Contributor Profiles

Kathryn Tyler Reed Rice

When Kathryn Tyler Reed Rice died in 1974 she left a gift of 82% of her residual estate to The Schenectady Foundation. Today the market value of the Kathryn & Martin Rice Memorial Trust has grown to more than $4.5 million, providing a source of unrestricted income for grants.

Her husband, Martin Rice, was manager of publications for GE for 35 years before retiring in 1932. A pioneer in radio broadcasting, he supervised the opening of WGY in Schenectady in 1922, and the opening and operation of KGO in Oakland

Rice joined GE in the 1890's as a draftsman, and after nine months was transferred to the alternating current section of the engineering department. When the X-ray was discovered he was assigned to development of its use to photography and with the fluoroscope in surgery.

He became manager of GE's publications bureau when it was formed in 1897, a position he held until his retirement. In the post he supervised all general publicity for the company as well as printing, photography, technical data, and company advertising. Martin Rice was born in Philadelphia, PA, graduated in 1893 from the University of Pennsylvania, and later received a degree as a Mechanical Engineer.

The trust established by Kathryn Rice was originally $763,953. Today the value of the trust exceeds $4.5 million.