Dr. Lee Rice, who has extensive experience in both the healthcare industry and academia, has been named the second recipient of the Dr. Jerry C. Lee Endowed Chair, Dr. Jerry C. Lee, chancellor of the National University System, announced in July.
Dr. Rice’s appointment as endowed chair will run through the 2010 academic year. The Dr. Jerry C. Lee Endowed Chair was established in 1996 as part of National University’s 25th Anniversary.
As endowed chair, Dr. Rice will assume responsibility of furthering the aims of the National University System Center for Integrative Health, which was established in 2007 with the goal of improving the quality of health and wellness care in the United States by providing education to individuals about integrative health and to helping people lead healthier lives.
Dr. Rice has been a fixture in the local healthcare industry since arriving in San Diego with the United States Navy Reserve Medical Corps in 1973. Currently, he is the CEO and medical director of the LIFEWellness Institute in San Diego. Previously, he served as national general manager and medical director of Lifesigns and founder and medical director for San Diego Sports Medicine and Family Health Center. He has been the medical director of the San Diego State Aztecs Sports Medicine Center, Fallbrook Community Clinic, and the Vista Community Clinic. He was a staff physician for the departments of family medicine at the Naval Regional Medical Centers in Camp Pendleton and Long Beach. He also served as the head of the department of adult medicine at the Naval Regional Medical Center at the Marine Corps Air Station in El Toro.
He has held previous academic appointments as director of fellowship programs, associate clinical professor, clinical professor, and assistant clinical professor at several renowned institutions, including the University of California, San Diego, Western University of Health Sciences, San Diego State University, Stanford University School of Medicine, Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, and the UCLA School of Medicine.
Additionally, Dr. Rice has a been a team physician for several sports organizations in San Diego, including the Chargers, Aztecs, Sockers, Stingrays, Riptide, Gulls, Clippers, Rock & Roll Marathon, Senior Olympics, and Old Mission Beach Athletic Club. He served as team physician for the USA Men’s and Women’s Volleyball Teams for 20 years through four Olympiads. He is currently or has been a member of 20 professional societies, including among others the American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, American Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicine, American College of Sports Medicine, Professional Team Physicians, California Academy of Family Physicians, California Medical Association, Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, and the Team Physicians Association for the National Football League and the National Basketball Association.
Dr. Rice earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Later, he earned a doctorate from Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Missouri. He holds a medical license from the state of California, and is certified by the American Board of Family Practice and the American Osteopathic Board of Family Practice, where he added qualification in Sports Medicine from both boards.
