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Indonesia Calling A two-way exchange of people and ideas |16
Work: Take the Stress Out Our eight-part guide to a happier professional life |22
Aperture
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TRAIN TRACKS, CHICAGO Art/Communication Studies undergraduate student Temitope Ogunwumi ’18 of Cumberland, R.I., shot this image last year for a photography class. “My work explores themes of lines and symmetry in urban architecture,” he says. “My friends and I usually spend our free time traveling and exploring large cities, using photography as an outlet to document our adventures. One night we decided to explore Chicago’s many train stations, and I was intrigued by the way the tunnels and tracks intersected one another.” Ogunwumi’s photo won first place in URI’s Research and Scholarship Photo Contest this spring.
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DEEPSTARIA ENIGMATICA Oceanography master’s student Megan Lubetkin ’19 of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, used a time-lapse camera mounted on a remote operated undersea vehicle to take this image of a Deepstaria enigmatica jellyfish last fall. These rare sea creatures feature large, translucent, undulating bells and can survive at great depths. Lubetkin’s thesis research focuses on unusual lava flows near the Barcena underwater volcano in Mexico’s Revillagigedo Archipelago, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lubetkin’s photo won second place in URI’s Research and Scholarship Photo Contest this spring.
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BOILING WATER FOR TEA Marine affairs Ph.D. student Jessica Vandenberg ’20 of Huntington Beach, Calif., captured this moment from her fieldwork in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, last summer. Hill communities on the large island are learning to adapt to tourism and development; here, a jungle guide in the Malino Highlands is making tea for clients. Vandenberg’s photo took third place in URI’s Research and Scholarship Photo Contest this spring; her work is also featured in our story on Indonesia, starting on page 16.
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PRESIDENT’SVIEW CLASSROOM: INDONESIA College of the Environment and Life Sciences professor Tom Boving leading a mountainside class during J-term in Indonesia.
B The milestones we marked from 2014–2018 are part of a continuum of growth and achievement that defines the institution we have become.
SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES Local fishermen hauling in fish from nets, El Nido, Palawan Island, Philippines.
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y the time you receive this issue, we will have concluded our celebrations as the class of 2018 moved into the next stage in its journey: life after URI. As I presided over my ninth commencement as president of this dynamic institution, I felt great pride in the accomplishments of our students, faculty, and staff. Along with them, I was inspired by the words of former Environmental Protection Agency Head Gina McCarthy, a public health and environmental advocate, in her commencement address. I was delighted that our roster of honorary degree candidates also included Jim Taricani, an icon of journalistic integrity. Both McCarthy and Taricani remind us that our University is a place where principled voices will always be heard. When this class entered the University in the fall of 2014, we were just about to embark on a successful $125 million bond campaign for our new College of Engineering facility, for which we broke ground in the spring of their junior year. Members of the class of 2018 were there at the September 2016 opening of the state-of-the-art Richard E. Beaupre Center for Chemical and Forensic Sciences. And their experience at URI notably included our yearlong celebration of the University’s 125th anniversary in 2017. The milestones we marked from 2014-2018 are part of a continuum of growth and achievement that defines the University of Rhode Island in the 21st century. Our approach to transformation has been deliberate and intentional. We used the goals we established in 2010 as a launching pad for our academic strategic plan. We made difficult choices about where to invest—and where not to invest— as part of this strategy. We chose to invest in faculty and student diversity, and in programs that promote student success, like Take 15 to Finish and Finish What You Started. As a result, URI has made incredible progress in attracting, retaining, and graduating top students, and our enrollment numbers are more competitive every year. We also invested in facilities and capital improvements. And we re-invested in some of
our strongest flagship programs, like the Coastal Resources Center (CRC), which recently received the largest grant in URI history: $25 million to lead a five-year sustainable fisheries project, USAID/Philippines Fish Right Program. CRC will bring its expertise to address the serious challenges faced by the Philippine fishing industry. The grant further burnishes CRC’s and URI’s international reputations as being uniquely qualified to create local partnerships that build sustainable fisheries, protect marine ecosystems, and empower coastal communities. Two million Filipinos will benefit. And the grant will ensure that women and other marginalized groups will participate as equals in conserving and managing coastal and fisheries resources. The grant underscores our growing international presence, which is further highlighted in this issue of QuadAngles, as we delve into URI’s Indonesia connection. Indonesia is a place where we are already making a difference, with planned dual-degree programs, faculty-led classes abroad, and Indonesian government officials enrolling at the University. Our numerous research projects support sustainable fisheries, coastal management, higher-education capacity building, and economic development. More research partnerships are planned in education, pharmacy, and nursing, as well as engineering. I have been to Indonesia three times in the last two years. J-term classes have visited as well, and this summer a group of alumni will travel there. I hope you will take the time to read here about how our relationship with this country of diverse cultures and perspectives is strengthening the global competencies of our students, faculty, and alumni. As we gear up for a busy summer, I am already looking forward to greeting the class of 2022. Those students will benefit substantially from all the transformational progress we have made, and will help push URI to new levels of achievement and prominence. With each successive class, we grow and change. But we are always your University.
David M. Dooley President, University of Rhode Island
PHOTOS: JOE GIBLIN; COURTESY THOMAS BOVING; PHOTO:ISTOCKPHOTO.COM JOVAHN DUMONT
QUADANGLES SUMMER 2018 | VOLUME 25, NO. 4
Departments 1 APERTURE Introducing the winners of our inaugural Research and Scholarship Photo Contest
6 PRESIDENT’SVIEW
8 FEEDBACK 10 NEWS&VIEWS A bomb-sniffing prototype
The epigenetics of coral The future of ocean exploration Dressing for the revolution Miss Rhode Island Caitlin O’Neill ’18 Basketball coach David Cox
32 CLASSACTS News from your classmates
37 CLOSEUP Breezy Grenier ’17 will swim in the Arctic Ocean
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Features
38 INSHORT
James King ’06 on how he came to be a top consultant at Madeleine Albright’s firm
16 Indonesia Forward
40 BACKPAGE
Photo caption contest
URI and Indonesia are exchanging students, researchers and ideas every year, as URI’s expertise in fisheries, marine affairs and sustainable development helps the nation of 18,000 islands assume its place as one of the world’s biggest economies.
22 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Stressing
Our eight-part guide to improving your work life, from work-life balance to embracing doubt, taking care of your soul, and—just maybe— letting yourself cry in front of coworkers.
28 The Philosophy of Comedy 16
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What does serious have to do with silly? Turns out, a lot, from metacognition to logic. URI’s philosopher-comedians posit that philosophy is really the yin to comedy’s yang.
On the cover: Philosophy major and improv actor Charlie Santos ’18 commits to the fall in a performer-training balance exercise. “There’s a lot of pressure in the philosophy community to have answers,” he says. “My experiences as a performer have taught me that it’s ok to look foolish. They’ve made me a better learner.” Cover photo by Ayla Fox ’11
PHOTOS: JESSICA VANDENBERG; AYLA FOX
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FEEDBACK Write to us: pjack@uri.edu
Temitope Ogunwumi will graduate this year with a double major in art and communication studies. He took the winning photo for URI’s inaugural Research and Scholarship Photo Contest.
From the Editor
You’ll see a new section, Aperture, in the magazine’s opening pages this issue. In it, we showcase photographs that take us inside the worlds that URI alumni, students and faculty explore here and around the globe. This issue, we launch the section with the winning photos from URI’s first Research and Scholarship Photo Contest. When the editors of URI’s magazines— Momentum editor Melissa McCarthy, 41°N editor Monica Allard-Cox, and I—dreamed the contest up, we never guessed we’d get almost 300 entries, from fine art to photography, and from electron microscopy to computerized imaging outputs. The submissions show how deep URI’s scholarship runs, and how broad its reach is: they came from all seven continents, plus New Zealand. Taken together, they demonstrate just how many opportunities are available to members of our community. It was humbling and inspiring to review them. Many thanks to the contest judges: John J. Palumbo ’76, publisher of Rhode Island Monthly magazine; Krisanne Murray ’95, owner of Wakefield, R.I., firm Designroom; Kim Robertson, assistant director of URI’s 8 QUADANGLES SUMMER 2018
Megan Lubetkin is pursuing a master’s in oceanography, and her deep-sea photographs, including one that placed second in the contest, were taken on equipment loaned from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as part of its Multidisciplinary Instrumentation in Support of Oceanography program.
Jessica Vandenberg is pursuing a Ph.D. in marine affairs. Co-advised by Associate Professor of Anthropology Carlos GarciaQuijano and Assistant Professor of Sustainable Tourism and Recreation Amelia Moore, Vandenberg concentrates her dissertation fieldwork on small islands in Indonesia’s Spermonde Archipelago.
Department of Publications and Creative Services; and Nora Lewis, URI photographer. And congratulations to undergraduate student Temitope Ogunwumi ’18, master’s candidate Megan Lubetkin ’19, and Ph.D. candidate Jessica Vandenberg ’20, our three winners, whose photos opened these pages. Ogunwumi, who submitted several photos that made our shortlist, will pursue a career in photography; Lubetkin plans to continue her work in ocean exploration and applied research; and Vandenberg hopes to remain focused on development and conservation in Indonesia. Vandenberg’s photography graces our feature on Indonesia, starting on page 16, giving us a rich and intimate window into some of that country’s diverse landscapes, while a photo of deep-sea coral by Lubetkin is on page 11. Aperture is a first step toward a full redesign of this magazine, which we’re planning to launch later this year. Over the past few years, we’ve used email surveys to ask readers what they like and don’t like about this magazine, including its name. As a result, we’ll publish the first issue of the University of Rhode Island Magazine this winter. Your revamped alumni
magazine will come three times a year, instead of four, but with a new format that will include more pages per issue. These moves reflect our desire to bring you a higher quality publication while being mindful of state budget constraints. Rest assured that while the name QuadAngles will disappear from this cover, we’ll still bring you the same mix of stories and news, supporting our mission of keeping you connected with other alumni and with the University as it seeks to make sense of, and improve, an ever-changing world. As always, we look forward to any feedback you have. Speaking of feedback, it was you, dear readers, who alerted us to a mistake we made in the last issue—and right on the cover, too. Many of you noticed that the photo we ran to illustrate a story on yellowfin tuna was, in fact, of trout. We’re deeply embarrassed to have misled you, and have taken a hard look at our photograph procurement process as a result, as well as resolving to do a better job at tapping the expertise here on campus. Thanks for reading. —Pippa Jack
PHOTOS: JOVAHN DUMONT; COURTESY MEGAN LUBETKIN; JESSICA VANDENBERG
Gone Fishing Thanks to everyone who wrote to tell us about our cover mistake in the last issue. Those conversations sparked some interesting new ones:
The fish on the Spring 2018 QuadAngles cover is not a yellowfin tuna but an eastern brook trout—the only native trout species in R.I. It’s a beautiful photo of a beautiful fish, and I was hoping that there might be an article in QuadAngles about the still substantial, but threatened, brook trout population in the Ocean State. There are a lot of threats to this beautiful fish in R.I., from state stocking of non-native trout that outcompete brookies for habitat, to climate change and development—both of which warm the clean cold water that these fish need to survive and thrive. —Peter J. Marx ’77, M.A. ’81, Annapolis, Md. While I love to see articles about my alma mater doing good works, I feel compelled to point out that the fish pictured on the cover are not yellowfin tuna. To my untrained eye, they appear to be brown trout. As the University is well known as an international
Hello from California
Thank you for your latest issue of QuadAngles. It always reminds me of happy memories from the two years I spent in Kingston working for my master’s degree. It began in 1962 with my decision to leave teaching in a secondary school in the Philippines to work and study in the U.S. I got my M.S. in horticulture from URI, then a Ph.D. in horticulture from Washington State University. I went on to lecture in plant science at California State University, teach and research horticulture and
Kudos
I was so moved by Laurie Rockewell Sharma’s story [Passage to India, Spring 2018]. And I can also feel that pull of horses… they really just understand how you feel! Bravo for creating a school and stepping in to help those children. I feel Laurie’s biological mother is sitting in Heaven smiling at all Laurie’s good works. We continue to pray for Laurie and her school. Thank you. —Miriam Erick, via uri.edu/quadangles
PHOTOS: SARA AFONSO; COURTESY LAURIE SHARMA
research center and resource for aquaculture, perhaps a correction is in order? A friend of mine once worked for the Roaring Fork Transit Authority near Aspen. He put up several banners over the roads in the valley advertising the local bus service. The phone number he put on the banners to call for information was his grandmother’s, not RFTA’s. In the end, we acknowledge our mistakes and move on. Love to get the news from URI. —Jim Marshall, M.B.A. ’78, Lafayette, Colo. Great article and congratulations to Peter and Terry on persevering and making the Greenfins Aquaculture Tuna Center of Excellence (GATCE) a reality—no easy task [Big Fish, Spring 2018]. This is a critical research facility that URI should support. My best to both of you in your future research, and in your collaboration with other research organizations in saving a threatened species. —Jean Riendeau ’80, via uri.edu/quadangles
genetics at the University of Missouri, and work as an agricultural biologist at the Monterey County Agricultural Commission and the California Department of Food and Agriculture. I’ve also written for the Salinas Californian as an agricultural columnist. Now retired, I can say I have gone through the ups and downs of life with family in my adopted country. We visited campus four years ago. I recently published my third novel, with more to come. —Expedito Ibarbia, M.S. ’64, Salinas, Calif.
QuadAngles is published by the University of Rhode Island Alumni Association. Copyright pending, all rights reserved. The URI Alumni Association informs and engages current and future alumni as committed partners of the University, its mission and traditions. Executive Editor Michele A. Nota ’87, M.S. ’06, Executive Director, URI Alumni Relations; Secretary, Alumni Association Executive Board Editor in Chief Pippa Jack, pjack@uri.edu Art Director
Kim Robertson
Contributing Barbara Caron Editors Dina M. Dionizio ’91 Shane Donaldson ’99 Dave Lavallee ’79, M.P.A. ’87 Kate O’Malley Marybeth Reilly-McGreen Contributing Johnson Ma Designers Cynthia McMillen Bo Pickard Photographer
Nora Lewis
Digital Media
Kyla Duffy
Editorial Board
Kelly Mahoney ’03, Executive Director, External Relations and Communications Linda A. Acciardo ’77, Director, Communications and Marketing Austen Farrell, Chief Marketing Officer, URI Foundation
URI Alumni Sarah Bordeleau, Assistant Director Relations Staff Karen LaPointe ’77, M.B.A. ’84, Associate Director Samantha Griffin, Specialist Leslie Lowenstein, Web and Print Editor Mary Ann Mazzone, Office Assistant Esther Reynoso ’15, Executive Assistant Shannon Ryan ’14, Specialist Amy Simonini, Assistant Director Samantha Stevens, M.S. ’15, Sr. Specialist McKayla Stubbs ’16, Sr. Specialist Angela Surrusco ’18, Specialist Alumni Assoc. Daniel G. Lowney ’75, President Executive Board Thomas F. Shevlin ’68, President-Elect Susan R. Johnson ’82, Immediate Past President Colleen M. Gouveia Moulton, M.B.A. ’98, Vice President Richard G. Dunn ’89, Vice President Steven R. Frazier ’07, Treasurer Alumni Assoc. Christopher M. Abbate ’03 Councilors- Trudy C. Coleman ’86, M.S. ’92 at-Large Mackenzie K. DiVite ’12 Joseph J. Esposito ’13 James P. Ferrara ’89 Brian R. Hernandez ’15 Jordan D. Kanter ’99, M.S. ’00 Sulina M. Mohanty ’07 John J. Palumbo, Sr. ’76 Perry A. Raso ’02, M.S. ’06 Alumni Assoc. College Representatives: Arts and Sciences, Nancy J.S. Ferrara ’88, M.B.A. ’97 Business, Marianne Gattinella ’79 Alan Shawn Feinstein College of Education and Professional Studies, Kaitlin E. Donahue ’07 Engineering, Anthony J. Rafanelli ’78, M.S. ’85, Ph.D. ’95 Environment and Life Sciences, James D. Marques ’79, M.P.A. ’88 Health Sciences, Marcia A. Costello ’77 Nursing, Silifat “Laitan” Mustapha ’97 Graduate School of Oceanography, Veronica M. Berounsky Ph.D. ’90 Pharmacy, Ewa M. Dzwierzynski ’96 URI Foundation, Thomas M. Ryan '75 Student Senate, Adriana M. Widling ’19 Student Alumni Association, Michael R. O’Brien ’20
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NEWS&VIEWS
Maple Syrup’s Yum Factor Don’t add sweeteners to your diet, but if you already use them, consider this: Two College of Pharmacy researchers won a $470,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to continue to study maple’s anti-inflammatory power. They’re also looking at maple water, the latest trend to follow in coconut water’s footsteps.
Why Corn Syrup is Like Magma It’s not easy to simulate the flow of molten rock, but much-reviled corn syrup is helping researchers model the earth’s geological evolution. A professor and a graduate student are studying how it moves around models of tectonic plates based on mid-ocean ridges—complex structures computer models struggle to represent.
No Roadside Mow
Big Cuts, Big Gains
Roadside mowing is expensive and burns fossil fuels, but communities hesitate to stop because of fears that invasive species will proliferate. Not so, says a URI study; mowed and untended roadside ecosystems were similar in terms of native vs. invasive species.
URI endured cuts of more than 30 percent in state aid during the recent recession, not all of which has been restored, reports the national journal Inside Higher Ed. In spite of this, greater efficiencies, along with an overhaul of the general education curriculum, have helped the University create big gains in the number of students who finish their degree on time, along with other indices:
4.2
Digital Dog Nose Chemical engineering professor creates prototype to detect bombs It’s the size of a toolbox, and just as sturdy, with a handle so the lightweight device can be carried—quickly, if necessary— to different locations. If all goes as planned, “The Digital Dog Nose” created by Otto Gregory, chemical engineering professor at the University of Rhode Island, could soon be placed at subway stations, train stations, airports and ports to detect bombs. “We’re ready to get the word out,” says Gregory, whose work is funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “We’re trying to make life safer for people throughout the world.” Two years ago, Otto and his students created a sensor to detect explosives commonly used by terrorists. One of the explosives is triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, which was used by terrorists during the Paris and Brussels attacks several years ago.
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Terrorists use TATP because it is easy to make with chemicals that can be bought at pharmacies and hardware stores, attracting little attention from authorities. Only small amounts are needed to cause large explosions. The goal of Gregory’s research is to find a way to detect the explosives’ vapors before the bomb detonates, launching quick evacuations and saving lives. The device works continuously, unlike bomb-sniffing dogs that can get tired. During field trials, the prototype was able to detect explosives at very low concentrations, as low as one molecule of an explosive in a billion molecules of air. The next step is to make the prototype as small as a cell phone. The team is also reaching out to partners to market the product and to federal agencies involved with national security. •
average years to completion
87%
faculty with doctoral degrees
17:1
student to faculty ratio
70%
classes under 30 students
87
bachelor’s degree programs
65
nations represented on campus
23%
class of ’21 identifying as students of color
PHOTOS: RICHARD CLARK; KIM ROBERTSON; ISTOCKPHOTO.COM
Can Coral Reefs Adapt? What we know: climate change is collapsing coral reef ecosystems. Heat stress bleaches vulnerable coral species, turning once vibrant reefs white as colorful symbiotic algae flee their coral partners. An April study by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, published in Nature, reports that in 2016 alone, about 30 percent of the Great Barrier Reef ’s corals were lost. An ocean heat wave in 2017 did yet more damage. The reef, scientists say, has changed forever. Researchers like Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Hollie Putnam are hoping to understand the science underlying coral resilience in the face of climate change, and why some corals seem to persist while others die. In her lab at URI, Putnam and her students are examining “assisted evolution,” specifically a form of environmental hardening that focuses on acclimation across generations. “I’m asking questions like, do offspring perform better because of their parents’ history in certain conditions, and if so, what are the mechanisms driving that?” In a series of studies, Putnam exposed adult corals to increased temperature and acidification—both key products of climate change— and then exposed their offspring to the same near Seattle, and from Hawaii to French Polynesia, conditions. “We found that there is potential for she’s exploring epigenetics and other forms of rapid beneficial acclimatization,” she says. “There are adaptation that may help ecosystems respond to greater survivorship and growth rates if the climate change. One line of parents have been precondiinquiry focuses on West Coast tioned.” How are the corals geoduck clams, important doing it? The answer may lie marine calcifiers that seem to with the science of epigenetics, show more resilience if they’ve or changes in gene expression been previously exposed to and function that do not short periods of adverse condiinvolve changes in DNA. “I tions. Another project in like to give the example that Hawaii examines the influence DNA is like the alphabet and of the coral’s symbiotic algae some epigenetic marks are like and bacteria on epigenetics and punctuation,” Putnam says. each partner’s role in sensitivity “The gene expression—or to to increased temperature and follow the punctuation examacidification. ple, the meaning of the She recognizes the urgency genome—can change based on in her research: As questions epigenetic factors.” about adaptation get answered, It’s thought that epigenetic they will inform global conserexpression may be able to cause Assistant Professor of Biological vation efforts and policyhereditary changes in organSciences Hollie Putnam making. “The most urgent isms, even though DNA remains issue is that we reduce emissions,” she says. “But if unchanged, which is why Putnam’s research probes we can’t, then we need the science so that we can where in the coral genome the epigenetic changes make hard decisions about where best to focus take place and what this means for organism perforour limited resources for helping ecosystems mance within a generation and across generations. persist and adapt.” With four separate research grants taking Putnam from coral reefs in Bermuda to beaches PHOTOS: CAITLIN CREATIONS PHOTOGRAPHY; MEGAN LUBETKIN
Coral reefs are made up of dense colonies of tiny invertebrate animals that secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard outer skeleton. Many rely on colorful, symbiotic algae that live inside their tissues for energy and nutrients.
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The 185-foot Endeavor is scheduled for retirement in the next five years.
A Shared Endeavor The critical effort to keep ocean exploration alive at URI The University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography has created a consortium with two major institutions to operate the research vessel Endeavor for its final years and to jointly submit a proposal to operate a new ship, which would also be based at URI’s Narragansett Bay Campus. The National Science Foundation owns the Endeavor and will decide which institution gets its replacement. In forming the East Coast Oceanographic Consortium, URI—along with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts and the University of New Hampshire—is building on a history of cooperative research, and educational and outreach opportunities in ocean science and exploration. The three lead institutions are joined by 11 associate members: Bermuda Institute for Ocean Sciences; Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in Maine; Brown University; Columbia University; Harvard Univer12
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sity; Ocean Exploration Trust; University of Maine; University of Miami; University of Puerto Rico; the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth; and the University of Massachusetts, Boston. The National Science Foundation is planning a total of three new ships for the academic fleet. Not only will the new ships have better science labs and workspace, they will feature improved technologies and more comfortable berthing. A positioning system that enables ships to remain in one place for long periods will also distinguish them. It is expected to announce its decision this summer. The 185-foot Endeavor is scheduled for retirement in the next five years; the typical lifespan of a large research vessel is about 30 years, and the Endeavor has lasted more than four decades thanks to GSO’s careful vessel stewardship and maintenance. It carries a crew of 12 and up to 17 scientists, and
since its christening in 1976, has taken scientists, teachers and educators from URI and around the world on more than 600 expeditions throughout the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, to the Mediterranean and Black Seas, and even to the Arctic. “Endeavor has made important contributions to the state’s economy,” says GSO Dean Bruce Corliss, “and the work conducted aboard the ship has advanced our understanding of oceanographic processes. Our consortium will ensure that groundbreaking oceanographic research continues throughout the world.” “Together, URI, UNH and Woods Hole have accounted for more than a billion dollars in ocean science research funding over the past five years,” says GSO Director of Administration James Patti. “That record, combined with our extensive experience operating research vessels, is a cornerstone of URI’s proposal.” • PHOTO: ALEX DECICCIO/INNER SPACE CENTER
Dressing for the Revolution “Feminism and Fashion of the 20th Century: A Material Culture Study,” on view at Quinn Hall Textile Gallery through spring 2019, examines American women’s fashion as political statement. Miranda Dicenzo ’11, M.S. ’18, assembled the exhibit as part of her master’s thesis.
1 Swimsuit 6 Gowns 4 Pairs of
High Heels
(for evening gown, swimsuit, interview and opening number segments)
7 or 8 Bottled Waters It’s Just a Sparkly Hat How Miss Rhode Island North America Caitlin O’Neill ’18 gets runway ready Caitlin O’Neill heads to Florida to compete for the title of Miss North America on June 28. In preparation for the big day, she’s logged hundreds of hours house-cleaning in six-inch heels, worked out daily with former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo’s trainer, followed a strict plant-based diet, and gotten her eight hours of sleep nightly. O’Neill, who holds a B.A. in communication studies, has been competing in pageants since the age of 10. If she wins, this will be her first national title and her 14th crown. Winning a national pageant has been a goal from the get-go, O’Neill says, but she is pragmatic. “It’s not about being a certain weight or a certain height,” the Wrentham, Mass., native maintains. Rather, she says, it’s who impresses the judges the most that day. “I’ve learned to stay grounded and to set a goal for the weekend other than winning,” she says. “Whether I’m leaving with a crown or not, at the end of the day, it’s just a sparkly hat. But if I achieve the goal I set for myself, then I win in the end.” • PHOTOS: AYLA FOX; RED EYE PHOTOGRAPHY; ISTOCKPHOTO.COM
“Hydration is my secret to keeping energy up on pageant weekend!”
30 to 40 Makeup Products Snacks:
Anything you can eat quickly backstage. “Peanut butter is my favorite! Also apples, granola bars, rice cakes, mixed nuts.”
Professional Services:
“I have a makeup artist coming to do my hair and makeup for Miss North America, but for Miss Rhode Island I did my makeup by myself.”
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David Cox We know what we think of URI’s new head men’s basketball coach, the former school principal who served as associate head coach here for four years before taking over the program in April. But what do his friends say about him? BY SHANE DONALDSON
“Hey man,
let’s touch THE BIG WIN base tomorrow. I want to talk with you When it beat Oklahoma in the opening about Dave. I’m traveling right now, but round of the NCAA Championship, I want to be a part of this. I have much Rhode Island’s men’s basketball team love and respect for that man.” advanced to the Round of 32 for the The voice in the message belonged to second straight season. Former Head Mike Tomlin, the Super Bowl winning Coach Dan Hurley and the Rams won head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. 91 games over the last four seasons, One of the most respected men in the the most ever for URI in a four-year NFL, Tomlin was eager to be a part of span. The team also won its first Rhode Island’s big announcement of Atlantic 10 regular season title and set a David Cox as the University’s 20th men’s program record for most Atlantic 10 basketball coach. At a time when everyvictories in a season with 15. one in the NFL was hunkered down and preparing for the league’s draft, Tomlin was making time for his former classmate. pal at St. John’s College High School. When he made the leap into The evening after leaving his initial voicemail, Tomlin called again. After spending more than 12 hours in the Steelers’ war room college basketball 12 years ago, he spent time at Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Georgetown before coming to Rhode Island under Dan Hurley. going over draft prospects, he called to give us the lowdown on his “I’ve learned a lot in each stage,” Cox said. “The joy that I close friend from their days as student-athletes at the College of receive from both winning on the court and impacting a young William & Mary in Virginia. man’s life is incredible. The ups and downs on the court parallel life The two men were Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity brothers. Both and give great life lessons.” studied sociology and education, showing an appreciation for Coaches and educators have a lot in common, Tomlin says: teaching and thoughtful leadership that boded well for their later “Teaching is such an important element of coaching. You can’t coaching careers. connect with your players without the ability to establish personal “When I got there, Mike took me under his wing,” Cox says. relations, which is something Dave has always excelled at. He “He was older than me, and I saw the way he interacted with the has walked the walk of his players. He used basketball to earn an other men in our fraternity. He showed me what it meant to be education, and he understands the importance of the opportunity a leader.” presented to these young men.” Tomlin saw similar traits in his younger classmate: “It was Tomlin and Cox share some milestones, also. Tomlin is the first cool to have front row seats in the student section for his games,” Tomlin counters. “He was the smallest in stature as the point guard, African-American head coach in Pittsburgh’s franchise history. Cox is the third African-American head coach in Rhode Island’s but it was evident that he was the leader and floor general, an history, joining Claude English (1980-84) and Al Skinner extension of the coaching staff. I think about the way he was as (1988-97), who also both served as assistants before earning the a student-athlete, and it does not surprise me that he has earned head coach job. They’re both part of a trend in which men of this opportunity. As a frat brother and friend, it makes me proud color are getting the opportunity to lead programs. According to to see him achieve this dream.” basketball writer Adam Zagoria, Cox is one of 21 coaches of color Tomlin has enjoyed meteoric success. In 2009, at age 36, he to be hired by Division I programs this season. As of April 15, became the youngest coach in NFL history to win a Super Bowl that number accounted for 45 percent of the 47 total DI openings when the Steelers beat Arizona in Super Bowl XLIII. Cox’s coaching journey took a longer route. He worked for years in men’s basketball, a significant increase from the previous two years. • as an educator in Washington, D.C., serving as the assistant princi-
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PHOTOS: NORA LEWIS; TAYLOR ROSS
WHO ELSE WANTS TO CHIME IN ABOUT COX? The love fest continues. Dan Hurley, Head Coach, UConn: “Dave has been a big part of the success we had at Rhode Island from the day he arrived. He’s earned every opportunity that has come his way in coaching, especially this one. I am excited to watch the program continue to grow under his leadership.”
Troy Weaver, Assistant General Manager, Oklahoma City Thunder: “David is a great friend. We are from the same neighborhood, and he is someone who is admired by everyone who knows him because of his work ethic and because of who he is as a person. He is a caring man. And he’s put in the time and work to get here—there was never any golden parachute for him. He has earned it every step of the way.”
Jamie Dixon, Head Coach, Texas Tech: “At Pittsburgh, it was obvious that Dave had the character, work ethic and intelligence to be a great success in college coaching. All he needed was an opportunity and time to be a great Division I head coach.”
Bro. Thomas Gerrow, President, La Salle Academy: “I was president of St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C., Cox’s alma mater, where he served as assistant principal. His ability to gain the confidence and respect of everyone he encountered was truly amazing.”
UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 15
Indonesia Forward It’s a unique partnership: URI will send students and researchers to Indonesia this year, and the Southeast Asian country, which already counts URI grads among its top-ranking officials, will send government employees to Kingston. The nation of 18,000 islands, one of the world’s biggest economies, is also embarking on a dual-degree program with URI as it explores pressing issues around fisheries, marine affairs, and sustainable development, forging a path to a vibrant future—with URI helping light the way. WORDS BY TODD MCLEISH
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PHOTOS BY JESSICA VANDENBERG ’20
A BOAT WENDS through the waters surrounding dramatic, vegetationcovered limestone formations in Rammang Rammang, South Sulawesi, Indonesia.
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SUNSET OVER BIRA Beach, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. URI Ph.D. candidate Jessica Vandenberg, who studies communitysupported coral restoration projects, took this photo of a colleague, Marie Seraphim from the University of Western Scotland, in June 2017.
hen Brook Ross ’94 was growing up a stone’s throw from the Kingston campus in the 1970s, it wasn’t unusual for his family to host a group of URI students from Indonesia for holiday meals. His parents, Neil ’62, M.A. ’68 and Nancy Ross, worked for Rhode Island Sea Grant at the Bay Campus, and they collaborated with the University’s former International Center for Marine Resource Development to advise the government of Indonesia on fisheries and aquaculture development. Part of that relationship provided for Indonesian government officials to earn graduate degrees at URI, and some of those officials enjoyed annual Thanksgiving meals at the Ross residence. “Because I was around these internationals all the time and hearing stories about Indonesia at the dinner table—and because we actually lived there for a year, which was mind blowing—it inspired me to pursue a career in international development,” Brook says. He studied anthropology at URI, spent a year abroad studying and traveling in Indonesia, learned the language and culture, and even spent a month on a tiny Indonesian island where he was the only foreigner in residence. Later, while working as a banker in Rhode Island, he saw the devastation caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. He ended up returning to Indonesia to help rebuild the country’s infrastructure. “I worked in the disaster zone for three years, and it was life changing,” he says. “I started as a volunteer with Plan International, became their relief manager helping villages with emergency supplies and rebuilding schools and health centers, and then managed partnerships for the American Red Cross doing relief recovery and retraining.” The latter experience, plus a year working for the U.S. embassy in Indonesia, led Ross to start Indonesia Education Partnerships, a nonprofit consultancy that helps the Indonesian government establish partnerships with international universities to help move the country’s development agenda forward. The early success of his agency landed Ross on the doorstep of his alma mater. “Every time I came home for Christmas, I looked for someone at URI who might be interested in working with me,” he relates. “Eventually I ran into Nancy Stricklin at an international education conference, and I told her we have to talk.” UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 17
A JUNGLE GUIDE searches for the twofoot worms sometimes found in the epiphytic plants that grow on the trunks of trees in the Malino Highlands, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. DUCKS ENJOY a rare freshwater bath during the rainy season in South Sulawesi’s Pulau Badi, a town that relies on boats to bring in drinking water.
Talk they did. Stricklin ’76, M.A. ’95, URI’s assistant to the provost for global strategies, was interested in Ross’s proposals, and soon introduced him to URI President David Dooley, Provost Don DeHayes, and several deans and faculty members. Those conversations have led to the establishment of a comprehensive initiative in Indonesia that includes a planned dual-degree program, faculty-led classes abroad, Indonesian government officials enrolling at URI, and numerous research projects to support the country’s sustainable fisheries, coastal management, higher-education capacity building and economic development. Indonesia is the fourth most populous nation in the world, and has one of the world’s largest economies. Its 18,000 islands straddle the equator and span 3,000 miles. “It’s my conviction that Indonesia is now—and will be for the foreseeable future—one of the most important countries in Southeast Asia with regard to its economy, its influence in the region, and its aspirations to become a more prominent player on the global scene,” says Dooley, who has traveled to the country three times in the last two years. “That makes Indonesia an excellent arena for engagement by URI. It’s a place where we can make a significant impact.” Stricklin was hired to implement Dooley’s vision of expanding the University’s global presence by developing international partnerships. “URI already had partnerships abroad, but this was an opportunity to strategically explore a new region and build sustainable relationships with key Indonesian institutions,” she says. 18 QUADANGLES SUMMER 2018
“It’s my conviction that Indonesia is now—and will be for the foreseeable future—one of the most important countries in Southeast Asia with regard to its economy, its influence in the region, and its aspirations to become a more prominent player on the global scene.” —URI President David M. Dooley
A delegation from URI, led by Stricklin, DeHayes and John Kirby, dean of the College of the Environment and Life Sciences, traveled in 2013 to Indonesia, where Brook Ross introduced them to government officials, university leaders, and others seeking collaborations. Kirby was especially enthusiastic because much of the expertise the country needs—like fisheries, marine policy and sustainable development—could be provided by faculty in his college. It didn’t take long for budding relationships to mature into research partnerships, study abroad opportunities, and faculty exchanges. “Very quickly we’ve become one of the most prominent partner institutions in Indonesia,” Stricklin says.
An Exchange of Ideas
While Ross was introducing URI officials to Indonesian government officials, another Indonesian official was reintroducing himself to URI. Gellwynn Jusuf, M.S. ’90, Ph.D. ’97, until last year the secretarygeneral of the Indonesia Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF), earned graduate degrees in natural resource economics at URI soon after starting his career in fisheries management in the 1980s. He is one of many Indonesians who have studied at URI through the country’s Overseas Training Office program. When funding recently became available to send additional Indonesian government employees abroad to earn graduate degrees, Jusuf was in a position to encourage them to enroll at URI. “Those who studied at URI in the 1970s went on to hold strategic positions in the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries in the 1990s. And those who studied at URI in the 1980s and 1990s can now be found to occupy numerous positions in government, research and teaching,” says Jusuf, who now serves as executive secretary of the Indonesia Ministry for National Development Planning. “I feel confident that those studying there now will lead the MMAF institution in 10 or 20 years.” In the last four years, 21 ministry staff members have enrolled
at URI to earn graduate degrees in marine affairs, environmental science and management, ocean engineering, and oceanography. More are expected to enroll in the coming years to improve their skills in managing coral reefs, fisheries, aquaculture and sustainable development. Tono Amboro, M.S. ’18, for instance, worked as a fisheries manager in Indonesia when he enrolled in URI’s graduate program in environmental science and management in 2016. He says he hopes the degree will improve his expertise and expand his job opportunities back home. For his thesis, he is studying the life history of the tuna that live in the eastern Indian Ocean. “I hope this research will give me a better understanding of the species so we can create a better policy for managing the tuna fishery in Indonesia,” says Amboro, who will complete his degree later this year. “URI is well known in Indonesia as a good university to learn about fisheries.” Fery Sutyawan ’19, the assistant deputy director of fishing port management in Indonesia, decided to “start a new adventure” in 2015 by moving to Kingston to earn a doctorate in marine affairs. His research is an evaluation of the impact of several newly-authorized Indonesian fisheries policies and regulations, as well as stakeholders’ perceptions of those policies. UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 19
“I have enjoyed the URI facilities and the privileges I have to learn about U.S. marine fisheries management and other issues related to marine affairs,” he says. “But I’ve learned much more outside the campus, like the American way of thinking and culture, the advanced infrastructure and other advanced technologies, not only for scientific purposes but also for daily life.” While the students from Indonesia are expanding their horizons in Rhode Island, many URI students from the U.S. are doing the same in Indonesia. For the fifth year in a row, 15 students traveled to FISHING BOATS off Bali in January to study Indonesian culture, biodiverBontosua Island in sity and geology in a J-term course called Balinese Indonesia’s Spermonde Clean Water, Sustainable Fishing Archipelago deploy Temples, Komodo Dragons and Liquid Hot Magma. These exchange opportunities have provided seine nets during a (A similar trip for alumni is being offered for the first tremendous learning experiences for URI’s rare calm in the often time this summer.) Another class studied health care American and Indonesian students, but it may stormy rainy season. in the island nation. be URI’s faculty who are having the greatest BEACH BUNGALOWS “I loved that this trip helped me gain exposure immediate impact. at a tourist developto a new culture, a change in perspective, and a ment at Bira Beach in More than a dozen faculty from the College of heightened respect for the world as a whole,” says South Sulawesi during the Environment and Life Sciences have spent time Lesley Howard ’18, a double-major in wildlife biology Eid al-Fitr, an Islamic in Indonesia in recent years, sharing their expertise and animal science. “Every single part of the trip was holiday that marks in a wide variety of settings. Some have led workthe end of Ramadan, inspiring.” shops or spoken at symposiums to provide guidance June 2017. After exploring the crater of an active volcano, foland insights to Indonesian faculty and students. lowing rare birds through the rainforest, and waking Others have taught scientific writing workshops or up on a houseboat amid gorgeous tropical islands, summer school classes to graduate students as part of an Indonesian Howard said the experience provided “a deeper meaning” plan to expose its students to scientific concepts in English. than she imagined it would. “I learned that I have a love Hydrology Professor Thomas Boving is collaborating with two for travel, and it solidified my decision to pursue a Indonesian universities to promote unique technologies aimed career in wildlife research in the future.” at cleaning up local waterways and encouraging the recycling of garbage. He is advising Indonesian students on the construction of artificial “floating wetlands” that are planted with native vegetation to absorb nutrients, filter out particulates, and attract contaminants. “The mayor of Banjarmasin wants the city to become greener, and part of his strategy is to address uncontrolled sewage using our floating wetlands in the main channel through town,” Boving explains. “He has offered us a mile-long stretch of the canal to show how it works.” Boving is also demonstrating an inexpensive riverbank filtration system that will clean polluted drinking water in rural communities. Assistant Professor of Fisheries Austin Humphries says food security is a serious concern in Indonesia, where delicate coral reef ecosystems provide fish and livelihood for over three million fishermen. Catches are declining as many fisheries are overexploited.
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So he is identifying fishery management strategies that maintain and protect the ecosystem while also ensuring that fish are available for consumption. “A large proportion of Indonesian communities are dependent on coral reefs for food,” Humphries explains. “As these fisheries are feeling the heat from global stressors like coral bleaching, declines in fish catch are a major issue for subsistence and food security. Creating holistic evaluations of new and existing fishery management schemes is becoming more and more important to ensure sustainability over the long-term.” A coral reef restoration project is the focus of research by Assistant Professor of Marine Affairs Amelia Moore, whose work focuses on sustainability on small island communities. She is monitoring the restoration project’s impact on an island community in Indonesia’s Spermonde Archipelago. “The tendency is to think that small island communities are homogenous and simple, and they are anything but,” says Moore, who is working with several other researchers at URI and at Indonesia’s Hasanuddin University. “We’re trying to understand how external interventions like this can get entangled in community dynamics and relationships. Interventions are never as simple as you think they’re going to be, and they have consequences you can’t necessarily predict.” Professor Michael Rice’s work in Indonesia started long before the recent initiative began, but it has taken on new life as a result of the recent efforts. An expert on aquaculture, he is training public officials and university extension agents in the province of Papua about the environmental effects of raising fish in cages in local lakes, reservoirs and coastal waters and how best to administer aquaculture permits. “They know that they have a pristine fishery, and the fish they’re catching are very abundant, but they don’t want to make the same mistakes that have been made in more populated areas of the country,” Rice says. “They want us to help them set it up correctly from the beginning.”
Partners in Education
The program that launched URI’s relationship with Indonesia back in the 1970s continued off and on into the 2000s through URI’s Coastal Resources Center. Senior Coastal Resources Manager Brian Crawford, M.A. ’86, Ph.D. ’09, lived in North Sulawesi Province in 1997 and 1998, piloting new approaches to coastal resources management, establishing community-based marine protected areas, and creating a network of more than a dozen coastal universities. “I was twice evacuated—after the rioting that led to President Suharto’s downfall and again after the Bali bombings—but we
persevered through the turmoil and did some groundbreaking work,” Crawford says. The new initiative may prove to be even more impactful, with partnerships already established at 12 universities in Indonesia. At one of them, Bogor Agricultural University, a dual-degree program is under review in which graduate students will complete half of their requirements at URI and half at Bogor. The success of URI’s initial environmental projects in Indonesia has inspired faculty in other disciplines at the University to get involved. The deans of the colleges of Pharmacy, Nursing, Health Sciences and Engineering have traveled to Indonesia to investigate new opportunities, and two professors from the School of Education spent a week in Aceh province in 2017 developing a teacher training program designed to improve vocational education in the region. With so many URI graduates residing in Indonesia now, many visits by University administrators have included alumni reunions that have been well attended, especially considering the size of the country and the distance many must travel. The most recent reunion was held at the home of the U.S. ambassador, who was amazed at how many people in the country had affiliations with the University. “Our alumni have been critical in helping us develop these programs by introducing us to key players in higher education and government ministries,” says President Dooley. “They’ve been thrilled that we’re now coming to their country regularly and becoming engaged in their work.” Dooley hopes to continue to grow the initiative by developing relationships with other government ministries and provincial governments that could send staff to URI for graduate degrees, which will likely lead to additional research and outreach opportunities for faculty and students. He is also assessing similar opportunities in other countries in Southeast Asia, perhaps in Malaysia, Vietnam or Nepal. New partnerships are being established in Ghana and Cuba as well. “This is an exciting time for developing nations like Indonesia,” observes Ross. “By connecting them to education specialists in almost any field, they can access the best practices to fund their own development. They need URI’s expertise so they can then go home and lead these efforts themselves.” “We’re also creating opportunities for our students to be globally engaged with cultures, peoples, viewpoints, perspectives and politics that are very different from what they might encounter in North America or Europe,” adds Dooley. “It’s a positive dynamic for everyone involved. We’re expanding horizons, growing our global footprint, and solving challenging problems all at the same time.” • UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 21
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Nancy Forster-Holt, assistant professor in the College of Business and Spachman Professor of Entrepreneurship, counsels business owners on their exit strategies.
How to Succeed in Business
Without Really Stressing Our eight-part guide to improving your work life, from work-life balance to embracing doubt, taking care of your soul, and—just maybe—letting yourself cry in front of coworkers. BY MARYBETH REILLY-MCGREEN
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Barbara Silver, assistant research professor of psychology and research coordinator at the Schmidt Labor Research Center, says that by 2020 up to 40 percent of American workers could be part of a gig economy.
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Silvia Dorado-Banacloche, associate professor of management and board member of DePaul Industries, argues that companies with a social mission are far more likely to retain workers.
That coworker. You know the one. The one who is completely, totally dedicated to her job 24/7, 365 days a year. The one who is never late, who never misses a deadline. She arrives before you, leaves after, and never, ever takes lunch. Family crises don’t seem to happen to her. It appears she exists only to do her job. And then there’s you. You arrive late to work on the day of your big presentation. In your rush to get to the office, you spill coffee on yourself and step into a sizeable puddle in the parking lot. Your hair is a wet mess because wind gusts upended your umbrella. And you’re just through the door when your phone rings. It’s the school nurse: Your son just threw up. You hang up, your own stomach churning at the thought of telling your boss that you need to leave, and at the worry that your perfect coworker will advance as you fall further behind.
PHOTOS: NORA LEWIS
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ne-third of your life is spent at work. How you manage it can be vital to a happy and productive existence. To that end, we’ve surveyed a number of experts in the College of Business and asked that they apply their years of research and scholarship to the science of how to work happily for a living. The good news? Being smart about your career choices is far more important than being perfect—and may save you a world of stress.
It’s the school nurse: Your son just threw up. UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 23
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2. Flexibility: Find a workplace that values it.
1. Meaning: Seek it.
A major snack food company employed people in packaging chips just Monday through Wednesday. The hours weren’t palatable to people seeking full-time employment. The work was as meaningless, thankless, boring, and inflexible as it gets. How, then, did its employees find not only meaning but joy in their work? Silvia Dorado-Banacloche, associate professor of management and board member of DePaul Industries, a social enterprise developed to generate employment for individuals with disabilities, uses this example to illustrate the power of meaningful work. In the case of the snack food company, the packaging line supervisor began employing disabled persons and, in doing so, changed the company culture. He was employing people who would otherwise not have found work, paying them at least minimum wage, and, in doing so, made his work and their lives more meaningful. “It was a win for both the line worker and the supervisor,” Dorado-Banacloche says. The strategy also resulted in a high employee retention rate for the company, a boon for any enterprise. The snack food company’s success is not an anomaly. Dorado-Banacloche notes that companies with a social mission, such as Warby Parker, Toms, and Bombas— manufacturers of eyeglasses, shoes, and socks, respectively—reap significant benefits for their altruism, including low employee turnover. In the case of those three companies, all have one-for-one policies: for every item they sell, they give an item away to people in need. This is powerfully attractive to many workers. If a company has a social mission and offers competitive wages, workers will happily stay put, DoradoBanacloche says. 24
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In 1982, Helen Mederer, a then-Ph.D. candidate in sociology at the University of Minnesota, was a day away from defending her dissertation when she went into labor and gave birth to a son. She found herself with an infant and no support system at work. Suddenly, her study of the integration of work and family went from the theoretical to the empirical. Thirty-six years later, Mederer has made a career of studying the dynamics and issues facing workers with families. She and Barbara Silver, assistant research professor of psychology and research coordinator at the Schmidt Labor Research Center, have been collaborating on work-life issues for 14 years and co-chair the URI Work-Life Committee. They met through URI’s Advance Program, a program dedicated to advancing female faculty in the STEM disciplines, funded by the National Science Foundation. Silver and Mederer, a professor of sociology in the College of Arts
place? It’s all about flexibility. Mederer and Silver contend flexibility is a recruitment and retention tool that can yield greater job satisfaction, retention, and productivity for businesses that embrace it. Flexibility, though, is not usually a privilege afforded to hourly or part-time workers. And it’s not a given in the professional world either. At many American workplaces, work policies are holdovers from the 1950s and ’60s and are ill-equipped to address issues facing 21st-century families. School still lets out at 3 p.m., despite the workday lasting till 5 p.m., Silver observes. “We have families as a social institution, and they’re tasked with raising the next generation for free. Families are a bargain,” Mederer says. “But society prioritizes work over family when both are essential. We’re at our own peril if we don’t balance work and family.” Further complicating matters: America’s move toward a gig economy and the inherent financial instability even a steady stream of short-term contracts and freelance work imposes on the 21st-century
and Sciences, recently completed a study of Rhode Island’s Temporary Caregiver Insurance program. Rhode Island was the third state in the country to offer this type of paid family leave and is now a model for other states as they develop similar programs. The Work-Life Committee has implemented family-friendly benefits for URI employees, such as paid family leave, a lactation policy, dual-career policy and assistance, and a travel fund to support caregiving for faculty and staff when work requires they travel. In 2005, they were instrumental in helping pass a paid parental leave policy, and recently have also been overseeing a pilot program to provide child-care subsidies for undergraduate students who are parents. So, what has their extensive experience taught them about happiness in the work-
family. By 2020, Silver says, up to 40 percent of American workers may be independent contractors, freelancers and other gig workers. America is trending toward a preindustrial work model in a post-industrial age, Mederer warns. “Professionals in a gig economy have to work harder than ever and build skills continuously. They have to self-educate. Autonomy and control come with uncertainty, which places strain on the family,” Silver says. “People float from job to job, and their commitment is to developing and maintaining a set of skills rather than loyalty to an employer,” Mederer adds. The answer: Social policies that recognize the demands life places on workers. These will result in greater worker satisfaction, which, in turn, will improve retention rates and productivity, the two say.
“Society prioritizes work over family when both are essential. We’re at our own peril if we don’t balance work and family.”
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3. Balance: Strive for it.
In 2014, Amanda Moss-Cowan, assistant professor of management in the College of Business and a research associate at Saïd Business School, Oxford University, UK, helped conduct the largest qualitative study of CEOs on record: “The CEO report: Embracing the paradoxes of leadership and the power of doubt.” The business school partnered with executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles to interview more than 150 CEOs from across the globe on leadership in the digital age, addressing how connectivity, change, and stakeholders’ interests influenced CEO’s corporate stewardship. They didn’t ask about balance. The CEOs brought it up anyway. CEOs see themselves as chief communicators striving to strike a balance between authenticity and adaptability, Moss-Cowan says. Balance is a difficult thing for CEOs who are charged with being both a steady, guiding light and a force for change. “And you can’t be steady and mobile at the same time,” Moss-Cowan points out. Balance—for themselves, and for their workers—is not an issue CEOs can ignore. A January 2018 Inc.com article titled “This is Why Millennials Care So Much About Work-Life Balance” claims millennials place work-life balance above meaningful work and opportunities for advancement in making career choices. Add to that a 2016 Deloitte Millennial Survey, “Winning Over the Next Generation of Leaders,” which found that only 16 percent of millennials expect to be working for the same employer a decade from now. Given that millennials represent the largest cohort in the workforce, this is problematic for American companies. Moss-Cowan sees the potential crisis extending even as far as the CEO pipeline in the not-so-distant future, as there are not as many upper-middle management people (vice-president types) ready to step into higher-level management positions if they must sacrifice a personal life in the process. “People want to go home at 5 p.m. on a Friday. They want to have a life,” Moss-Cowan says. And what is true of CEOs is also true of the rank-and-file, Mederer and Silver say. Women want to work. And men want more balance. “Men report more conflict than women do in balancing work and family,” Mederer says. “Men are discriminated against because they’re expected to be the ideal worker. Women are discriminated against because they can’t be.” PHOTOS: AYLA FOX ’11; NORA LEWIS
4 Amanda Moss-Cowan, assistant professor of management in the College of Business, helped conduct the largest qualitative study of CEOs ever.
4. Mentors and Sponsors: Get some.
If your intended career trajectory ends with the title of CEO after your name, finding people inclined to help you ascend is critical. But the path differs for men and women. Typically a man will have a sponsor, a higher-up intent on pulling the younger man along. Women tend to be mentored or placed in networks and subject to leadership training. It is inequitable, unfair, and sexist. But that’s the way it is, Moss-Cowan says. Women must find networks that support skills-building. Men often skip this step. Business still perceives women as lacking the skills to be a CEO—as do some women. “Women should not try to be so perfect,” Moss-Cowan says. “They should put themselves forward for the reach job.” Men feel capable of doing a job even when their experience fails to satisfy all criteria, while women feel they need to check all the boxes to be qualified. They respond with, “I can do 99.9 percent of the job, so maybe you should hire me,” she adds. Moss-Cowan sees this attitude changing in her classroom, however. She feels optimistic that younger women will have fewer struggles in the business world than their predecessors did. Moss-Cowan herself went back to school mid-career. In comparing her experience as a student to that of the students she teaches, she finds the classroom is now a far more egalitarian place than it was then. Men and women readily and easily relate to one another as equals, and the ratio of men to women in her classes is more balanced. In the College of Business, onethird of the students are women. Sociology Professor Helen Mederer says a flexible workplace can yield greater job satisfaction, retention, and productivity for businesses that embrace it.
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57 5. Humanity: Show some.
After the birth of his second child, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made headlines when he opted to take paternity leave. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg leaves work every day at 5:30 p.m. to have dinner with her children. Clif Bar CEO Kevin Cleary coaches his kids’ sports teams. And Christi Shaw, now senior vice president of Eli Lilly and Company, quit her job as U.S. president of Novartis Corporation in 2016 in order to care for her terminally ill sister. Such demonstrations of humanity bode well for employees. Moss-Cowan recounts a story of one newly minted CEO who won over his employees with a similar show of humanity. The man had to travel to China for a company meeting. He gave his talk and then let people know he was not going to stay for the rest of the event. “He told everyone he was leaving because he’d promised to be there for his daughter’s driving test,” she says. “His inbox was flooded with emails saying, ‘Thank you so much for doing that.’ He had made his employees much happier.”
6. Doubt: Make like a CEO and use it.
A full 71 percent of CEOs interviewed by Moss-Cowan reported they doubted themselves at times. This revelation led to one of their survey’s key insights: “Doubt should be embraced and utilized, not feared.” This was surprising, as doubt requires a vulnerability not common to the role, MossCowan says. CEO jobs tend to be filled by COOs or CFOs; the position of CEO, though, requires an emotional intelligence not as necessary in the other two roles, Moss-Cowan argues. Further complicating matters is the fact that CEOs’ ideas don’t necessarily get the vetting they would if put forth by a lowerlevel employee. After experiencing failure, one European CEO put together a devil’s advocate team whose sole charge was to question his ideas. Smart decision, Moss-Cowan says. After all, she adds, a certain level of professional doubt makes you sharper and capable of better decisions in the face of uncertainty. One CEO made a habit of reading news he had no interest in for 30 minutes a day to broaden his knowledge. Simply put: Learning lowers risk. “Chasing certainty is futile,” Moss-Cowan says. “Doubt encourages diversity of thought. When people are too fearless and haven’t done their homework, that is when things go wrong.”
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7. Crying: Go ahead. Maybe. Depends.
Emilija Djurdjevic, assistant professor in the College of Business, recently began studying crying at work. More specifically, she examines crying as a form of emotional expression, because crying may be driven by different emotions or used as a means to accomplish some goal. In popular media, crying at work is alternately cast as the expression of the authentic you or an almost certain careerender. What is not in doubt is that it makes the beholder uncomfortable, maybe even more so than if you demonstrated frustration, anger, disappointment, or sadness. It can lead to undesirable labels such as weak, needy, unprofessional, ashamed, unqualified, or manipulative. Despite all of the disruption it causes, crying at work is not uncommon. Bloomberg.com reported that one study of 13,000 workers found that 10 percent of them had cried on the job. And, like doubt, crying can be positively received. It can humanize a leader, for instance. George W. Bush’s weeping at a Medal of Honor ceremony for Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham in 2007 and Barack Obama’s tears at his 2012 press conference after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings were generally viewed as responses appropriate to the occasions. Still, not a lot of research exists on the topic of crying at work, which is complicated by the many possible motivations of the crier and the reception it receives by observers, Djurdjevic says. Gender further compounds the issue. For example, while recent research suggests judgments of workplace crying differ depending on the gender of the crier, we do not know how other factors affect outcomes, Djurdjevic says. To address some of these issues, Djurdjevic and her colleagues are examining how aspects of crying—for example, whether the person is sobbing or merely teary-eyed—influence these outcomes. Of one thing Djurdjevic is certain: “If you feel comfortable enough in the workplace to express genuine emotion at work, then you are in a fairly supportive workplace.”
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Emilija Djurdjevic, assistant professor in the College of Business, says if you feel comfortable crying at work, you’re likely in a supportive workplace.
Bloomberg.com
reported that one study of 13,000 workers found that 10 percent of them
cried had on the
job.
8. Exiting: Plan for it. Early.
Nancy Forster-Holt, assistant professor and Spachman Professor of Entrepreneurship in the College of Business, counsels business owners to develop an exit plan well in advance of retirement. The former CFO of Maine’s second-largest credit union, she is co-owner of Shaw and Tenney, manufacturer of wooden oars, paddles, and other marine products. In her TEDxURI talk “ENDrepreneurs and the Future of Small Businesses,” she notes that for entrepreneurs, their business is not just their job, it’s also their retirement plan—and to put off retirement planning is to place yourself in a state of income and wealth vulnerability.
PHOTO: AYLA FOX ’11
Approximately 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 every day in the United States, and 51 percent of all small, privately owned businesses are owned by someone over the age of 50, Forster-Holt adds. Entrepreneurs will all become “ENDrepreneurs, planning for the end,” she observes. She advises business owners to think about an exit plan while there’s still time for decisions and advice. “I know, I know, it’s kind of icky. It’s like asking the newly married couple, ‘When’s the divorce?’ But this is a commitment for better or worse,” she says. “ENDrepreneurship is small business strategy plus retirement planning. Small-firm finance and personal financial literacy—all of that can be taught and learned.”•
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Actor and philosophy major Charlie Santos ’18 received a 2015 Metcalf Award from the Rhode Island Foundation to study improv at the Loose Moose Theatre in Alberta. This photo was taken at Wakefield, R.I.’s Contemporary Theater Company, where he performs improv. 28 QUADANGLES SUMMER 2018
y d e m
does s u o ri as se yang. n o m com comedy’s n i ch o s mu the yin t a g in y , hav y is reall s e t i s oppo hilosoph r a e app , that p y e h ly, t , though b i s n ste osit p O s : s n ian dia med er-come o c comedy are the odd couple: seeming and losoph s r opposites that, really, have the important e oph RI’s phi s N o stuff in common. URI alums, students, E l i E R Ph illy. U MCG professors, and practitioners see the two as Y s L and philosophy. In classic improv fashion, with BETH REIL approaches to the same goal: To get to the BY M
A RY
To explore the many intersections between comedy and philosophy, let’s start with improv, a form of on-the-spot comedy that often involves competition. One such contest is The Hat Game, in which a maestro will set the scene—perhaps a train station waiting room—and assign a character to each actor. The actors then face off, trying to remove each other’s hats while staying in character. Lose your hat, and you’re out. Sound simple? It’s anything but. The Hat Game, in fact, is one helluva hat trick—in philosophical terms, it’s an act of metacognition, or thinking about thinking. The winner must be both in the moment, playing out the scene, and strategizing for the future: the taking of an opponent’s hat. All the while being funny, of course. And, remember, improv is an act of invention. There is no script. In essence, players must manage multiple trains of thought simultaneously. Improv actor and philosophy major Charlie Santos ’18 brings up The Hat Game as he considers the question of what connection there might be between comedy PHOTO: AYLA FOX ’11
his musings take the form of a story: A year ago, he found himself sitting in a darkened theater watching three fellow improv actors play The Hat Game. There were three finalists in the competition: two tallish local actors and an out-of-towner, a petite woman named Haniko. Her lack of height put her at a distinct disadvantage. Or so it would seem. “And she takes one of their hats and the crowd is like, ‘Whoa, the underdog!’ All of a sudden the audience is embracing the newcomer who has emasculated a seasoned performer,” Santos recalls. As the final showdown approached, the ousted actor unabashedly rallied support for his fellow local boy. The scene felt raucous, more boxing match than theatrical competition. Then the director upped the ante, placing Haniko and the remaining man in a hula-hoop. “The scene begins, she takes the other guy’s hat, and the entire roomful of people stands and cheers!” Santos says, grinning broadly at the memory. To a philosopher and comedic actor, this is a superhero’s power. The difference between philosophy and comedy? Santos closes with a joke: “Well, I definitely see the ways in which philosophy inhibits me.” On close inspection, philosophy and
central truths of what it is to be human.
I think; therefore, I am single Hannah Travaglini ’13 believes great comedy comes of finding common ground with the audience. She performs her standup in Philadelphia under the stage name Hannah Trav. “I write about my life—what’s funny and relatable. I write about relationships. I’ve done stand-up long enough that I have multiple ex-boyfriends that I can talk about. It’s ‘I think; therefore, I am single.’ That type of thing,” she says. A recent bit recounted Trav being ghosted by a guy with whom she had a romantic fling. “Comedy, for me, feels like a new relationship,” Travaglini quips. “Because I’m always killing it.” Her interest in comedy came before philosophy, Travaglini says; though to hear her tell it is to think it’s almost a chickenor-the-egg type thing. She describes herself as an “old soul philosopher type of kid” who studied improv. She gravitated to sad stories, in part because they led to wry observations. “Dark things led me to comedy,” she observes. Philosophy and comedy are alike in that they both involve premises, she posits. “Punch lines are like conclusions,” she says, UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 29
After early success as a comedian, Bill Horrigan ’08 went on to get a law degree.
“although, conclusions are not as satisfying as a big laugh.” A double major in art and philosophy who graduated summa cum laude, she is considering offers of admission to Temple and Villanova universities’ law schools. Philosopher-turned-comicturned-lawyer—it’s quite a path. “All three disciplines involve solving problems using logic,” she says. “And I’m a problem-solver; that’s my strength.” Thrown to the wolves Bill Horrigan ’08 left URI with a B.A. in philosophy and the title of America’s funniest college student. In his senior year, he’d won the American Eagle Campus Comedy Challenge, beating out aspiring comics from 12 other campuses across the Northeast. At the time of his coronation, the king of campus comedy had been on stage only twice: to audition and to win the competition. It would’ve been a happy ending had it ended there. Horrigan’s prize was to open for a professional stand-up comic at a spring break event in Mexico hosted by American Eagle. The problem was the comedy show followed a rowdy wet T-shirt contest. Horrigan’s jokes failed. “I was thrown to the wolves! The pain of the situation: I carry that with me every day. Everything else in life is relative to that moment,” Horrigan says. “I can laugh about it now. I can look back and say, ‘God, that was bad.’” 30
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The Way I Remember It, a show by Hannah Travaglini ’13, played at the Philly Improv Theater in Philadelphia this winter.
Horrigan’s story highlights another point at which philosophy and comedy converge: pain. Comedy delves into the uncomfortable; it tackles taboos, Horrigan points out. There’s a burden and a heaviness that can come of abstract thought, and comedy alleviates those feelings. In other words, acute perception can hurt acutely—and be funny. A lawyer who works as a contract manager in federal acquisitions for the United States Air Force, Horrigan, too, sees the connections among disciplines. There’s a structure to a case, and there’s a structure to a joke, he says. The end game is the same: “It’s knowing the reaction you’re supposed to get, and crafting your argument and answer to elicit it.” Just over a year ago, Horrigan returned to the stage, doing a bit of improv at a local bar. He plans to do it again. Like Travaglini, Horrigan draws upon general human experience—“the problems of being a person”—
memories of law school are not about getting the answer right. My greatest accomplishment was making the entire lecture hall laugh for a minute.”
to connect with an audience, whether that audience is a living room full of friends or a bar full of strangers. “Humor and deep thinking are doing the same thing: observing, analyzing, and coming up with answers,” he says. “My best
comedy writer. A year after leaving school, though, Reed missed doing philosophy and returned to earn a master’s and a Ph.D. Now he teaches ethics and ancient philosophy and is partial to Aristotle’s theory of humor: “Humor is to be found in the unex-
What it is to be human Douglass Reed ’04, assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy, studied humor and philosophy for his senior project. It was then, he says, that he realized that the skills honed in philosophy could be applied to humor. If psychology seeks to explain what makes people laugh, philosophy addresses a more fundamental question: What is humor? While an undergraduate, Reed and a friend hosted a radio show on WRIU called “The Saturday Morning Show.” It started at noon and ran till 2 p.m. (yup, the afternoon). The format: skits, music, and humor. They were just doing what they’d be doing if they were hanging out, Reed says. At the time, he imagined being a television
“Humor is to be found in the unexpected comparison.”
PHOTOS: AYLA FOX ’11; DOM CASSEDY/LITTLEOUTDOORGIANTS; CONOR ROTHSTEIN
Douglass Reed ‘04, assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy, studied humor and philosophy for his senior project.
pected comparison.” In other words, Reed says, one way in which philosophically minded people explore the world is by bringing disparate things together—and in these juxtapositions, humor often lies. To Aristotle’s way of thinking, “The true test of intelligence was the ability to make people laugh.” What underlies all this, Reed says, “is a deep curiosity about what it is to be human.” The particle physics of performing Rachel Walshe ’00, a lecturer in honors and theater and member of the philosophy department, argues that stand-up’s qualities—it’s difficult, direct, subversive and truthful—make it akin to the “particle physics of performing.” Those are qualities PHOTOS: AYLA FOX ’11, NORA LEWIS
she wants to pass on to her students, so she uses stand-up in her ethics classes. “It’s the most progressive art form of the 21st century,” she says. “The audience has the experience of wanting to be provoked, secretly loving that someone will do that. Oscar Wilde wrote dark, hysterical comedies that poked fun at the people watching his plays. And what does a Ricky Gervais do? He dresses down and eviscerates the celebrity class as he’s performing for them. With a great stand-up comedian, you’re under fire.” This winter, Walshe directed the URI Theatre Department’s production of William Shakespeare’s “Measure For Measure,” alternatively called a comedy, a tragedy, a tragicomedy, a satire, and an allegory by critics. Like the 2017 Oscar
Rachel Walshe ’00 majored in the philosophy of religions, a self-designed course of study, before heading to Oxford University to study dramatic literature and theater history as URI’s first Rhodes Scholar.
Award-winning movie “Get Out,” it defies easy categorization as it simultaneously exposes hypocrisy and raises questions about morality—while being darkly funny. And in a culture held hostage to political correctness and fake news, comedy that provokes is essential, Walshe says. It removes the gauzy-lensed filter through which we would prefer to view life and forces us to confront truth. “Comedy cracks open—with a sledgehammer—our pearl-clutching response to the world,” Walshe says. Mic drop. • UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 31
CLASSACTS Gerald McCarthy ’57 shared this photo of the new WWII Monument in Nierstein, Germany.
Gen. George S. Patton on the bridge at Nierstein.
Nierstein Mayor Thomas Gunther pins Visiting Dignitary Pin on Gerald McCarthy ’57.
’57
STAYED CONNECTED
URI Alumni Association @URIAlumniAssoc | #URIAlum flickr.com/urialumni URI Alumni Association alumni.uri.edu
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Gerald “Gerry” McCarthy, president of the 249th Engineer Battalion Association, traveled to Germany for the late March dedication of the WWII 249th Combat Battalion Commemorative Monument at Nierstein on the Rhine. McCarthy, a Narragansett resident who is coordinator of the New England Transportation Consortium in North Dartmouth, Mass., shared the association’s newsletter detailing how the monument commemorates an extraordinary and decisive moment in Word War II. The 249th constructed, in only 18 hours and under combat conditions, a 1,234foot floating bridge that Patton and his U.S. 3rd Army used for a nighttime crossing, allowing them to infiltrate the German heartland and help bring an end to the war. McCarthy served within Germany and France during the Cold War in a batallion with roots tracing back to the 249th, and says: “It was a great honor for me to have had the
opportunity to play a role in the building of the monument and participate in the dedication ceremony with [my wife] Jane and our granddaughters present.” The granite and bronze monument now stands proudly beside the Rhine. (See photos, above)
’66
Kenneth N. Geiersbach, M.A.L.S., was re-elected on Town Meeting Day to the Board of Trustees of Lanpher Memorial Library in Hyde Park, Vermont, for another five-year term. Gail Logan, M.A. ’68, writes of her latest book: “The Serpent’s Last Secret ends the trilogy that began with my other two novels, The Sundisk and Time is of the Essence. I am an award-winning poet and I competed against over 11,000 other contestants for World Poetry Movement’s Best Poet of 2012 gold medal award for my poem “The Mourning Dove.” I also am the author of A Matter of Loyalty, a novel about post-revolutionary Russia.”
’69
Bill Simonson writes: “Hold the dates of May 17-19, 2019, for our 50th reunion, which will be a fantastic event!” Classmates are encouraged to join the Class of 1969 Reunion Planning Committee. If you are interested in joining the committee, please contact McKayla Stubbs ’16 at mckayla_stubbs@uri. edu or 401-874-5573 or Bill Simonson at wsimonsonpharmd@ gmail.com. Committee meetings are held at the Alumni Center and by phone for those who aren’t able to attend in-person.
’70
Larry Grimaldi has published his second book, Cooking with Mammie, co-authored with his wife Kathy. The book contains more than 40 recipes and color photographs of family recipes prepared by Kathy and Larry with their 14-year-old twin granddaughters Kailyn and Sophia,
PHOTOS: COURTESY GERALD MCCARTHY
KEEP US UP TO DATE ON YOUR NEWS! Submit your class note at alumni.uri.edu/note
News from the Alumni Association
Your Alumni Association Executive Board recently voted to transition from a dues-paying membership program to an inclusive model without dues for all URI alumni. This change will allow us to better serve our global community of more than 125,000, providing additional opportunities for even more alumni engagement and support of our alma mater.
and eight-year-old grandson, Nicholas. For more information, go to stillwaterpress.com.
’71
Paul Shawver writes, “Local R.I. connection to Black Panther movie: Our son Michael P. Shawver of North Providence is the lead editor of the movie, which came out in R.I. on February 16. This is the fourth time he has collaborated as lead editor with director/writer Ryan Coogler. The first was the short film “Fig,” which won the American Black Film festival. The second was “Fruitvale Station,” which won both major awards at the Sundance Film Festival. The third was “Creed,” which was a critical and box office success. In January he finished editing the anxiously anticipated blockbuster “Black Panther.” Michael and Ryan Coogler were graduate school classmates at the University of Southern California School of the Cinematic Arts. Michael got tickets for us (including my wife Barbara
The Alumni Association will continue to offer a variety of valuable programs, events, services, and benefits that our members have come to expect. In making this change, we look forward to your increased engagement—by participating in events, supporting current students with a gift, and connecting to the ideas, achievements, and research of the University. Visit our website and watch for our newsletters and announcements to learn more. On behalf of the Executive Board and the Alumni Association staff I'd like to thank all alumni for your continued support of URI. You are the fabric of our wonderful community, and we appreciate everything you do to keep the Rhody spirit strong! With best regards,
Daniel G. Lowney ’75 Executive Board President URI Alumni Association
UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 33
Brian Skeels, M.S. ’79, was honored by the Offshore Technology Conference.
John DiCecco ’04, full-time engineer at Naval Undersea Warfare Center and part-time faculty member at URI.
Edward Balkovic ’74 was honored by the Parenteral Drug Association.
Jennifer Chasse ’04 and Troy Chasse ’06 on a family trip to Kingston in February 2018.
Joan E. Howard ’76 has written a new book.
and daughter Jessica) for the red carpet world premiere at the Dolby Theatre and the after-party at the Roosevelt Hotel. It was awesome to see all the celebrities and those involved in making the movie celebrate this groundbreaking epic!”
’74
Edward Balkovic received the 2017 Parenteral Drug Association Distinguished Service Award. He is a member of the PDA Science Advisory Board and also a member of the Planning Committee for the PDA Global Pharmaceutical Microbiology Conference, serving as conference co-chair in 2009 and 2010. (See photo, at right)
’75
Randy Vogenberg, Ph.D., is currently serving as president of the Rotary Club of North Greenville, South Carolina. Elected by his club members in 2017, he will continue
34 QUADANGLES SUMMER 2018
serving as co-president in a second year of service starting July 2018 to June 2019. His club has received numerous awards and recently started a new fundraising effort to support their various community service efforts. In addition, he is principal of Institute for Integrated Healthcare, co-founder of National Institute of Collaborative Healthcare, and an expert speaker on healthsystem delivery and economics.
’76
Joan E. Howard has published “We Met in Paris”: Grace Frick and Her Life with Marguerite Yourcenar with the University of Missouri Press. The book is billed as showing Frick as a person of substance in her own right, and paints a portrait of both women that is at once intimate and scrupulously documented. Howard is also the author of From Violence to Vision: Sacrifice in the Works of Marguerite Yourcenar. (See photo, above)
Elizabeth Marchetti ’02 giving advice for NOAA Fisheries Women’s History Month.
’77
Dr. Francis A. Drummond, Ph.D. ’86, has been named UMaine’s 2018 Distinguished Maine Professor, the University of Maine’s highest faculty honor, for his work as a teacher and internationally respected scholar whose work has benefited Maine’s agricultural economy. Drummond’s research on wild blueberry insect pests has resulted in recommendations that have saved growers money, increased yields, improved the quality of the fruit, and made Maine wild blueberries more competitive in the global market. He is Maine’s foremost authority on native pollinators and a leader in educating farmers, policy makers, and others to the challenges that exist for these highly beneficial insects.
’79
Brian Skeels, M.S., was honored with the Offshore Technology Conference Distinguished Achievement Award for Individuals for his achievements as a technical subsea advisor for TechnipFMC, an oil and gas projects, technologies, systems, and services company. Skeels is a strategic planning specialist for frontier technologies and new business opportunities, including deepwater well intervention, remote robotics technology, and hydrate remediation programs. (See photo, opposite)
’82
Hal Horvat has been elected president and chief operating officer of Centreville Bank in West Warwick, R.I.
serving as strategist and risk manager before joining RIBC in 1995 as Vice President and COO. His role since has focused on strategic planning, including all aspects of blood center operations and local and regional hospital-customer business development. Additionally, he led the donor and blood drive sponsor recruitment that have supported its mission of providing a safe, plentiful and cost-effective blood supply to patients in local and regional hospitals.
’92
Chris Jarvis, an actuarial analyst for some of the largest companies in the world and a Certified Financial Planner professional, has published a book based on his critical insights into successful business operations and experience solving complex business, investment, and insurance concerns for more than twenty years: 6 Secrets to Leveraging Success: A Guide for Entrepreneurs, Family Offices and Their Trusted Advisors. Wendi Weber, Northeast Regional Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in Hadley, Mass., has received the 2018 Robert McDowell Award for Conservation Management Excellence, the highest honor awarded by the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Weber oversees FWS activities in 13 states, from Maine to Virginia, plus the District of Columbia. She currently leads more than 800 employees at more than 130 offices, including 72 national wildlife refuges. “Throughout her career, she
has consistently demonstrated the essential principles of collaboration and cooperation with conservation partners at all levels. She is deeply respected and appreciated by her colleagues in the state fish and wildlife agencies in the northeastern states,” said association President James Connolly.
’02
William Bigelow has been promoted to chief innovation officer at Blount Fine Foods, a five-generation Rhode Island company now based in Fall River, Mass. Bigelow’s promotion is part of the company’s continued investment in product innovation to meet the ever-changing consumer demand for wholesome, premium prepared foods. The company’s press release describes him as: “relentless in growing and elevating this area... and instrumental in launching more than 1,000 new or improved products, allowing Blount to expand into new market segments and geographies.” Elizabeth (Kordowski) Marchetti, a field scientist at NOAA Fisheries Service’s Narragansett Laboratory, gave an interview to Heather Soulen for NOAA Fisheries Women’s History Month series in March. Marchetti collects fisheries data aboard commercial fishing vessels and assists commercial fishermen with their electronic reporting. She told Soulen: “All roads have their challenges. I think it’s crucial to remain true to yourself. Be proud of who you are and where you come from. I thank
my United States Marine Corps father for passing down his strong work ethic to my sisters and me. I’m also thankful for my mother who taught us that nothing is unattainable if you remain on course and follow your dreams, even if it means coming home smelling like fish.” Read more of Marchetti’s interview by visiting noaa.gov and searching for women’s history month. (See photo, opposite)
’04
Jennifer (Revier) Chasse writes: “My husband, Troy Chasse ’06, and I both graduated from URI and we visited URI with our kids in February. We live in Dover, N.H. and it was our first family trip.” (See photo, opposite) John DiCecco, ’05, M.S. ’06, Ph.D. ’08, has won a U.S. Department of Defense Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Advocate Award. The award was presented to DiCecco at the Pentagon Library and Conference Center in Washington, DC during the 2018 Engineers Week celebration. DiCecco is a full-time engineer at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport. He works with the Center’s educational outreach program, judges science fairs and robotics competitions, guides educational outreach efforts and is active in Science & Math Investigative Learning Experiences (SMILE), an after-school enrichment program. DiCecco has also taught in the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering at URI’s College of Engineering since 2005. (See photo, opposite)
’86
Donald Tencher, M.S., director of athletics at Rhode Island College, received one of collegiate athletics’ highest honors this spring when the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics gave him the James J. Corbett Award. In addition to building RIC’s Division III athletic program since 1995, Tencher has held a variety of positions within NACDA and currently serves as the organization’s secretary. “He has never waivered in his loyalty... integrity...and passion for the institutions and students he has served,” said NACDA executive director Bob Vecchione.
’89
Scott J. Asadorian, M.B.A. ’91, of North Kingstown, R.I., was recently named executive director of the Rhode Island Blood Center (RIBC). Asadorian began his career with RIBC’s former parent organization Vector Health Systems in 1991, PHOTO: PETER GOLDBERG
The class of 1968 leads the march across the Quad at URI's 2018 commencement exercises. UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 35
Today, having a “side hustle” is a good thing. It’s a way to make extra money by starting your own parttime business. Expert Chris Guillebeau explains, “A side hustle is not a part-time job. A side hustle is not the gig economy. It is an asset that works for you.” Your entrepreneurial ideas can bring you financial freedom and flexibility as well as opportunities to express your creativity and build your own brand. You don’t need to take great risks, invest a lot of money, or go back to school. You just need a can-do attitude and a good support network—starting with URI Alumni Career Services. This summer, we will launch a series of webinars and in-person workshops to get you started.
SIDE HUSTLES
Career
FOR MORE INFORMATION: alumni.uri.edu/careerservices 401.874.9404
alumnicareerservices@etal.uri.edu
Kristen (Hinz) Gauthier, M.A. ’05, writes, “I am a middle school teacher in Bedford, N.H. We recently had a Spirit Week at school and I captured a great photo of myself and another alum—Matt Vitagliano ’15. Go RHODY!” (See photo, at left) Chris Kreuter published his first kids’ novel, The Intergalactic Adventures of the Rainy River Bees, in October 2017. The action-packed book blends his love of science fiction, technology, and hockey. (See photo, at left)
’07
Emily Burns writes: “I have released an Apple iBook: The City Rocks: Learning About Geology with Building Stone. It is a guide to American building stone and architecture. Learn how the geological history and regional geology of the North American continent meet human history in the quarries, architectural styles, and stone buildings of the U.S.” Jason R. Chrzanowski, a project manager in the Norwood, Mass., office of GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc., has been licensed as a Massachusetts Licensed Site Professional, allowing him to oversee the assessment and remediation of contaminated sites in conformance with the requirements of the Massachusetts Contingency Plan. (See photo, at left)
’08
Matt Vitagliano ’15 and Kristen (Hinz) Gauthier ’04, M.A. ’05 celebrate school spirit week at Ross.
Jason R. Chrzanowski ’07 has been licensed as a Massachusetts Licensed Site Professional (LSP). 36
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The Intergalactic Adventures of the Rainy River Bees by Chris Kreuter ’04.
Nicole Charriere ’08 holds a scallop while talking about her career in science for NOAA Fisheries.
Nicole Charriere, a biological science technician for NOAA’s Ecosystems Surveys Branch, talked with Heather Soulen in a NOAA Fisheries Women’s History Month series in March. Charriere spends about 130 days a year on government, chartered, and commercial fishing vessels, collecting important fisheries data to monitor the health and abundance of several Northeast fisheries stocks. She told Soulen her advice for other women: “Own all your successes and don’t ever make yourself appear “less than” (less smart, less capable, less deserving, less strong, less outspoken, less of a leader, etc.) in order to make someone else happy or more comfortable.” See more of Nicole’s journey and advice online by going to noaa.gov and searching for women’s history month. (See photo, at left) Edward Garcia, M.L.I.S., director of the Cranston Public Library, has been elected to the executive board for the American Library Association (ALA), a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library
education internationally and the oldest and largest library association in the world with 58,000 members. Garcia said that this year “is my tenth anniversary of becoming a librarian. Our profession awoke a passion for public service that I didn’t know I had.” Before starting his career as a librarian, he worked for Sony Music and the American Diabetes Association.
’13
Chris Bobba, a Ph.D. student at Ohio State, presented his research at a Biomedical Engineering Graduate Student Association seminar at University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign. His research deals with the minimization of harm of mechanical ventilation of patients in the ICU. Specifically, he and his collaborators are trying to understand how the mechanical forces cause cells to react in an inflammatory manner. They are also working toward a type of gene therapy that will work on mitigating that specific inflammation.
’15
Jordan Sebastian, a former URI football player, is memorialized by the Dominate the Day Foundation, which seeks to continue his work coaching, mentoring and teaching kids. The Foundation has created a line of iPhone cases in cooperation with tech accessory brand Fifth & Ninth, using a design based on Sebastian’s artwork. All proceeds go toward helping underprivileged children pay for sports camps, tutoring and mentoring. Sebastian was a high school coach and working toward his master’s when he passed away from cancer at age 24 last fall. Learn more at dominatethedayfoundation.com.
’16
Caitie Runyon, M.S. ’18, writes: “I want to thank the Alumni Association for taking me on as their graduate assistant for the last year. I have learned so much from the driven and compassionate team of program staff in the Alumni Center and I will miss them all. Thank you to all the alumni who shared their stories through Class Notes—it has been a pleasure to bear witness to all the amazing work that our Rams are doing in the world. It’s a beautiful day to be a Ram!”
CLOSEUP
Arctic Bound Breezy Grenier ’17
Briana “Breezy” Grenier grew up in Connecticut and now splits her land time between Portsmouth and Block Island, R.I., but at pretty much any moment, she’d rather be at sea. She’s been remarkably creative at making that happen— specializing in deep-sea and polar exploration and serving four years in the U.S. Coast Guard before coming to URI. Her resourcefulness will take her to the Arctic—again— this August, as a member of the Sedna Epic Expedition, an all-female, multi-year project that will work with Inuit communities to study climate change. The expedition will draw attention to melting sea ice by attempting a world-record 3,000 km snorkel relay of the newly ice-free Northwest Passage in 2020.
How to prepare? Consider that Grenier, a compulsive autodidact, is a boat captain in Boston Harbor who's lectured on Russian cruise lines and been on research projects from New Zealand to the Marshall Islands with institutions as various as the Geological Society of America, NOAA and SEA Semester. She spent the spring fundraising for the dry suits, snorkel gear and remote operated vehicles Sedna will leave with Inuit villages as part of its educational mission. “The water only gets so cold,” she shrugs. “I believe we acquire the most knowledge while traveling, and we barely know the ocean—only five percent of it has been explored. The age of discovery is not over.” Learn more at breezyseas.com. BY PIPPA JACK
PHOTO: ALEXIS HUNLEY
UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 37
INSHORT - James King ’06 To hear James King ’06 tell of how he came to be vice president at Madeleine Albright’s company, Albright Stonebridge Group, brings to mind that J.R.R. Tolkien line: “Not all those who wander are lost.” Arguably, it’s King’s wandering that cinched his position at one of Washington, D.C.’s most respected consultancies. His course at URI chartered a B.A. in history with minors in economics, international development, and anthropology, plus trips to Costa Rica and Belize and audited language classes in Portuguese; later came an M.A. in international affairs from The George Washington University and two years backpacking across Latin America. The first intern to be hired by the firm, he now serves as an expert in Latin American political and economic issues, advising clients, NGOs, corporations, and nonprofit foundations on market entry, expansion, and government relations in Latin America. In his wandering days as now, “no two days are the same. I like that,” King says. “It’s exciting, dynamic work.”
Clarence H. Lonsdale, Jr. ’52 of Unionville, Penn. on March 26, 2018
Leslie S. Richardson ’60 of Asheville, N.C. on March 22, 2018
George R. Nazareth ’52 of Cumberland, R.I. on Feb. 22, 2018
Cameron S. Gardner, Jr. ’61 of Wakefield, R.I. on January 10, 2018
Dr. John F Cawley ’53 of Mansfield, Conn. on February 9, 2018
Phyllis Clark Messier ’61 of Saunderstown, R.I. on March 11, 2018
Arnold W. Johnson ’53 of Charlestown, R.I. on Oct. 13, 2017
Ernest H. LeMay ’61 of Plattsburgh, N.Y. on February 8, 2014
Dr. Nancy A. Sullivan, M.A. ’53, of West Kingston, R.I. on Mar. 18, 2018
Richard E Beaupre ’62, Hon. ’03 of Cumberland, R.I., on March 25, 2018.
Alva Axt ’54 of Pawleys Island, S.C. on December 26, 2017
A. Gail (Bartigian) Bilezerian ’62 of North Smithfield, R.I. on Jan. 11, 2018
Joseph F. Bruno ’54 of Bristol, R.I. on February 18, 2017
Robert T. Laing ’62 of Naples, Fla. on March 31, 2018
Chester B. Griffin ’54 of Mansfield, Mass., on January 22, 2018
Bernard J. Haberek, Jr. ’64 of Hope Valley, R.I. on July 27, 2017
Joan McDonald Stauble ’54 of Roswell, Ga. on January 26, 2018
Robert W. Martel ’64 of Palm City, Fla. on August 5, 2017
David Preston Foster ’58 of Venice, Fla. on January 27, 2018
David Joseph Reidy ’64 of West Warwick, R.I. on February 6, 2018
James Lee Nolan ’58 of Los Angeles, Calif. on January 21, 2017
Donald M. Koslow, M.L.S. ’66 of Mashpee, Mass. on January 21. 2018
Joseph S. Rozpad ’58 of Riverside, R.I. on May 13, 2017
Maria De Lacerda ’66 of Barrington, R.I. on May 28, 2017
Ian Maclean Walker ’58 of Madbury, N.H. on January 9, 2015
Penelope “Penny” (Seavey) Matthews ’67 of North Kingstown, R.I. on March 1, 2018
John “Jack” Andren ’59 of Solvang, Calif. on February 25, 2018
Weddings Matthew Lovejoy ’07 to Mia Acciardo on October 14, 2017 Carissa L. Schneider ’11, M.S. ’12 to Jeffrey F. DeLuca on Sept. 3, 2017 Meredith Grossman ’05 to Paul Wegerdt on February 10, 2018 (See photo, at right)
Births Kenneth Ferris ’09 and Jessica Ferris ’09 welcomed their baby boy, Kenneth Gary, on September 13, 2017 (See photo, at right) Kenneth M. Poirier ’02 and Sherri L. Poirier ’04 welcomed a son, Brett William Poirier, on November 20, 2017 (See photo, at right)
In Memoriam Donald D’Avanzo Sr. ’42, M.P.A. ’65 of Wilmington, N.C. on Mar. 24, 2018 Richard Knight Fort ’42 of Stanwood, Wash. on Sept. 9, 2017 James Boelens ’43 of Del Mar, Calif. on July 12, 2017 Lucille N. Creamer ’46 of Warwick, R.I. on May 7, 2015 Barbara Brickley Armstrong ’47 of Rehoboth, Mass. on January 3, 2018 Milton Leonard Rakusin ’48 of Boca Raton, Fla. on November 24, 2017 38 QUADANGLES SUMMER 2018
Marian Lingard Roberts ’48 of Waverly, Ohio on December 1, 2017 Abner J. Swartz ’48 of Longboat Key, Fla. on October 31, 2017 Majorie Jones Tucker ’48 of Wakefield, R.I. on February 9, 2018 Rosalea (Elowitz) Cohn ’49 of Providence, R.I. on January 16, 2018
Dr. Harry Carl Clemson ’59, PhD. ’66 of Topsfield, Mass. on Oct. 16, 2017 Gaetano “George” Calise, Jr. ’59 of Cotuit, Mass. on October 16, 2017 Russell Edberg, Jr. ’60 of East Greenbush, N.Y. on Sept. 30, 2017 Edgar O. Ethier ’60 of Hamden, Conn. on February 10, 2018
William Curtis, Sr. ’49 of Ashburn, Va. on June 7, 2017
Gordon H. Spingler ’67 of Provincetown, Mass. on Dec. 6, 2017 Paul Caswell ’68 of South Kingstown, R.I. on November 20, 2017 James Bernard “Jim” Donald ’68 of Stonington, Conn. on Sept. 19, 2017 Thomas Eugene Griffin ’68 of Barrington, R.I. on March 20, 2018 Dr. Sveto Marušić, M.A. ’68 of Zagreb, Croatia in 2016
Hope Holden Keifer ’49 of Narragansett, R.I. on January 24, 2018 Dr. Robert Luber ’49 of Delray Beach, Fla. on December 12, 2017 Norman Camille Sauté ’49 of Cumberland, R.I. on January 10, 2018 Patricia Grant Stevenson ’49 of Leesburg, V.A. on January 11, 2018 Donald Keith Gilbertson ’50 of Jackson, Calif. on November 13, 2017 Dr. Joseph Petrucci ’50 of Truckee, Calif. on February 10, 2018
From left to right - Rachel (Almquist) Lister ’04, Ashleigh (VanBuskirk) Karnilowicz ’05, Lauren (Towson) Nilsson ’04, Meredith (Grossman) Wegerdt ’05, Paul Wegerdt, Morgan (MOH) Sterling ’05, Sarah (O’Mahoney) Elliott ’05 (missing Shannon (Stockbridge) Kachuba)
Milton “Mickey” Pierce ’50 of Boynton Beach, Fla. on Feb.8, 2018 William “Bill” Shannon ’50 of East Providence, R.I. on March 19, 2018 Lt. Col. Domenic Anthony Vavala ’50 of Johnston, R.I. on Feb.13, 2018 George Walter Cruickshank ’51 of Florence, S.C. on September 2, 2016
Brett William Poirier, born November 20, 2017
Kenny Ferris, born September 13, 2017
PHOTO: COURTESY JAMES KING
Raymond Paul Sylvestre ’68 of Cumberland, R.I. on January 1, 2018
Maria Fatima Morais ’78 of Bristol, R.I. on March 30, 2018
Leo Berard ’69 of Yarmouth Port, Mass. on September 29, 2017
Yvonne G. Parker, M.A. ’78 of Providence, R.I. on July 7, 2016
Robert W. Ellingwood, Sr., M.A. ’69 of West Warwick, R.I. on June 19, 2017
Paula Ellen Sigal ’78, M.S. ’80 of Somerset, Mass. on July 21, 2017
Sharon Jones Gordon ’69, M.L.S. ’76 of Lancaster, Penn. on Jan. 19, 2018
Jean F. Morelle ’79 of Cumberland, R.I. on April 1, 2018
John E. Clarkin Jr ’70 of Saunderstown, R.I. on Feb. 22, 2018
Lewis F. Royal, Jr. ’80 of North Scituate, R.I. on October 14, 2017
Marie M. D’Avanzo, M.L.S. ’71 of Santa Rosa, Calif. on Dec. 5, 2017
Irene C. Fasano ’82 of Coventry, R.I. on March 2, 2018
Hazelle Agnes (Lamoureux) Cooper ’71 of Attleboro, Mass. on Mar. 5, 2016
Arne A. Johnson ’82 of Bel Air, Md. on December 21, 2017
Brian A. Fricot ’71 of Belleair, Fla. on March 14, 2018
Nancy I. Craig ’83 of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on February 19, 2018
Capt. William Stewart Myers ’71 of Tampa, Fla. on April 18, 2017
Jeanne A. (Boehme) Sturim ’83 of Providence, R.I. on January 9, 2018
Gordon F. Nye, Jr. ’71 of Methuen, Mass. on January 18, 2018
Kevin P. Jacobson ’84 of Youngstown, O.H. on March 27, 2018
RADM Thomas Martin Ward, Jr., M.M.A. ’71 of Virginia Beach, Va. on January 9, 2018
John Robert Pesce ’84 of Lincoln, R.I. on February 21, 2018
Mildred A. Burnham ’72 of Cumberland, R.I. on January 2, 2018 Barbara O’Connell ’72 of Greenville, R.I. on February 23, 2018 John P. Conway ’73, M.P.A. ’75 of Cumberland, R.I. on January 10, 2018 Capt. John Krimmel ’73 of Satellite Beach, Fla. on December 3, 2017 Folke Alarik Wilhelm Myrin II ’73 of Little Compton, R.I. on July 30, 2017 James Cotter ’74, M.B.A ’83 of Providence, R.I. on November 6, 2017 Rev. Russell Leland Deragon, M.A. ’74 of Cocoa, Fla. on February 4, 2017 Robert M. Bozek ’75 of Dennis Port, Mass. on July 22, 2017 Leo M. Curley, Jr. ’75 of Charlestown, R.I. on Nov.18, 2017 Fruma Dara Efreom, M.P.A. ’75 of Warwick, R.I. on February 17, 2018 Dr. Jean Gudas ’75 of Los Angeles, Calif. on March 17, 2018 Cmdr. Norman B. Pigeon ’75 of Clinton, S.C. on April 29, 2016 William M. Cary, M.L.S. ’76 of The Villages, Fla. on May 18, 2017 Steven G. Rahl ’76 of Kennebunk, Maine on February 27, 2018 Sally Harlow Terry ’76 of Shelburne, Vt. on October 21, 2017 Ralph W. Knox, M.A.’77 of Warwick, R.I. on August 22, 2015 Robert O. Young ’77 of Jamaica, N.Y. on May 6, 2016 Leo F. Bourke ’78 of North Kingstown, R.I. on August 24, 2014
thirteenth annual
distinguished achievement awards & gala
Robert M. Xifaras ’84 of New Bedford, Mass. on January 5, 2018 Constance “Connie” Baker ’86 of Wakefield, R.I. on February 8, 2018 John Kevin Fitzgerald ’86 of Little Compton, R.I. on September 22, 2017 David Rubin, M.S. ’89 of Bloomington, Ill. on Nov. 14, 2016
Save the Date Saturday, October 20, 2018 Newport Marriott, Newport, R.I.
Edward N. Clark ’91 of Warren, R.I. on December 31, 2017 Daniel Patrick Merlin ’91 of Merritt Island, Fla. on April 4, 2018 Michael Perry ’93 of Warwick, R.I. on January 12, 2018 David J. Mahoney ’94 of Somers, N.Y. on February 9, 2014
Join us in honoring alumni and friends of URI who have brought distinction
LTC Tracy Hunter Brown ’97 of Fort Sam Houston, Tex. on April 14, 2017
to themselves and the
Allison S. King ’04 of Stephentown, N.Y. on February 19, 2018
University through their professional
Jordan W. Sebastian ’15, of West Haven, Conn., on Oct. 19, 2017.
Faculty and Staff In Memoriam Megan Yakey ’18, executive assistant for the Graduate School, of Wakefield, R.I., on April 5, 2018 Professor Emeritus and former Provost for Academic Affairs Glenn Kumekawa of Wakefield, R.I., on April 16, 2018.
achievement, outstanding leadership, community service, and philanthropic support. Meet this year’s honorees at
uri.edu/daa
Professor Emeritus and former Chair of the Department of Languages Otto Dornberg of Tel Aviv, Israel, on April 19, 2018.
UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 39
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it Subm y sb entrie 30, st Augu 8 201
PHOTO CAPTION CONTEST
Have a funny idea for what’s going on in this photograph from the University of Rhode Island library archives? Email your caption to pjack@uri.edu, or respond at uri.edu/quadangles.
SPRING WINNERS: FLYING HIGH
WINNING CAPTION
“Whose bright idea was it to buy an airplane from IKEA?” —John Palumbo ’76 RUNNER UP
Spin Class
—Jill S. Mason ’82 HONORABLE MENTION
“You know, they say these drones are gonna get a lot smaller.” —Tom DeNucci ’76
Early blow dryer proved cumbersome. —Jill S. Mason ’82
40
QUADANGLES SUMMER 2018
This image from an aeronautics class highlights a littleknown chapter in URI history. In 1932—the year before Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany—the Rhode Island State College reorganized into three schools, one of them the School of Engineering. Russian émigrés Igor Sikorski and Nicholas Alexander were hired to lead the school’s program in aeronautical engineering, a decision that would help URI become a home for aircraft and helicopter prototypes. By the final years of World War II, yearbooks indicate the engineering faculty was still all male, while female students largely majored in home ec and institutional management— but were starting to make inroads into fields like science and business. This photo from our archives, titled “1944 Women in Aeronautics Class,” shows they were making inroads into engineering, too. Many submissions, doubtless inspired by the 1940s hairstyles, riffed on themes like home ec and mechanical confusion. A. David Farnham ’58 wrote to take us to task for setting readers up for sexism: “Your current Photo Caption Contest shows three very intent serious women learning critical skills from at least one lifetime ago. You present your readers with a dilemma. You ask for ‘a funny idea’ for what’s going on. Today there is no one, woman or man, on campus who would openly ridicule a woman’s serious efforts or accomplishments.” Point taken. Happily, however, there were plenty of entries that were just plain funny. Here are our picks; thanks as always to all who entered. PHOTOS: COURTESY URI SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
This smile’s for you. He’s the first in his family to graduate from a four-year college — but that’s just one of many achievements for Ro Percy ’18. The double major in political science and communications was a URI 101 mentor, an orientation team leader, president of the Resident Advisor Board, and vice president of the URI Student Senate. Thanks to generous alumni who support the URI Annual Fund, stellar students like Ro have the opportunity to become tomorrow’s leaders.
Make a gift. Make a difference.
Give online at urifoundation.org/giveonline or call 401.874.4786. Make your gift by June 30 to be counted in the current fiscal year.
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SAVE THE DATE October 12–14, 2018 alumni.uri.edu