Robert L. Rice

Infobox Person
name = Robert L. Rice
birth_date = birth date|1929|8|15
birth_place = Farmington, Utah
death_date = death date and age|2007|8|30|1929|8|15
death_place = Salt Lake City, Utah
nationality = American

Robert L. Rice [Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Aug 31, 2007.http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20070831/ai_n19503083] was a health club pioneer and a philanthropist. Rice-Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah, location of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics, bears his name. Rice donated $1 million dollars in 1972 to renovate the stadium, then know as Ute Stadium. The Eccles name was added to the stadium in 1997.

Rice, a former body builder, started a gym in Salt Lake City in 1952, eventually growing into Health Industries, known as European Health Spas Inc., with nearly 200 locations and more than a half-million members by the 1970s. He sold the company in 1974 but later became chairman, president and chief executive officer of Spa Fitness Centers Inc. Rice played a key role in lobbying for legislation in 1981 to prevent deceitful practices by gyms.

Rice was appointed to President Nixon's Council of Physical Fitness in 1972, where he served for four years.

In November 2006, Rice was inducted into the David Eccles School of Business Hall of Fame at the University of Utah. [ [http://www.business.utah.edu/display.php?pageId=2507 Hall of Fame : External Relations ] ]