Dr. Laban Lacy Rice (October 14, 1870 – February 13, 1973) was an educator, author, and president of Cumberland University.

He was born in Dixon, Kentucky, to Laban Marchbanks Rice, a Confederate veteran and prominent tobacco merchant, and his wife, Martha Lacy.

[2] While a student at Cumberland, he was one of five men to found the Theta chapter of Kappa Sigma fraternity on October 7, 1887.

Rice married Blanche Alexander Buchanan in Lebanon, Tennessee, and was the father of two daughters, Katherine and Anne.

In 1902 he along with Edward E. Weir, PhD (who also taught with him at Cumberland University) were on faculty at the Lebanon College for Young Ladies.