Janice M. Lauer Rice (November 18, 1932 - April 7, 2021)[1] was an American scholar of composition, rhetoric, and linguistics. She was a founding member of the Rhetoric Society of America.[2] She founded one of the first doctoral programs in rhetoric and composition at Purdue University in 1980.[2][1] The Lauer Series in Rhetoric and Composition from Parlor Press is named in her honor, as well as the Rhetoric Society of America's Janice Lauer Fund for Graduate Student Support (now the Andrea Lunsford Travel Grant) and the Purdue Foundation Janice M. Lauer Dissertation Award.[1][2]
Lauer was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1932.[1] She obtained a master's degree in English from St. Louis University and her doctorate from the University of Michigan.[1] Walter J. Ong was one of Lauer's professors at St. Louis University.[3][4] She then went to work at the University of Detroit, where, among others, she mentored James Porter.[3]
In 1967, Lauer, together with Richard Young, Ross Winterowd, Edward P.J. Corbett, and George Yoos decided to create what would become the Rhetoric Society of America while at the Conference on College Composition and Communication.[3][4] Lauer held regular summer seminars on current theories of teaching composition.[3][5] Speakers for the seminar included Edward P.J. Corbett, Ross Winterowd, Richard Young, Walter Ong, James Moffett, James Kinneavy, Gordon Rohman, Louis Milic, Frank O'Hare, Janet Emig, Linda Flower, Louise Phelps, James Berlin, and Andrea Lunsford.[3] These seminars shared current composition theories with a wide range of instructions.[3]
In 1980, Lauer founded one of the first doctoral programs in rhetoric and composition at Purdue University in 1980.[2][1][4] Working with Muriel Harris, she was instrumental in hiring Patricia Sullivan and James Berlin.[4] She also directed the Cranbrook Writers Conference. Lauer was a professor at Purdue from 1980 until her retirement in 2003, directing 57 dissertations.[5] She later served as the Coordinator of the Consortium of Rhetoric and Composition Doctoral Programs.[2][5] She also served as an executive committee member of the National Council of Teachers of English and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Rhetoric Society of America.[2][5] She was also president of the Aquinas Educational Foundation.[1]