Seraphina Negash ’21 is an idealist with a strong practical bent. She is studying to be a doctor because she believes that people, regardless of income or status, should have access to health care.

She speaks fondly of URI faculty who have challenged her to think critically and ask tough questions while mentoring her even after the class is over.

Her leadership skills and confidence have grown through her participation in student organizations and as a resident assistant. URI is home and the foundation on which to build a better future.

Adelaide Levenson ’21 wants to help protect the environment, and she believes research is the key to sustainability.

She participated in three research projects in her first two years as a chemistry major. She worked on the creation of flame-retardant textiles, studied supramolecular compounds’ ability to capture pollutants from water, and assisted in the development of devices that detect nutrients in seawater.

Her love of chemistry continues to blossom under the guidance of her professors, and her research earned her two summer research positions and a National Science Foundation summer undergraduate fellowship.

Levenson found the formula at URI to achieve her dreams.

As a child, Kunal Mankodiya helped sell textiles at his family-owned shop in India. Now, he and an interdisciplinary team at URI marry textiles with sensors, computing, and the internet to improve health.

Professor Mankodiya founded the Wearable Biosensing Lab at URI, which has received national and international accolades. He received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award and was named the “Innovator-of-the-year” by Future Textiles Awards in Germany. Mankodiya organizes international scientific workshops and hackathons to promote entrepreneurial thinking.

URI students benefit from the synergy between teaching and research. Mankodiya’s course, Wearable Internet of Things, nurtures their entrepreneurial skills.

Faculty like Professor Mankodiya enable URI to better serve its students and raise its academic profile.

Scott Breault ’21 saw a flyer in high school that combined his passions for cars and innovation: an internship at BMW through the URI International Engineering Program (IEP).

The flyer inspired him to apply to URI, and in spring 2020 he was interning at ZF Friedrichshafen AG in Germany, a company that creates systems that enable vehicles to see, think, and act.

Breault’s semester abroad was cut short due to COVID-19, but the IEP helped him transition to an internship at PI (Physik Instrumente), a German company with a facility in Auburn, Massachusetts.

The experience has demonstrated that he can “think globally and act locally.”

Donald H. DeHayes came to URI in 2008 as provost and vice president for academic affairs to oversee the intellectual enterprise and to encourage growth and innovation. Under his leadership, the 2016–2021 Academic Plan set clear goals to enhance URI’s environment for superlative learning and discovery.

This “living plan” anticipated dramatic changes in the landscape of higher education and developed strategies to address disruptive technologies, access and affordability issues, student success and degree completion, and globalization.

These challenges and new ones will continue to present URI with opportunities. By building the URI endowment, the University will have access to resources that can be used to implement strategies that enhance URI and benefit students.