KINGSTON, R.I. – Nov. 4, 2026 – University of Rhode Island alumni Barry Gertz, ’76, and Sandra Gertz, ’86, have made a $2 million gift to URI’s College of Engineering Future Fund and to support the Gertz Family Engineering Scholarship Fund. The scholarship fund, which was founded a decade ago, will provide scholarships to eight second-year College of Engineering students each year.
“In commemoration of our 50th and 40th graduation anniversaries, we are pleased to add to the Gertz Family Scholarship Endowment to further support deserving engineering students,” said Barry Gertz.
The awards will be renewable for up to two years—three if the student is pursuing a degree within the International Engineering Program. Recipients are selected by the College of Engineering dean’s office in conjunction with the Office of Enrollment Services and must maintain a 3.0 GPA or higher to remain eligible. A personal commitment of $750,000 will immediately be added to the fully funded endowment.
The remaining gift to the College of Engineering Future Fund will be used to support construction of the University’s new ocean engineering building on its Narragansett Bay Campus. The building, which is currently under construction, is part of the $300 million, multi-phase revitalization of URI’s Narragansett Bay Campus. With URI College of Engineering faculty maintaining significant research partnerships with the Office of Naval Research, the new facilities will provide the necessary infrastructure to match their capabilities to perform the critical work necessary to grow Rhode Island’s blue economy and expand its role as a national leader in the sector.
A 27,000 cubic foot (30x30x30) test tank featured in the new ocean engineering building for specialized research in underwater acoustics will bear the Gertz name in recognition of the couple’s commitment and their advancement of education initiatives.
“We are pleased to donate to the dean’s Future Fund for the construction of the new engineering building on the Bay Campus,” said Gertz. “We have had the pleasure of getting to know Dean Anthony Marchese and observing the wonderful impact he has had on students and the engineering college.”
“Barry and Sandy are proud URI alumni and have been tremendous supporters of the College of Engineering for many years,” said Marchese. “Indeed, the Gertz name has become synonymous with our key tenets: community, access and academic excellence.”
In 2019, with the opening of the Fascitelli Center for Advanced Engineering on the Kingston Campus, the family’s philanthropic support led to the naming of a café in the building after Barry’s father, Junius ‘Babe” Gertz, class of 1950. He was part of the inaugural class of the URI College of Engineering Founder’s Club and creator of the Gertz Family Endowment. He passed away in 2007.
“It was an honor to name the café in his memory,” said Gertz. “Since our days at URI, we have maintained a strong family connection to the University.”
“The Gertz Café has become a community-wide gathering place for URI faculty, students and staff from across campus and the Gertz Scholarship has changed lives by providing access to a high-quality engineering education,” said Marchese. “This new gift will greatly expand the number of scholarship recipients and will provide our ocean engineering students and faculty with facilities that are commensurate with their best-in-the-world excellence.”
This story was written by Krysta Murray, writer, College of Engineering.