Scott Rice has been named the University of Illinois System’s general counsel, pending completion of the background check process and approval of the board of trustees at its Jan. 18 meeting. Rice will serve in an interim role, effective Jan. 1. Rice, a member of the university counsel’s staff since 2005, succeeds Tom Bearrows, the longest-serving university counsel in the system’s history who is retiring at the end of this month after more than two decades of service.
Currently titled by the system as the university counsel, the general counsel is a general officer of the board of trustees and serves as the legal adviser to the board, the president and other administrative officers. The position also oversees the legal counsel office that serves the system offices and the system’s three campuses and is legal counsel to the alumni association and the system’s various corporate outgrowths.
“The University of Illinois System has benefitted from a quarter-century of extraordinary legal counsel provided by Tom Bearrows,” U of I System President Tim Killeen said. “During a considerable portion of that period, Scott Rice was a major contributor to the office’s success. He has demonstrated exceptional abilities as a lawyer and as a strong and collaborative leader, and both are skills necessary to guide this vital function.”
Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs Nick Jones chaired a search committee that conducted a national search for Bearrows’ successor.
“Pending the board’s approval, Scott Rice will hit the ground running and seamlessly maintain our tradition of providing outstanding legal support,” board Chairman Don Edwards said. “We are fortunate to have developed within our own ranks such a strong, capable and experienced successor.”
A University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign history graduate who earned a law degree from Southern Illinois University, Rice advanced through a series of roles in the university counsel’s office. He was campus legal counsel at Urbana-Champaign from 2011 to 2019 and deputy university counsel since 2019.
In the latter role, Rice provided comprehensive, efficient and effective legal advice to the board of trustees, president, vice presidents, the board secretary, chancellors and other senior administrators on complex and sensitive matters across the entire range of university operations.
Rice previously worked in various positions within Illinois state government, including assistant to former Gov. Jim Edgar and clerk to former state Supreme Court Justice Rita Garman.
