Dame Susan Ilene Rice, Lady Rice, (née Wunsch; born 7 March 1946) is a British banker and head of the

Scottish Fiscal Commission The Scottish Fiscal Commission ( gd, Coimisean Fiosgail na h-Alba) is a non-ministerial office. It was established by the Scottish Parliament to provide independent forecasts of taxes and social security expenditure, and GDP forecasts, to help in ...

. In 2000 she became the first female leader of a British clearing bank. She is the chair of

Scottish Water Scottish Water is a statutory corporation that provides water and sewerage services across Scotland. It is accountable to the public through the Scottish Government. Operations Scottish Water provides drinking water to 2.46 million households ...

and a member of the

Banking Standards Board The Banking Standards Board (BSB) is a body established in April 2015 in the United Kingdom, to promote good practice among banks and building societies. The original idea for the body came from the work of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking S ...

Early life

Susan Ilene Wunsch was born on 7 March 1946 and grew up in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. She studied biology and philosophy of science at

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, United States, graduating in 1967 with a Bachelor of Arts. At Wellesley she met Scottish historian

Duncan Rice Sir Charles Duncan Rice (20 October 1942 – 3 February 2022) was a Scottish academic who was Principal of the University of Aberdeen from September 1996 to 1 April 2010. He previously served at New York University in the United States, as Dea ...

; they married shortly after her graduation and they moved to Scotland together. She then studied philosophy of science at

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

, gaining a

Master of Letters The Master of Letters degree (MLitt or LittM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. Ireland Trinity College Dublin and Maynooth University offer MLitt degrees. Trinity has offered them the longest, owing largely to its tradition as Ireland ...

in 1970. Rice and her husband returned to the United States. She initially became a medical researcher then an administrator in molecular biology Saybrook College at Yale. She was the Dean of Saybrook College,

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

(1978–80). In 1981, she moved to upstate New York and she worked as Dean of Students at

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...

Banking

In 1986, she began working for NatWest Bancorp, where she managed a successful community development programme. In 1996, her husband was appointed as Vice-Chancellor at the University of Aberdeen and they moved back to Scotland. She joined the

Bank of Scotland The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial and clearing bank based in Scotland and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, following the Bank of Scotland's implosion in 2008. The bank was established by th ...

in 1997. In September 2000 she was appointed as chief executive of Lloyds TSB Scotland and so become the first woman to lead a British clearing bank. In May 2008 took on the role of chairman in addition to this. When the Lloyds Banking Group was created by takeover of HBOS that year, Rice was appointed as managing director of Scottish part of the group. Rice retired from this position in December 2014. She became a non-executive director at

Scottish and Southern Energy plc SSE plc (formerly Scottish and Southern Energy plc) is a multinational energy company headquartered in Perth, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. SSE operates in the United Kingdom and ...

(SSE) in 2003, then took the position of senior independent director in 2007. In 2011, she became a member of the

Council of Economic Advisers The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is a United States agency within the Executive Office of the President established in 1946, which advises the President of the United States on economic policy. The CEA provides much of the empirical resea ...

. In 2012, she became the first woman to be appointed president of the

Scottish Council for Development and Industry The Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI), founded in 1931, is a non-governmental, membership organisation which aims to strengthen Scotland's economic competitiveness through influencing government and key stakeholders to creat ...

. In May 2013, she became a non-executive director of

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...

supermarket chain. In March 2015 it was announced that she had been appointed the chair of Scottish Water, taking up the post on 1 June 2015. She was a member of the court of the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

, first appointed in 2007, reappointed in 2009, serving until June 2014. She chairs the Chartered Banker Professional Standards Board (CB:PSB), a voluntary initiative supported by nine leading banks in the UK, which was established in October 2011. In April 2015, she was also appointed as a non-practitioner member of the Banking Standards Board.

Cultural roles

She was chair of the

Edinburgh International Book Festival The Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) is a book festival that takes place in the last three weeks of August every year in Charlotte Square in the centre of Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh. Billed as ''The largest festival of its ...

from 2001 to October 2015. In 2008, the Edinburgh Festivals Forum was formed as a commission with strategic development role, appointing Rice as chair. In June 2015, it was announced that she was to become the chair of Scotland's 2020 Climate Group, having been vice-chair of the group since it was formed in 2009. She is a Regent of the

Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is a professional organisation of surgeons. The College has seven active faculties, covering a broad spectrum of surgical, dental, and other medical practices. Its main campus is located on ...

Honours

In 2002 she was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(FRSE), and a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

(FRSA) in 2004. Rice was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) for services to banking in the

2005 New Year Honours New Year Honours were granted in the United Kingdom and New Zealand at the start of 2005. Among these in the UK were knighthoods awarded to Mike Tomlinson, the educationalist; Derek Wanless, who led a review of the National Health Service; and ...

and elevated to

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the

2018 New Year Honours The 2018 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

. In 2005 she became Prince Charles's Ambassador for Corporate Social Responsibility in Scotland. She received the inaugural Leadership Award at the National Business Awards Scotland 2007. She has several honorary degrees, including

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, a

Doctor of Business Administration The Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) is either a professional doctorate or a research doctorate, depending on the granting university, awarded on the basis of advanced study, examinations, project work, and research in business administrati ...

from

Queen Margaret University Queen Margaret University is a university, founded in 1875 and located in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is named after the Scottish Queen Saint Margaret. History The university was founded in 1875, as ''The Edinburgh School of Cookery and Domestic ...

in 2008. In November 2013 she received a lifetime achievement award at the Vision in Business for the Environment of Scotland Awards (Vibes).

References

External links

Profile
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Susan Living people 1946 births Wellesley College alumni Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Lloyds Banking Group people Yale University faculty Colgate University faculty Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Businesspeople from Rhode Island American emigrants to the United Kingdom Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Wives of knights