KINGSTON, R.I. – Oct. 13, 2026 – In his fifth State of the University address delivered Thursday, Oct. 8, at Edwards Hall, University of Rhode Island President Marc Parlange noted the many achievements of the University community while calling for “greater investment across the board” so that URI has the resources it needs to meet its mission.
Along with spotlighting URI’s successes, Parlange’s address to faculty, staff, students, trustees, alumni and friends reinforced the University’s access mission.
“We were founded as a land-grant university because this country decided that higher education should not belong only to a privileged few. That education should be useful; it should be accessible. And the knowledge created at a university should be put to work for the public,” Parlange said. “That mission is nearly 140 years old at URI. And it is every bit as important today as it was then.”
Parlange noted several achievements since the University launched its Focus URI strategic plan in 2023—most notably, URI’s designation as an R1 research institution. Received in February 2025 from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, the R1 designation is widely recognized as a standard for evaluating institutions based on their research activity. As an R1 institution, URI is among the top 4.8% of degree-granting postsecondary institutions nationally.
URI has also been ranked the No. 1 public university in New England by The Wall Street Journal for two consecutive years in the national publication’s WSJ/College Pulse Best Colleges in the U.S. ranking. Additionally, URI was ranked by WSJ the 34th-best public university nationally last fall.
The University has had continued strong momentum over the past year with new facilities opening on campus as well as significant financial investments made to support URI programming, Parlange said. This past summer, URI cut the ribbon on the new 32,000-square-foot Ocean Robotics Laboratory at the Narragansett Bay Campus. The facility will advance the design and development of technology-driven solutions, while fostering collaboration and innovation across the University, with other colleges and universities, and through public-private partnerships.
Parlange also noted URI’s Fine Arts Center opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony last month, ushering in a new era for its arts, music and theatre programs. “Those of you who remember the old Fine Arts Center understand what an accomplishment that is,” Parlange said. “We now have studios, classrooms, galleries, recording facilities, and performance spaces worthy of the talented students and faculty who use them.”
URI also celebrated the 5,000th graduate from its Talent Development program last year. The program serves Rhode Island high school graduates with college potential.
Federal support for the University’s programming also remained strong. URI this fall received a $4.6 million National Science Foundation award to lead a partnership with the Community College of Rhode Island and the New England Institute of Technology to create pathways into engineering for students with financial need. More than 100 students will receive scholarships and support through the program, Parlange said.
“Think about what that can mean for a student who never imagined becoming an engineer,” the president said.
The University also received another $4.8 million award from NSF to support students studying cybersecurity to prepare them for emerging challenges of securing artificial intelligence systems. Parlange also noted various new University programs, such as environmental arts and humanities, biomedical engineering, aerospace engineering and artificial intelligence, that didn’t exist just a few years ago.
“This is important because the world our students are preparing to enter is changing very quickly,” Parlange said. “And a public university has to change with it.”
Notable alumni have given back to URI, too. The University president acknowledged the inaugural cohort of Cook-Cohen scholars, a new endowed scholarship program created in April through a $2.145 million gift from URI Board of Trustees Chair Margo Cook ’86 and her spouse, Renee Cohen.
URI alumnus and trustee Joseph F. Matthews ’80 committed $1.6 million to the University in February to create scholarships specifically for Rhode Island students transferring from CCRI into URI’s engineering program. “That is a pathway,” Parlange said, “and we need more of them.”
The president also acknowledged ongoing success with URI’s athletics programs. Last fall, URI football won its first-ever outright Coastal Athletic Association conference title, earning a second consecutive trip to the NCAA FCS Division I playoffs. The URI women’s basketball program won a school-record 28 games last season, won the Atlantic 10 Conference championship and qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time in three decades.
URI’s women’s rowing team won the A-10 title for a third straight year. The Rams’ dynasty on the track continued last year with a sixth-straight A-10 indoor title and a 17th A-10 outdoor conference championship. “Four programs, six conference championships. That’s quite a year for the Rams,” Parlange said.
More investment to face “headwinds”
Parlange’s address also focused sharply on the challenges facing higher education institutions across the country, including URI.
The decline in the number of college-aged students in New England and across the nation—known as the “demographic cliff”—coupled with inflation, disruptions to federal research funding, and declines in international student enrollment are changing how universities, including URI, operate, Parlange said. He noted that in the face of these changes, the University’s resources “have not kept pace with our ambitions.”
Ambition requires resources, Parlange said, and those resources have not grown at the same pace as URI itself. While URI is “grateful for the support” of the state, including investments in campus infrastructure and the $5 million to advance a new public medical school at URI, Parlange said URI needs “greater investment across the board.”
Along with investing in what URI can do for Rhode Island and its economy—the University annually generates $2 billion in economic activity for the state and supports nearly 18,000 jobs—Parlange also said investment is needed to run the University every day.
“We cannot invest in what URI makes possible tomorrow without investing in what makes URI work today. So, while there is indeed much to celebrate and more momentum at URI than ever, telling you it is easy wouldn’t be fair,” Parlange said. “We cannot control every challenge facing higher education. But we can be honest about what URI needs, and focus on how we get there.”
While URI is making its case with the state, Parlange said the University also has a responsibility to strengthen its own financial position, as well as to be very clear about “what we can do and what we’re here to do.” The answer, he said, starts with providing access.
“I worry about a society in which opportunity becomes something you inherent,” he said. “Where some people grow up assuming that college, graduate school, a professional career, travel, research, entrepreneurship—all of it—is available to them, while others grow up believing those things belong to someone else.
“Talent doesn’t work that way,” Parlange stressed. “Curiosity doesn’t work that way. Intelligence certainly doesn’t work that way. Those things exist everywhere. But opportunity does not.”
URI, he said, must continue to provide access, opportunity, and the promise that at URI students will have the resources and support they need to receive a great education.
“Because that’s our responsibility and it is our mission. No matter how complicated the environment around us becomes, we cannot lose sight of it,” Parlange said. “And I am so proud of the work we do every day to keep this mission in focus.”
A healthy outlook
A new medical school at URI will not only address a “serious primary care shortage” in Rhode Island and build on the University’s current healthcare educational strengths, it will be a gamechanger for the University and the state, Parlange said. Along with educating physicians for the first time, Parlange said a public medical school will bring new researchers and research funding to the state, strengthen University partnerships with hospitals and healthcare organizations, and connect the health sciences across URI “in an entirely new way.”
Parlange also asked Rhode Island voters to say “yes” to Question 1, a general obligation bond on the November ballot that would provide critical funding for training and workforce development in healthcare, the skilled trades, and other high-demand fields in Rhode Island.
Noted scientist, entrepreneur Gerald Chan discusses AI, medical education
Gerald Chan, a scientist, entrepreneur and philanthropist who has devoted much of his career to advancing science, medicine, and higher education, provided remarks during the State of the University event. Chan shared his perspective on how universities should think about the advances of AI and about the future of medical education.
Chan said that with AI, there’s no impediment to accessing knowledge, with information available “just a click away.” But with the vast knowledge that is available, Chan said, knowledge must be delivered not “just in case,” but rather “just in time.”
He also shared the results of a pilot initiative with Harvard University where students worked with a personalized AI tutor to understand class material. Learning gains through the initiative grew by 62%, Chan said.
But classroom instruction is still critically important, Chan said.
“I would never for a moment think AI would replace human teachers. They are extremely important as mentors for students. But it is no longer whether you possess knowledge or not. It’s about what you can do with the knowledge,” Chan said. “It’s about what you can do with what you’ve learned. That is what professors and teachers must work on.”
Pivoting to medical education, Chan said healthcare in the future will be organized as “team-based,” where a doctor will supervise a team of professionals to provide patients the care they need. He said this future philosophy must be incorporated into the healthcare curricula.
Chan also said AI may help provide different solutions to many of today’s healthcare challenges. By incorporating AI, he said, “we can have better patient outcomes and better access to care, while lowering costs and lowering the burden and workload of the caregivers to minimize burnout, which is a real issue today.”