Hon Norman Rice

Norman B. Rice, the former mayor of Seattle from 1989-97, joined the Evans School as a distinguished practitioner-in-residence in 2006 after retiring as the CEO and president of Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle. His appointment at the Evans School is to oversee the Civic Engagement for the 21st Century Project, aimed at designing a new model for civic engagement through seminars, workshops, and research. He was also named CEO of The Seattle Foundation in June 2009. Rice, an Evans School alum and current Advisory Board member, entered the political arena in 1978 when elected to the Seattle City Council through a special election. He served three consecutive terms on the city council until being elected mayor in 1989, becoming the first African American and first city council member in 25 years to serve as mayor of Seattle. During his two terms in office, Rice also became the first Seattle mayor to serve as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Prior to his work in public service, Rice served as the governmental affairs director for the Puget Sound Council of Governments and manager of corporate contributions and social policy for Rainer National Bank, which is now part of Bank of America. Rice continues his commitment through the many boards and committees he serves on, including: the Brookings Institution’s Advisory Committee for Sustainable Communities, Enterprise Foundation and the Corporation for Supportive Housing, the YMCA, and the Seattle Urban League. Rice holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the Evans School at the University of Washington (UW), which he attended when it was still known as the Graduate School of Public Affairs. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the UW, and honorary doctorate degrees from Seattle University, the University of Puget Sound, and Whitman College.