of the Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse to the Walter H. Rice Federal Building and United States Courthouse.
Joined by his family, Congressman Michael Turner, GSA Regional Administrator Brad Hansher, Chief Judge Edmund A. Sargus, friends, colleagues and community members, Judge Walter H. Rice was honored at a ceremony celebrating this special honor.
“This is truly the honor of a lifetime! Becoming a federal judge and being able to work to maintain and advance our wonderful system of justice was the summit of my life’s ambitions. To have the building in which I have worked for nearly 40 years bear my name is humbling beyond my ability to express,” said Judge Rice.
“It is not often that we are able to meet the people for whom our buildings are named,” said GSA Regional Administrator Brad Hansher. “Today’s ceremony is an opportunity to reflect on everything Judge Rice has done in his life and career in service to the local community and our country.”
“Judge Rice has spent his legal career in service to Montgomery County, and it is fitting that the Dayton Federal Building, where he has devoted nearly four decades of his life, bears his name,” said Senator Sherrod Brown. “I join Senator Portman and Rep. Turner in gratitude for Judge Rice’s service to Dayton as we work together to honor his legacy.”
“For more than four decades, Judge Rice has been a tireless advocate for justice, the people of Dayton, and the state of Ohio. Renaming the federal building after him is a fitting tribute to his life’s work, and I join community leaders across the Miami Valley in thanking him for his service,” said Senator Rob Portman.
“For over 40 years Judge Walter Rice has served justly over our community with the utmost dignity. A panel I convened of our local leaders unanimously chose him as the namesake of this building. I have worked alongside Senators Brown and Portman to finally give our community’s federal building a name, and I cannot think of a more deserving person to receive this honor than Judge Rice,” said Congressman Mike Turner (OH-10).
Also in attendance at today’s event were Judges Algenon L. Marbley, Michael H. Watson, Sarah D. Morrison, James L. Graham, Thomas M. Rose, Susan J. Dlott, Herman J.Weber, Sandra S. Beckwith, Chief Magistrate Judge Elizabeth A. Preston Deavers, and Magistrate Judges Sharon L. Ovington, Karen L. Litkovitz, Stephanie K. Bowman, Michael J. Newman, Kimberly A. Jolson, Chelsey M. Vascura and Michael R. Merz.
Judge Rice was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northwestern University in 1958.
He attended the Columbia University School of Law and received a Juris Doctorate degree in 1962. He also attended the Columbia University Graduate School of Business Administration and received a Master of Business Administration in 1962. He received an Honorary Degree, Doctor of Laws, from the University of Dayton in 1991, and an Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, from the Wright State University in 2000.
Judge Rice began his law career as an Assistant County Prosecutor for Montgomery County, Ohio, in 1964.
On June 4, 1980, Judge Rice was sworn in as judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, at Dayton, having been appointed to that position by President Jimmy Carter. Judge Rice served as Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio from October 13, 1996, to October 12, 2003. In his 50th year as a full-time active judge, he continues to carry a full docket of civil and criminal matters.