On days like this when things get to be too much I can always console myself with the knowledge that at least I don’t need two telephones to keep things in order:
It’s not dated but looks to be quite early in his Rice tenure, circa early 1970s I’d say. I don’t know why he’d have two telephones.
Bonus: Seen on an office door.
It appears that one of the phones is connected to a modem. Perhaps one dedicated to that and the other for talking?
I would have a hard time believing he had a modem in the 70s. The machine in the background is for dictation.
Perhaps he didn’t want one of these on his desk (in order to have 10 lines):
https://grungeworthy.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/screen-shot-2020-03-04-at-7.28.38-am.png?w=600
I’m inclined to agree with Grungy. That’s a way to get more lines. It’s also possible that he wanted to have conference calls where only he could hear the other parties.