[1] He was well known as a theoretical chemist who also performed experimental research, having spent much of his career working in multiple areas of physical chemistry.
[1] Stuart Rice attended the Bronx High School of Science,[3] received his bachelor's degree in 1952 from Brooklyn College, and earned his master's and doctorate from Harvard University in 1954 and 1955, respectively.
He was almost unable to attend graduate school due to contracting tuberculosis, but was cured of the disease through an experimental treatment of isoniazid and streptomycin.
[8] He completed his doctoral dissertation under Paul Doty, contributing to the then-emerging field of DNA research;[3] the project shared both experimental and theoretical components, which became a hallmark of his later work.
He is cited on the National Medal of Science "for changing the very nature of modern physical chemistry through his research, teaching and writing, using imaginative approaches to both experiment and theory that have inspired a new generation of scientists.
"[16] With over 100 doctoral students to his credit, Stuart Rice has had a great impact on the field of physical chemistry simply through the number of research scientists he has trained.
[17] Theoretical chemist David Tannor, who is the Hermann Mayer Professorial Chair in the department of chemical physics at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, did his post-doc work with Stuart Rice and David W. Oxtoby at the University of Chicago.