Alumni
Dr.Josepha Campinha-Bacote
Cape Verdean
The President of the Trans-cultural C.A.R.E. Associates, a private consulatation service, Campinha-Bacote is one of the nation's most influential theorists, consultants, and advocates on trans-cultural healthcare and mental health nursing. She has been nationally and internationally acknowledged for her scholarship and consultation on models and standards of cultural competence in healthcare training and professional preparation. During 2006, she was honored as the fifth recipient of the University's Diversity Award for Lifetime Achievement.
A third generation Cape Verdean, Campinha-Bacote has worked to enhance the level of cultural competence among employees of managed healthcare organizations, long term medicinal centers, academic institutions, community outreach centers, the federal government among others. Several colleges of nursing, pharmacy, social work and medicine have incorporated her conceptual model, "The Process of Cultural Competence in the Delivery of Healthcare Services: A Culturally Competent Model of Care," into their undergraduate and graduate programs of study.
As an advocate, she has served on a national task force under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health, to develop national standards that linguistically diverse populations.
After receiving a B.S. in nursing from the University of Rhode Island in 1974, she earned an M.S. from Texas Women's University, an M.A. from Cincinnati Christian University, and a Ph.D from the University of Virginia. Presently, she is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, and a consultant to the National Center for Cultural Competence in Washington D.C (District of Columbia)
A fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, Campinha-Bacote has received numerous honors and awards, including the Trans-cultural Nursing Society Leadership Award, and the Distinguished Lecturer Award from Sigma Theta Tau International. She was honored by the University of Rhode Island College of Nursing as Alumnus of the year in 2000, and by the University of Rhode Island Alumni Office with an Alumni Excellence Award in 2001.
Dr. Rose Butler Browne
African American
Rose Butler Browne was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1897. She moved with her family to Newport, Rhode Island where she grew up. While working as a live-in domestic she earned a bachelor's degree at Rhode Island College, now the University of Rhode Island. She went on to earn her master's degree at Rhode Island College and then to Harvard University where, in 1939 she became the first black woman to earn a doctoral degree in education. In 1950, she received an honorary degree from Rhode Island College, and in 1969 a seven-story Rhode Island College residence hall was named in her honor.
Dr. Browne served on the facilities of Virginia State College, West Virginia State College and Institute, and Bluefield State College in West Virginia before becoming chairman of the education department at North Caroline College. A crusader for black rights, Dr.Browne once refused to send students into teaching jobs in West Virginia as long as State Board of Education continued paying black teachers lower salaries than white teachers. The publicity and subsequent shortage of teachers forced the board to alter its policies. After retiring in 1963, Dr.Browne operated a day care center for children at the Mt.Vernon Baptist Church in Durham, where her husband was the pastor. Returning to Rhode Island, she operated a summer school aimed at the culture gap faced by black children, and later worked with senior citizens. In her 1969 autobiography, Love My Children, Dr.Browne attributed most of her success to the influence of her great-grandmother, Charlett Ann Linsday, referred to as the "High Priestess" by her family. The daughter of a native American chief, she married a southern slave, worked six years to buy his freedom and later, hope of improving the life of his children, migrated to a Boston ghetto.
The "High Priestess" convinced Dr.Browne that she too must overcome obstacles to better herself and her family. Rose Butler Browne passed away in 1986 at the age of eighty-nine.
Christaine Amanpour
Asian American
Christaine Amanpour was born on January 12, 1958. Shortly after her birth in London, her mother Patricia and father Mohammed, an Iranian airline executive, moved the family to Tehran. The Amanpours led a privileged life under the regime of the Shah of Iran. At age eleven, she returned to England to attend first the Holy Cross Convent School in Buckinghamshire, England, and then the New Hall School, an exclusive Roman Catholic girl's school. Her family had to flee Iran after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Chirstaine moved to the United States to study journalism at the University of Rhode Island, and earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1983, graduating summa cum laude.
From 1981-1982, she worked as a reporter, anchor and producer for WBRU-Radio in Prvidence, Rhode Island. After graduation, she worked for NBC affiliate WJAR-TV also in Providence, as an electronic graphics designer. In 1983, she was hired by CNN as an assistant on CNN's international assignment desk in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1989, she was posted to Frankfurt, West Germany, where she reported on the democratic revolutions sweeping Eastern Europe at the time. However, it was her coverage of the Persian Gulf War that followed Iraq's occupation of Kuwait in 1990 that made her famous. Thereafter, she reported from the Bosnian war and many other conflict zones.
From 1996-2005, she contracted with CBS to file four to five in-depth, international news reports a year as a special contributor on that network's newsmagazine program, 60 Minutes. These reports garnered a Peabody Award in 1998, complementing the Peabody she was awarded in 1993.
Based in CNN's London bureau, Amanpour is one of the most recognized international correspondents on American Television. Her willingness to work in dangerous conflict zones has reportedly made her one of the more highly (if not the highest) paid field reporters in the world. She speaks English, Farsi, and French fluently. Forbes magazine had named her one of the 100 Most Powerful Women.
Paul DePace
Disabled
Paul DePace of East Greenwich graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1966 and received his M.B.A. in 1975. In 1977 he joined the URI staff as director of physical plant, and now serves as associate director of capital projects. He manages a team responsible for all new construction on campus, including the Convocation Center, ice facility, Ballentine Hall and residence hall renovations.
As a member of the International Paralympic committee that oversees the Paralympic Games Paul M. DePace who, carried the Paralympic Torch for one mile along the Greek coast last September. He had previously carried torch at the games in Atlanta in 1996 and Salt Lake City in 2002. The 2004 Paralympic Games, in which 3,837 athletes from 136 countries competed over 11 days, were held in Athens two weeks after the Olympics. The U.S. Paralympic team is fielded by the U.S. Olympic Committee. DePace was also Chef De Mission for the 1992 Barcelona IX Paralympics. Now, he is the director of URI's Office of Capital Projects and Facilities Planning, is also president of the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation and a former member of the board of directors in the U.S. Olympic Committee. DePace awarded medals in shooting, track and field, archery, swimming, and powerlifting, the sport in which he had formerly competed. In 1995 DePace received the Humanitarian Award from the Providence Engineering Society and the National Rehabilitation Association Award.
Dr. Sylvia Spears
Native American
Sylvia Spears graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a bachelor's degree in speech communication and a minor in theatre in 1978. Afterwards she spent roughly ten years working in administration and management in New Jersy. In 1989, Spears moved back in Rhode Island. Spears, whose tribal name is Wild Dancer, next worked as an Assistant Tribal Administrator for her Narragansett tribe. In 1992 she returned to the University of Rhode Island for her master's degree in speech communication. After working at Bryant University, she served as affirmative action officer from 1998-2000. She completed her Ph.D degree at URI in Human Science and Services during 2006. She now teaches movement and voices at the Campus. She has also written plays for inner-city theatre groups.
Spears is an experienced trainer and presenter, specializing in cultural competence and diversity training. She has served as Assistant Director of Multicultural Students Services and Affirmative Action Officer. At present she is on the faculty in the URI Department of Human Development and Family Studies. Sylvia Spears is a certified facilitator for the Franklin-Covey Leadership Studies.
Jorge Elorza
Latino American
At the University of Rhode Island, Jorge Elorza was accepted into the Talent Development program where he majored in accounting. He became president of the Latin American Student Association. As a senior he worked in a program called the Rhode Island Children's Crusade for Higher Education. In 1998, Elorza graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Accounting.
Upon graduation, he moved to New York City to work for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, the largest public accounting firm in the world. Elozra specialized in capital markets clients and worked with Wall Street brokers and dealers. After less than a year in New York City, he left the private sector and returned to RI internting to enter public service, intent on giving something back to his community. He worked as a summer counselor for Upward Bound, an academic enrichment program for inner-city high school students. Elozra, then attended Harvard Law School where he worked as a teaching assistant. He was an organizer for the Living Wage Campaign, a student-led (and successful) effort to gain a wage increase for Harvard's cleaning and dining servies personnel.
In the year 2003, Elorza graduated from Harvard Law School and began working for Rhode Island Legal Services (RILS), a non-profit law firm offering free legal representation to low-income Rhode Islanders. He specializes in housing law and defends people who are either being evicted from their home or have been a victim of discrimination. He has practised in RI District and Superior Courts as well as United States District Court.
This spring, Elorza is back on the Kingston Campus as an adjunct professor in Business Law.
Daryl Finizio
Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender
Daryl Finizio graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1999 and has been active in URI's student government since he ran for the student senate as a freshman and then became its president. He was appointed by Governor Almond to be the first URI student member of the Rhode Island Board of Governors of Higher Education.
Finizio an openly gay republican attended law school at RWU and became the chapter president of the ACLU. He served as a consultant for the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice. Finizio was a part of the Board of Governors and helped to get the funds necessary to build RIC's Performing Arts Center, and was involved with free speech issues on the campus.
Currently Finizio is a senior criminal justice policy analyst for the New York City Council. He assists the City Council's Public Safety Committee and Fire and Criminal Justice committee, which oversee the New York City Police and Fire Departments. Daryl Finizio also works in the City Council's Legal and Govermental Affairs Division.
Joel Gallen
Jewish American
In 1979, right after his graduation at the University of Rhode Island, Joel Gallen decided to forego a promising job offer from Xerox for a summer mailroom job at a New York talent agency. Today, he owns a successful production company called Tenth Planet Productions, and has produced a string of critically acclaimed television series and specials like Unplugged and The MTV Movie Awards. He has two new feature films, "Not Another Teen Movie" and "Zoolander", to his credit. He returned to URI to receive an Excellence Award from the Alumni Association for his contribution to the arts.
Gallen started his career in New York television. He moved to Los Angeles to set up his own production company. From there, he continued to produce the MTV Movie Awards as well as other specials like Ellen Degeneres: The Beginning, Dixie Chicks on the Fly, and many others. From 1996 to 1998, he also produced the VH1 Fashion Awards.
Gallen has produced or directed over 50 television events. He won an Emmy for producing "America: A Tribute to Heroes". He also received an Emmy nomination in 2001 for "Ellen Degeneres". He has produced eleven MTV Movie Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards, six Rock and Role Fame Introduction ceremonies and three VH1 Fashion Awards. His recent credits include "NFL Kick-off Live", "Superbowl XXXVII Halftime show" and "An Evening with the Dixie Chicks". Joel Gallen has been honored with the Peabody Award for Broadcast Excellence for America.
- Article by: Ramatoulaye Ly
