 Gabriel Mancuso selected as 2008 student commencement speaker: This month Gabriel "Gabe" Mancuso will deliver the student commencement address during URI’s undergraduate ceremonies Sunday, May 18. |
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 Link here to read about just a few of our stellar graduating students.... |
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 Columnist Clarence Page to deliver URI's Commencement address; 5 others to receive honorary degrees: Clarence Page, winner of the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, will deliver the University of Rhode Island’s 122nd commencement address during the University’s undergraduate ceremonies Sunday, May 18. He will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. URI will also confer honorary degrees to the following individuals during undergraduate ceremonies: Ambassador Christopher Hill who was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs in 2005; Architect William D. Warner who helped transform the city of Providence into the inviting and inclusive architectural marvel it is today; Vornado Realty Trust President Michael Fascitelli; Douglas Durand, the corporate whistleblower about fraudulent drug pricing and marketing conduct of TAP Pharmaceuticals Products; and Agnes Doody, Communication Studies faculty emeritus. |
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 Entomologist predicts early tick season, high infection rate: URI's tick expert believes that several ecological factors are likely to make 2008 a big year for ticks and disease, so he advises Rhode Islanders to develop an action plan for taking appropriate precautions to reduce their chances of being bitten. Thomas Mather, professor of entomology and director of URI’s Center for Vector-Borne Disease, said that among other things, a large acorn crop in 2006 may have led to an “exceptionally high” rodent population in Rhode Island last year. |
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 "What is It Worth?" Experts to visit URI for arts roadshow-style event, May 31: Bring in your paintings and works on paper for expert consultation on what your cherished objects would bring at auction. Experts from the well known Auctioneers and Appraisers of Antiques and Fine Arts, Skinner, Inc., associated with the popular PBS antique series will be on hand to appraise up to three items. |
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 Engineer develops Thermosuit® for rapid cooling of critically ill patients: Biomedical Engineering Professor William Ohley has launched a company to market a unique system he co-invented that rapidly reduces one’s body temperature in emergency situations to aid in recovering from heart attacks and other serious illnesses. Ohley joined with medical colleagues in Louisiana and New Jersey to form Life Recovery Systems after developing what they call the Thermosuit® , a plastic suit that encases unconscious patients to flood their bodies with cold water to induce hypothermia. |
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 URI's Ocean State Summer Writing Conference: The University will offer its second Ocean State Summer Writing Conference, due in large part to the success of its inaugural conference last year. The Conference will be held Friday-Saturday, June 20 to 21, with pre-conference workshops on June 19. Ann Hood (URI '78), whose latest book, Comfort, will appear in May, will open the conference. |
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 URI race walker strides to make Olympic team: Mike Kazmierczak turns heads wherever he goes. People even imitate him. The junior political science and sociology major is a race walker. He’s not just any run-of-the-track race walker. |
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 Professor analyzes rare textiles from Honduran ruins: Very few textiles from the Mayan culture have survived, so the treasure trove of fabrics excavated from a tomb at the Copán ruins in Honduras since the 1990s has generated considerable excitement. Professor Margaret Ordoñez spent a month at the site in 2004 and has since been analyzing tiny fragments of 49 samples she brought back to her lab to see what she could learn from them. |
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 URI opened the Gateway Café: The University's Department of Communicative Disorders has opened the Gateway Café, a comfortable and fun place for individuals recovering from traumatic brain injury or stroke. Located in the Independence Square Facility, the Café provides a venue for participants to socialize and develop friendships and to combat feelings of isolation. |
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 URI offers first climate science MBA program: The University has begun enrolling students in the nation’s first graduate degree program to merge a master of business administration with a master’s of oceanography degree. The 16-month, dual degree program, dubbed the Blue MBA for its oceanography focus, will educate future leaders in global climate change opportunities |
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 School of Education awarded $5.6 million to boost role of technology in teaching: Determined to keep education majors and beginning teachers well-prepared, URI's School of Education is developing New Order, Multi-Modal, Advanced-Design (NOMAD) Learning Spaces. |
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 $2 million grant to aid promising URI study on benefits of delayed umbilical cord clamping: A division of the National Institutes of Health has awarded Judith Mercer, URI clinical professor of nursing and certified nurse-midwife, a $2 million, 5-year grant to continue her investigation into the benefits of delaying umbilical cord clamping for pre-term infants. |
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 Book expected to climb the charts: A new novel by URI adjunct professor of oceanography, Padma Venkatraman, is already climbing the charts and its official publishing date isn’t until May. In a letter that accompanied a special galley mailing of the Douglas Whiteman of Penguin books called the book "a beautifully written story of love, loss and the power of one’s beliefs" and a "truly special book." |
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 URI historian pulls back the papal mourning curtains: When Pope John Paul II died, tens of thousands of mourners filled St. Peter’s Square to express their sympathy. What a difference a few centuries make, according to History Professor Joëlle Rollo-Koster, whose latest book, Raiding Saint Peter: Empty Sees, Violence, and the Initiation of the Great Western Schism, was published this month by Leiden and Boston. |
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 Endowment to maintain excellence at Cancer Prevention Research Center: James and Janice Prochaska have spent their careers helping people change. However, there is one area where the couple is resistant to change. Both want to see the University's Cancer Prevention Research Center, which Jim directs, maintain its stellar programming under strong leadership in the future. To make sure that happens, the Prochaskas have pledged $250,000 to URI’s Making A Difference campaign to establish the Prochaska Cancer Prevention Research Center Leadership Endowment. The couple’s gift is also a challenge grant, which means they will match other donations to the endowment dollar-for-dollar. |
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 President receives lifetime achievement award:
The New England Board of Higher Education honored President Robert L.
Carothers with the 2008 Eleanor M. McMahon Award for Lifetime
Achievement. The award is named for the late Rhode Island higher
education commissioner, scholar and educator. NEBHE Interim President
and CEO Michael K. Thomas said: "President Carothers is one of New
England's most respected higher education leaders. He has overseen the
transformation of the University of Rhode Island, expanding its
physical infrastructure, re-energizing the curriculum, increasing
student and faculty diversity and attracting top students. Moreover, he
has mentored the next generation of higher education leaders that will
extend his influence far into the future..." |
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 URI to co-lead new multi-million dollar Center for Explosives Detection, Mitigation, and Response:
The U. S. Department of Homeland Security announced the selection of
the University and Northeastern University as co-leaders of a new
Center of Excellence for Explosives Detection, Mitigation, and
Response. Each institution will receive a multi-year grant of up to $2
million per year over a period of four to six years. The selection was
part of an announcement of five new Centers of Excellence across the
country, each consisting of teams of academic institutions that are
leaders in their fields of study. URI Chemistry Professor, Jimmie Oxley
will lead the new center at URI.
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 Making Business Sense at URI:
As President Robert L. Carothers notes in this opinion piece, based on
the trend over recent years, the state support of URI will reach zero
in about 2020. In the current fiscal year, the State of Rhode Island
pays for only about 14% of the University’s total budget of some
$524M, and next year the percentage will be lower yet. In short, the
current system of funding Rhode Island’s state university is not
sustainable.
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 Safety on campus and URI's EmergencyAlert system: The new rapid notification system, EmergencyAlert,
is just one component in the University's comprehensive emergency
response program. Read the Feb. 2008 Quad Angles article for details. |
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 The URI-Central Falls partnership receives strong support:
The Rhode Island Foundation joined with the University and Central
Falls school leaders to announce their support of the Central Falls
High School: University of Rhode Island Academy. The Foundation awarded
the Central Falls High School: A University of Rhode Island Academy
more than $175,000 to support the partnership's efforts to transition
from a failing school to one that will be a recognized, high-performing
school of distinction. The grant supports work planned for the first
year of a three-year program. An additional planning grant of $50,000
was awarded in 2007. |
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 Spirited ad campaign: URI has a series of spirited television commercials to showcase some of the changes that have taken place during the last 15 years, as well as some of the best things that have remained the same at the University. The fast-paced 30-second spots show and tell viewers that "We've changed the way we look, learn, and act. But as much as URI has changed, in some important ways we've stayed the same..." Read more or link to a five-minute video. |
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