By Alabama Public Radio
Indianapolis, IN – Derica Rice has become the highest-ranking African American executive at Eli Lilly and Company. The Decatur native became the pharmaceutical company's chief financial officer on May 1st. Eli Lilly is based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Rice was the salutatorian at Austin High School and graduated from G-M-I Engineering and Management Institute with a degree in electrical engineering. He received his master's in business administration from Indiana University in 1990. That's the same year he joined Eli Lilly. Rice is 41 years old. His annual salary will be 712-thousand dollars.