RIC Health Sciences:

A Laboratory for LearningRIC Health Sciences:

A Laboratory for Learning

RHODE ISLAND COLLEGEALUM

NI M

AGAZINE

Spring 2012

RICMeans Business

Fall 2012

22

Senior Writers/Editors Gita Brown Rob Martin Denise Perreault Ray Ragosta Nicole Wilson

Art Designer Jennifer Twining ’92

Coordinators Alysia Harpootian Karen M. Rubino

Contributing Writers Catherine Corelli Chianese ’82 Scott Gibbons Jed Greenberg

Photography Hayden James David Okon Gene St. Pierre ’77

Cover Design Gene St. Pierre ’77 Jennifer Twining ’92

Rhode Island College Office of Alumni and College Relations James Salmo Vice President College Advancement

Kate Brezina Executive Director Alumni and College Relations

Kimberly Fiore ’96 Data Management Coordinator

Linda Jzyk Class Notes Editor

Jill Baribault Senior Word Processing Typist

2012 – 2013 Alumni Association Board of Directors

Officers William Fazioli ’86 President

Kathleen Swann ’79, M’89, PhD’01 Vice President

Judith Spremulli ’03 Secretary

Paul Hackley ’85 Treasurer

Jason Anthony ’99, M’05 Past President

Directors Suzy Alba ’05 Mariam Boyajian ’70, M’72 Thomas Cahir ’89 Alan Chille ’82 Walter Musto ’00 Mark Paolucci ’85 Erin Plaziak ’93 Mathies Santos ’82 Karen Schnabel ’06 Barbara Loomis Smith ’70 Gina Wesley-Silva ’80 Syd Williams ’53

Contributors

Correspondence may be sent to: RIC Advancement Office Rhode Island College 600 Mt. Pleasant Avenue Providence, RI 02908-1996

Phone: (401) 456-8086 Fax: (401) 456-8851 Email: alumni@ric.edu

The Rhode Island College Alumni Association, founded in 1887, has existed to serve and promote inter-est in Rhode Island College. The association assists the college with its mission through its time, talent and resources – financial and oth-erwise. The Alumni Association provides financial support to the college primarily through an annual appeal, The Annual Fund.

This edition of the Rhode Island College Alumni Magazine features articles previously published by What’s News @ Rhode Island College, an online publication comprised of breaking news, features stories, arts and entertainment articles and more. The site is produced by the RIC Office of College Commu-nications and Marketing and can be found at www.ric.edu/whatsnews.

©Rhode Island College 2012 The Rhode Island College Alumni Magazine is published twice a year by the Alumni Association.

Printer: Lane Press.

ContributorsRhoDE ISlAnD CollEgE AlumnI mAgAzInE

FAll 2012

Cover: A ticker and TV display the latest business data in RIC’s Finance Lab.

RIC Health Sciences:

A Laboratory for LearningRIC Health Sciences:

A Laboratory for Learning

RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE

ALUMNI

MAGAZINE

Spring 2012

RICMeans Business

Fall 2012

33

In This Issue Fall 2012

Features6 Taking Care of Business By Rob Martin

10 Techies Dream Up Software Solutions Interview By Gita Brown

12 The Art of the Bakery Business By Ray Ragosta

15 A Different Woman for a Different Time By Catherine Corelli Chianese ’82

16 From the Athletic Arena to the Business World By Scott Gibbons

18 The $$ and Sense of Sustainability By Gita Brown

21 The Business of Urban Farming By Gita Brown

22 Sustainable Communities Initiatives By Jed Greenberg

24 RIC’s Outreach Programs Close Skills Gap By Denise Perreault

32 Alex and Ani Donates $1m to RIC By Gita Brown

Departments28 Around RIC34 Alumni News 40 Class notes48 In Memoriam 50 Weddings

Michael Croft | 10

444

D ear Alumni and Friends, Here at Rhode Island College, we are in the business of preparing thoughtful and skilled students to become leaders in myriad sectors of society. Across the business community, in our state and beyond, RIC graduates demonstrate that what we teach at RIC translates into success in the “real” world.

The challenges facing businesses today are many, ranging from keeping ahead of technology, to managing shrinking capital, to creating new jobs for the 21st century. At RIC, we are acutely aware of these challenges. We are also focused on the opportunities ahead for our students. We are committed to giving all our graduating students the inquiring minds and honed skills to compete in today’s marketplace.

As RIC continues to grow and evolve, we are enjoying a partnership with the business community in Rhode Island. Alex and Ani Hall, which will be a superb art center for our college, embodies the best of this kind of partnership. Thanks to the generosity of our friends at Alex and Ani, we will be able to provide a truly excellent environment for art education and art exhibitions. I look forward to your reading about our relationship with Alex and Ani and about the art center now under construction in the heart of our campus.

In this issue you will get to know a few of the remarkable RIC alumni who have unique perspectives on the business world. You will hear from Fortune 1000 business owner Michael Croft ’09 whose custom Web and mobile software applications are sold around the world. A local success story is also highlighted: our beloved neighborhood LaSalle Bakery and alumnus, Michael Manni ’74, who has expanded this community resource and attracted national attention. President and CEO of Providence Mutual Fire

Insurance Company, Sandra Glaser Parrillo ’78, gives us a glimpse of the realities of being a prominent woman in business.

This issue points to how discipline and teamwork developed through athletics can lead to a great career in business.

You’ll also find out how RIC is moving forward to become a “sustainable” campus and how those initiatives could improve the business climate even as they improve our global climate. We value the good ideas that our college generates every day.

Sustaining our values is always on our mind at RIC, but sustaining RIC also means maintaining our campus and its classrooms. We can best educate our students in efficient, up-to-date classrooms. Our new Bloomberg Finance Lab is a terrific example of a 21st-century classroom. However, several of our buildings, especially Gaige Hall, Craig-Lee and parts of Fogarty Life Science, are badly in need of repair and maintenance.

The November 6 bond initiative, which will be on the ballot in Rhode Island as Question #3, addresses the critical need to renovate the aging buildings on our campus. I urge you to read all the facts about this important issue and to consider voting on Question #3 when you go to the polls. After all, as a RIC alum, you have the tools to evaluate the arguments and discern the course you think is right.

I am privileged, as president of Rhode Island College, to belong to such a caring, competent, innovative community. Alumni are an integral part of our community, and I hope you will enjoy reading the stories in this issue as much as I have. They served for me as a reminder of how fortunate we are to count all of you amongst our alumni.

Best wishes, Nancy Carriuolo President of Rhode Island College

President’s Message

4

YESVote 3#R E N O VAT E

Fogarty | Gaige | Craig-Lee

55

ear Alumni and Friends, Twenty-seven years ago I was a Rhode Island College senior starting off my fall semester. There was a feeling of excitement in the air. I remember thinking how fast my time at RIC was flying by. My girlfriend at the time, Maria Sousa ’87, was a junior in the nursing program. Maria and I married after graduating from RIC, and just last fall, our son Michael enrolled here at the college in the business program. Time keeps flying by!

Ten years out of college, I linked up with Steve Maceroni ’88 to embark on a career in the public finance industry. For the past 15 years, we have continued to work together as business partners. In my position at Public Financial Management, I am on the road a lot throughout the New England area.

Not a week goes by without my running into someone associated with Rhode Island College. The number of RIC alumni and friends serving the state in public office and in civic affairs is striking.

For my generation, RIC was the choice of first-generation college-bound students. This is still often the case today. However, as I see my son following in his parents’ footsteps, I am learning that many RIC students are connected to a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle who proudly graduated from this college. It is nice to know that RIC is evolving in this way.

I am honored to be the 2012–14 Alumni Association president. Over the past eight years, I have had the privilege of serving on the Alumni Association Board. Looking forward, I will continue to work with the administration, faculty, students and especially our alumni to promote the goals of the college – most notably the upcoming bond referendum for Fogarty, Gaige and Craig-Lee (Question #3 on the November ballot). You will find information about this new opportunity on page 26.

Make sure to read all about our alumni events on page 36. Note that we have included related dates worth knowing, such as our Alumni Association Board of Directors meetings. All of our meetings are open to the public. Also, we are accepting applications for new members on the Alumni Association Board through February 28, 2013. If you have an interest in joining the board, preview the details on our website at my.ric.edu/go/nomination.

Above all, as president of the Rhode Island College Alumni Association, I value your feedback about the RIC Alumni Association and ways to ensure future growth. Please do contact me with any ideas and suggestions at

fazioliw@pfm.com. I look forward to serving the college in my new role. With your help, I know it will be a terrific time for RIC!

With best wishes, William Fazioli ’86 Alumni Association President

DAlumni Association President’s Message

In my position at Public Financial Management, I am on the road a lot throughout the New England area. Not a week goes by without my running into someone associated with Rhode Island College.

William Fazioli ’86

666

Taking Care of Business: Rhode Island College’s New Finance Lab

By RoB MaRtin

RIC Professor Abbas Kazemi, center, works with students in RIC’s Finance Lab, Jeffrey Tolentino, left, and Mason Turcotte.

6

77

leven dual-monitor computers ring the large, glass- walled office, their hardware laced with Bloomberg Professional software. A pair of flat-screen, hi-def TVs hang from one wall, broadcasting updates from business channels, while a long, narrow ticker displays the latest data on equity, derivative, foreign exchange and fixed-income markets.

Dominating another wall is an interactive 65-inch Samsung SMART Board controlled by a Sympodium, its screen alternating as a computer, writing tablet and TV. And in the middle of the room, six retractable computers stand ready for group projects and meetings.

Rhode Island College’s new Finance Lab – located on the first floor of Alger Hall – pulses with colorful graphics, charts, and numbers in surroundings that indicate clearly that this room is, well, all business.

“We strongly believe that students in the School of Management at Rhode Island College should receive an education that exceeds that offered by other schools, and this trading room helps us realize that goal by providing a resource that no other college in the region can match,” says David Blanchette, dean of RIC’s School of Management.

The $70,000 Finance Lab opened during the fall 2011 semester, completed with a $50,000 donation from RIC grad Ken Weakley ’89. It is an everything-at-your-fingertips facility powered by Bloomberg Professional software – the “gold standard” for financial research, according to lab coordinator Abbas Kazemi.

And it is the only lab of its kind in the state that boasts a subscription to Bloomberg software.

Indeed, the lab and its software offer RIC students and faculty the resources to access and analyze a vast array of financial and economic data, apply analytical methods, conduct interactive

trading and develop financial models – all available in one neat package, eliminating trips to the library, subscriptions to magazines and time-consuming Internet searches.

Kazemi, a professor of finance and chair of the Economics and Finance Department, describes Bloomberg as a “research tool” – and not just for finance. A student preparing a paper on a management topic such as executive compensation, for instance, can get the necessary information using Bloomberg. Accounting, economics and mathematics majors can also find the data they need using the software.

The subscription to Bloomberg Professional is the most expensive component of the lab, costing about $60,000 a year, including the ticker. The price, however, represents a 75 percent discount because RIC is an academic institution. The subscription is paid for by the student technology fee.

One of the key aspects of the software is that it enables RIC students to receive Bloomberg Certification.

“It’s a credential that you can carry with you that opens a lot of doors down the road in the job market,” Kazemi said.

Students use a self-study process in which they create an online account with the so-called “Bloomberg University,” which gives them step-by-step instructions on how to attain certification.

Certification is mandatory for RIC finance majors, but Kazemi would like to make it a requirement for all students in the School of Management.

Because SOM students are already required to take a finance class, Kazemi would like to create a 4-credit class, with Bloomberg certification as an added component of the course.

So far, about 110 RIC students have been certified, including Jeffrey Tolentino, a senior finance major who used the lab for his Theory of Investment class last semester.

“When I first saw it, I was pleased with the professional setup of the lab; the duel monitors, ergonomic and comfortable chairs, and large touch screen display for presentations,” Tolentino said. “The scrolling stock price display on the wall gives it the Wall Street look, too.”

Added Tolentino: “The lab is a great resource for financial

E

“We strongly believe that students in the School of Management at Rhode Island College should receive an education that exceeds that offered by other schools, and this trading room helps us realize that goal by providing a resource that no other college in the region can match,” said David Blanchette, dean of RIC’s School of Management.

Alger hall

88

information, and it complements our classroom learning with real-time financial information to test and evaluate the theoretical principles we learn.”

Bloomberg software also gives you all the tools you need to take the Bloomberg Assessment test, according to Kazemi.

“This test gets into more detail of assessing your knowledge of areas in business, from economics to finance to accounting to math to communications – all the assessment areas that are important to the college, too.”

The Assessment Test is another free option of which RIC business majors can take advantage, one that would cost about $1,500 if taken outside of RIC.

With the student’s OK, test scores can be sent to potential employers, who can also recruit finance majors by contacting Bloomberg. If an employer is looking for someone in corporate finance, for instance, he/she can screen candidates based on test results in that area.

“I think that’s a huge, huge advantage that our students have,” Kazemi said of the Assessment Test option.

As Finance Lab coordinator, Kazemi promotes the facility to students, the business community and local high schools to generate awareness of having such a valuable resource on campus. He recently met with faculty members from Suffolk University in Boston who wish to design a finance lab. “They were quite impressed with our lab and I believe they may use ours as a model,” Kazemi said.

He also has hired Bloomberg certified student workers, who help other students to use software. Senior finance major Mason Turcotte, who is in charge of opening and closing the lab during assigned hours, has received Bloomberg certification and answers questions other students may have about Bloomberg.

“The lab is valuable to me because I have been able to expand my knowledge of financial concepts outside the classroom, especially in stocks,” Turcotte said, adding that the lab has also been helpful in working on class projects.

The new lab also provides an ideal venue for an ongoing student-managed investment fund worth $100,000, which was established in 2007 thanks to another donation from Ken Weakley. Each semester, five or six students research and respond to economic conditions when making decisions on how best to invest in the stock, bond and real estate markets.

This hands-on experience enables students to tell potential employers that they have been managing a large portfolio, Kazemi said, adding that managing the fund has been “one of the most rewarding experiences our students have had in the past four or five years.”

Kazemi and Blanchette stress that the lab will be a resource for the entire campus. The lab will be used, for example, for a personal finance course – open to students in any major – that offers methods for developing a financial plan, avoiding debt and making basic investment decisions.

“In addition to being an out-standing trading room, the lab serves as a research and educational site for all members of the RIC community and will likely be the hub for a planned investment club,” Blanchette said. “We are grateful to alumnus Ken Weakley for contributing a large portion of the funding for the lab and invite all of our alumni to come back to the new Alger and see this impressive facility.”

Finance Lab

David Blanchette RIC Dean of the School of Management

99

Kazemi and Blanchette stress that the lab will be a resource for the entire campus. The lab will be used, for example, for a personal finance course – open to students in any major – that offers methods for developing a finan-cial plan, avoiding debt and making basic investment decisions.

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10

TechiesDream Up Software SolutionsINTERVIEW BY GITA BROWN

Michael Croft ’09 is president

and CEO of eSavV (pronounced

e-savvy) Technologies, a company

based in Lincoln, R.I., that develops

custom Web and mobile software

applications for businesses around

the world.

In 2011 his company became

official technology vendor for

Columbia University and was

selected by the Intergovernmental

Renewable Energy Organization

(IREO), an affiliate of the United

Nations, to build Web and mobile

software to promote IREO’s

message – the global transition

toward sustainable development

and renewable energy sources.

Croft is also pursuing a master’s

degree in strategic management at

Harvard University.

In 2012 he made the 40 Under Forty list by

the Providence Business News, which cites

successful young professionals who have

made a commitment to making a difference

on a local, national or international scale.

11

Michael, were you tech-smart as a child or a boy-MBa who liked crunching numbers?I was inquisitive as a boy. I loved to figure out how things worked, and I loved toys that allowed me to create things, such as erector sets and the like. I also had some electronic toys I tried to take apart and put back together – sometimes successfully, sometimes not. I was also curious about business and dreamed of working at a job where I could get paid for creative thinking. I started dabbling with computers in 1994 with some friends. The complexity and possibilities of computers piqued my interest.

Who were your greatest influences?I’ve always had a mind of my own and really haven’t had any influences except my wife, Melanie. Throughout our 12 years together, she’s always been my biggest supporter, encouraging me to live my dream. She’s made sacrifices with me and worked two jobs to help this company manifest. Just six months after starting our company, she quit her job as director of marketing at Carla Corporation in Providence, a position she held for 10 years, to become the creative director for eSavV.

How did RiC prepare you for what you are doing now?RIC’s computer science program is a good well-rounded curriculum that prepared me for the requirements of the real world. RIC’s flexible schedule allowed me to complete my degree while holding a full-time job. Working all day and taking classes most nights prepared me for the entrepreneurial work ethic.

are there any faculty who stood out for you?Professor of computer science Kathryn Sanders. She’s a brilliant professor who truly cares about her students and goes above and beyond to provide support.

How did you start eSavV technologies?I started the company in 2009 by taking a risk and making sacrifices that included resigning from a strong, stable software developer position of 12 years at Amica Insurance; renting out our home and moving into an apartment; and working 15-hour days for months. A lot of hard work, strategic thinking and a few strokes of luck brought us to where we are today.

How did you come up with the name eSavV?We wanted something catchy that represented electronic technology and business savvy. We also wanted a domain name that was short and memorable, because we knew our online marketing was going to be one of our key growth strategies. We found that eSavV.com was available, and we trademarked it.

you are the president and CEo of this company? What are the challenges of driving the gravy train?The challenges are vast, but a key challenge is staffing. I tell my staff often that “we don’t make muffins” to reiterate the complex nature of our services. We’re responsible for building advanced software solutions that help run businesses, so the technical skills required are significant. Finding the right person with the right skills, passion and culture is difficult, but I’ve been fortunate to find those qualities in our team.

Have you had failures that taught you what not to do?Yes, I have. Our training and project development process have been modified with great success due to identified inefficiencies. Being a business owner is all about solving problems, so you have to love the process of solving them.

What is the think tank like at eSavV?It’s a collaborative effort. My job is to spearhead initiatives, make sure they’re financially achievable and allocate skilled people. To understand the feasibility of an idea requires input from our entire team. It’s the team that makes eSavV a success.

What’s your leadership style like? In this competitive market, it’s a challenge to continue to grow, so my expectations are high. I strive to inspire and mentor the team to want to improve and to do what it takes to complete a job with the highest quality, within budget and on time. I encourage and compliment the team on their accomplishments and work with them to solve issues and remove barriers. It’s not always roses. There are times when I need to be firm and hold people accountable for their actions – our future depends on it.

With such rapid advances in the virtual world, how do you stay on the cutting edge?I wake up and go to bed with an iPad. I have a lot of subscriptions, and I do a lot of reading and market research. I also attend business expos and trade shows. Seeing the latest technology prepares me to support our clients and to know the direction our company should take. I’m also attending Harvard to be a better leader, tactician and strategist. Our team has the same commitment to growth. All of the staff stays current on new technology.

you have to survive in a business built on seeing into the future. What would you say is going to be the next advancement in digital technology?We’re already seeing the tremendous movement toward wireless and mobile devices. This movement will continue and eventually replace desktop computers in most markets and for most tasks. I believe the next big advancement in technology will be the movement away from using a traditional keyboard and mouse. This move may come in the form of laser keyboards (a type of interactive hologram) and hand-gesture-commanded programs that are already in beta. The biggest disadvantage to mobile technology is the small screen size – interacting with these devices is a current challenge.

What would you say to a RiC student who wants to start his or her own business? What advice would you give him/her?I’d tell them to be prepared to live their business. It’s not a nine-to-five job. It’s got to become a lifestyle, and you’ve got to be passionate about what you do. If you’re not willing to sacrifice and can’t deal with the constant pressure of not knowing where or when the next check will come from, don’t start a business. If you think you can do it, then do it and never give up. It’s one of the most rewarding achievements a person can make.

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Michael Manni ’74: The Art of the Bakery BusinessBY RAY RAGOSTA

1313

His background in education has been an asset in his business ventures. He said, “I became an educator at Rhode Island College. I learned how to teach and that has a definite reflection on my business.”

B y 9:30 a.m. the backrooms of LaSalle Bakery’s Admiral Street store were surprisingly quiet. The dough mixers were silent; the ovens cooled. Several workers were ferrying large trays of pastries through, some of which would be sold here but others shipped to the Smith Street location. A few others were “finishing” cakes and pastries, a process that could mean decorating them, adding fruits and glazes, or dusting them with sugar.

The production area of one of Providence’s most notable bakeries was subdued at this hour because bakers and their helpers begin work here at midnight and end their day around 8 in the morning.

Smith Street starts a little later – around 2:30 a.m.

Owner Michael Manni admits that these hours are a good reason why the bakery business was not his first love.

Manni, a 1974 graduate of Rhode Island College, began working at LaSalle Bakery in 1965 when a friend’s father offered him a job as a pan boy, doing such tasks as scraping pans and sweeping floors. He then was a 15-year-old high school student. His boss was Jake DeMaria, who later passed the business on to him.

But Manni’s memories of the bakery go back further. As a boy he lived just two houses behind the Smith Street store. He recalled, “My mother used to send me to get dough at six o’clock in the morning, and she would make doughboys. The guy I bought the bakery from used to come out from the back, wipe the flour off his hands, and put the dough in the bag. . . . Little did I know how it was going to work out.”

DeMaria taught his young employee progressively more, and eventually Manni became a baker’s helper. While Manni did enjoy working with his hands and learning about baking, his vocation was art. At first he set his sights on becoming a commercial artist but later switched to art education.

He said, “I thought teaching would provide the best option to make a living and still be able to pursue my painting and drawing. I graduated from RIC in 1974 with a Bachelor of Science in art education. There were no teaching jobs.

“I applied to like 30 systems in Rhode Island and got a couple of interviews. I subbed for a year and a half but never got a job.”

All the while, between the ages of 15 and 25, Manni continued to work part-time at LaSalle Bakery.

In 1975 DeMaria was in the hospital, and Manni went to visit him. To his surprise, his employer asked him if he wanted to buy the business.

“I literally almost fell off my chair,” Manni said.

Although he knew the production end of the bakery, he knew little about business, so it was a tough decision. After discussing it with his wife Cheryl and mulling it over for a few months, he decided to become the new owner of LaSalle Bakery.

More than buying a business, however, Manni was inheriting a neighborhood tradition as the bakery had been in existence since the early 30s, with DeMaria taking it over around that time as well.

Manni always seems to think with two sides of his brain – the analytical and the creative. That is why LaSalle Bakery has become so successful, along with some guidance from DeMaria who stayed on to help the Mannis.

Manni observed of his association with his mentor, “I worked for him for 10 years; then he worked for me for 10 years.”

With Michael and Cheryl Manni as owners, LaSalle Bakery grew extensively. They expanded the operation from two retail spaces to five, purchased the building and added to it. They also bought two adjacent houses and a parking lot. When a bakery on Admiral Street went up for sale, they acquired it, remodeled it, and moved half the production there. To both stores, they added cafés offering menu items not found in traditional bakeries, such as coffee, soups, salads and sandwiches.

Not only were the physical presence and product line of LaSalle updated, but the business was modernized in other

14

ways. For instance, all inquiries and orders are directed to a call center in the Admiral Street location in order to free up sales staff. In-store customers can preview examples of special order items with a touch screen computer display; and off-site they can explore LaSalle Bakery’s menu, product line, history and more through a sophisticated website developed by Tribal Vision, the business’s marketing firm.

In addition, Manni recently purchased a $55,000 machine that cooks and cools pastry cream, cutting the time to produce the confection to about one-half hour. Also, combining the cooking and cooling processes reduces the risk of food contamination, which actually caused the death of a man last year as a result of his eating a contaminated zeppole (from another bakery).

“That gave me the incentive to buy the machine,” Manni said.

Many of these innovations result from Manni’s ability to “think globally and act locally.” He credits a good measure of his success to his participation in national associations, such as National Retail Baker’s Association, of which he was president in 1999. He gets to meet and learn from the “cream of the crop” as Manni noted.

How do his peers feel about LaSalle Bakery? Just last year Modern Baking magazine named LaSalle Retail Bakery of the Year. Manni’s shop was chosen from some 24,000 bakeries nationwide and was the first-ever Rhode Island bakery so honored.

His background in education has been an asset in his business ventures. He said, “I became an educator at Rhode Island College. I learned how to teach and that has a definite reflection on my business.

“It also gave me confidence in a lot of areas that I wouldn’t have had if I didn’t go to school. For instance, I have no trouble getting up in front of a room full of people and speaking.”

The artist in Michael Manni has not remained totally dormant either. There is a sensual element in his descriptions of the baking process.

“Bread has this real emotional aspect to it,” he noted. “You love the therapeutic thing of touching the dough. Kids love it when they can get their hands in dough. It just feels good.”

But there is more to it. At 62 Manni is spending less time at LaSalle and has begun to paint again after leaving art behind for several decades. Recently he took classes at RISD and in Newport and has joined the Providence Art Club.

With two sons involved in the business – Michael Jr. in administration and John in sales – more changes may be around the corner.

Oddly enough, that is where Manni grew up and was educated just around the corner, proving that you don’t have to leave the neighborhood to make your mark on the world.

Manni grew up and was educated just around the corner, proving that you don’t have to leave the neighborhood to make your mark on the world.

Machine for cooking and cooling pastry cream

15

and Casualty Underwriter. To earn the designation, she had to take 10 national exams while completing an MBA at URI in 1993.

In 2001, a year after she was appointed CEO at Providence Mutual, she received the Charles B. Willard Achievement Award from RIC.

In 2008 she was named one of the region’s 25 most industrious and influential businesswomen by Providence Business News.

She received the Women in Insurance Leadership Award in 2011 from Insurance Networking News, and the same year she received honors that included Distinguished Graduate Award from URI, Insurance Professional of the Year by Insurance Library of Boston and was named the first woman chairperson of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies.

In 2012 she participated in a women’s CEO panel discussion on jobs and the economy at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Underlying all her accomplishments, she said, has been her ability to set priorities. “I don’t sweat the small stuff,” she said. “I’m also blessed to have the support of my family. And as president and CEO, I’m fortunate to have an incredible team of co-workers whom I consider to be my work family.”

Parrillo’s advice to today’s business students and future graduates is “love what you do, find something you have a passion for, combine that with hard work and dedication, because you’re going to have to prove yourself. Any so-called advantages you think you might have will only last 30 seconds. You’ll be judged on your knowledge, not how you got there.”

n an industry that is still dominated by men, Sandra Glaser Parrillo ’78 has made her mark as president and CEO of Providence Mutual Fire Insurance Company. Parrillo began her career with Providence Mutual as an intern in 1977 while still a student at Rhode Island College. She credits one of her professors, John Sapinsley, for finding her the internship.

According to the June 2011 Insurance Journal, men still outnumber women in the property/casualty insurance industry; and according to another article, the insurance industry has been historically led by men. As a matter of fact, many of the founding fathers of Providence Mutual were prominent men immortalized in history books, including Samuel Slater, Moses Brown and John Brown. Nevertheless, Parrillo has risen up the ranks from intern, to secretary and vice president in 1995, to senior vice president in 1999, to the first woman president and CEO in 2000.

Parrillo said she never considered herself a woman in a man’s job; however, she did have to prove herself. Ultimately, it was her educational background, she said, that gave her the leverage she needed.

A graduate from Classical High School, Parrillo was active in student organizations. At RIC, she was a cheerleader for the men’s basketball team. She said those early experiences prepared her for leadership.

“As a cheerleader, you’re challenged to motivate people, even if the team is not number one. And as a leader, people look to you for motivation. My motivation is my passion and I believe in what I do.”

At RIC, Parrillo majored in mathematics with a minor in economics. When the college established the management program, Parrillo signed up for dual degrees in both management and mathematics.

“It was great being there at the infancy of the program. It gave us a chance to be noticed. Our graduating class was the smallest. Only 13 received a BS in management in 1978, and about a half dozen of us made insurance a career.”

Returning to RIC in 2004 as part of the Campaign Steering Committee, Parrillo said “academic altruism has been the hallmark of the faculty at RIC.” Expanding on this, she said, “Professors have a vested interest in student success and a genuine dedication to the students.”

Parrillo’s internship at Providence Mutual allowed her to bring her love of mathematics and her motivational skills to the business world. In 1986 she received the designation of Chartered Property

I

A Different Woman for a Different TimeBY CATHERINE CORELLI CHIANESE ’82

Parrillo rose from intern to president and CEO. In the business world, she said, “You’ll be judged on your knowledge, not how you got there.”

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ften when looking at former Rhode Island College student-athletes one tends to see their athletic accomplishments as the be-all and end-all of their career. In reality, it is just a chapter in their journey.

As successful as alumnus James White ’74 was as a student-athlete, that was the just the start of a brilliant career that is still going strong, albeit some 3,000 miles away in California.

After graduating from Bristol High School, where he was selected for that institution’s Hall of Fame in 1997, White became an Anchorman in the sports of soccer and baseball at RIC.

One of the truly great goalkeepers in RIC soccer history, White posted 14 career shutouts and a solid 1.79 goals against average

From the Athletic Arena to the Business WorldBY SCOTT GIBBONS

O during his career. In his senior year, in 1973, he co-captained the team to their first-ever postseason berth when they took part in the NAIA District 32 Tournament. RIC recorded a 13-3 overall record, the best in school history at that time: White allowed a mere 12 goals in 16 contests.

“We lost a lot of games during the 1972 season,” White recalled. “My teammates and I vowed the following season was not going to be the same. Steve Camargo, who was from Missouri, stayed in Rhode Island that summer, and as co-captains of the ’73 team, we got the entire fall squad to play together in a summer league. We organized the team and played through the summer and into the fall. We developed a winning strategy that summer. I learned many life lessons that year.”

James White with his daughter Tierney

Jim White in a 1974 Bristol (R.I.)

Phoenix photo

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“What my family has given back to RIC financially may never be enough to make up for what RIC has given to me.”

White also excelled as a pitcher on the baseball team. As a junior, he set, and still holds, the RIC record for the lowest earned-run average in a single season at 1.65. He is third all-time at RIC in career complete games (13) and fifth in ERA (3.19).

Jim received the John E. Hetherman Award as RIC’s top male senior student-athlete in 1974 and was inducted into RIC’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000. Jim’s athletic career was also highlighted with invitations to tryout with the Atlanta Braves and the R.I. Oceaneers of the American Soccer League. He continued to play several years later with the Oceaneers through their German American League affiliation in New York City.

“I learned several lessons from playing sports in college that I still use today,” White said. “The major ones are team building, being prepared at all levels, being competitive, developing a strategy and executing a plan to the best of your ability for the win. You have to learn lessons from past performances, correct them and move forward. Business life is also a game, and you have to have fun with it.”

After leaving RIC, White continued on a successful path in the business world.

He spent 10 years at Dixon Industries, a division of Bundy Corporation and left as the Flow Controls Division VP/national sales manager in 1982.

A year later, he moved to Cupertino, Calif., the heart of Silicon Valley. There he started JL White Technical Sales, Inc., specializing in marketing advanced polymers and fluidic solutions for the high tech OEM’s in biotech, medical and semiconductor markets.

“As the director of sales, I traveled quite frequently to the West Coast and saw that California living suited my active life style. Great weather paired with an exciting new business climate. There I would be able to play Senior League baseball up to age 45 and sports year round. I felt called to leave New England and spread my business wings and outlook on life. I have no regrets. Everyone should follow their dream. I encourage it.”

He sold his company to a venture capital firm (KRG Capital) to form a biotech platform company – Scivex Inc. – in October 2001. As group president for Scivex, Inc., he contributed to their worldwide growth and success. He was instrumental in selling Scivex through Piper Jaffrey to IDEX Corporation three years later. IDEX is currently listed on the NYSE. After the successful

sale of the company, White negotiated a buy-back with IDEX, Inc. to restart the JL White Technical Sales company.

Today, he is president of JL White LLC. He travels the world, consulting and selling advanced polymer materials and fluidic solutions to analytical and biotech customers, such as Applied Bio Systems, Agilent, Hitachi, Life Technologies, Waters Inc. and Thermo Fisher.

“Realizing a dream and acting upon that dream is what I’m most proud of in my professional life,” White said. “I was able to accomplish something I thought I never could. I had the courage and self-confidence to start a

business in sales and marketing in California and successfully build that business around the world. I was then able to sell the business to a Fortune 1000 company and subsequently built my current company into an internationally known materials and fluidics solutions sales and marketing firm.”

Jim lives in Half Moon Bay, Calif., and said he has been blessed with a great family. He has been married to his athletic and successful wife, Kate, for 21 years. They have two daughters: Darragh (16) and Tierney (10).

“RIC has continued to be a very influential part of my life. I want it to continue to be a part of my life and my family,” White said. “Athletic Director Don Tencher has been the motivator and conduit to the school and the athletic programs. He continues to reach out to me and my family on many occasions, which shows me the heart of the Anchormen family. He has created an environment that allows past athletes like me to want to come back to the school to see the phenomenal improvements and impacts that have been made. What my family has given back to RIC may never be enough to make up for what RIC has given to me.”

Tencher was equal in praise for White: “Jim White is the consummate alumni student-athlete, but more importantly he is the classiest of acts. I hadn’t been at RIC but a few months when Jim contacted me to communicate his support for my vision. His support has never waned, and, though Jim is thousands of miles away physically, I know he is a phone call away if I need his advice. I am proud to call Jim a Hall of Fame friend.”

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The $$ and Sense of SustainabilityBY GITA BROwN

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Y ou hear the term “sustainability” being knocked around by environmentalists, but, in practical terms, what does it mean for the layperson, and why is sustainability one of the major goals of Rhode Island College’s president Nancy Carriuolo?

The answer is apparent as soon as you walk out your front door.

This summer, Timothy Egan of The New York Times reported record-high temperatures throughout the United States, after the warmest winter and spring ever recorded. Thunderstorms were so packed with energy they earned their own category name. The western portion of the country was ablaze with wildfires as if bombed by aerial assaults. Violence, he said, has become as attached to the weather forecast as any war zone in the Middle East.

The problem is getting people to act on climate change. Firemen come in and put out the wildfires, companies clean up the oil spills, and people get back to their routine of depleting the natural resources. What will it take to make sustainability a sustained and collective effort? Jim Murphy ’07 believes the color of money will.

The newly hired sustainability coordinator for Rhode Island College is slight of build and shrewd. A proud Irish American, Murphy believes he knows the way to the pot of gold at the end of the sustainability rainbow.

“If you want sustainability to gain traction,” he said, “you have to show people it’s economically advantageous for them to do so. Getting your electric bill as low as you can gives you extra cash. Suddenly you have more disposable income. Now, you can build a vegetable garden and save on food costs. If you give people a dollar-and-cents incentive to live sustainably, they’ll do it.”

Necessity is also the mother of sustainability. Murphy learned that from his parents who emigrated to America. “My father came to this country with only seven dollars in his pocket. When he married my mother they had to save and live sustainably out of necessity,” he said.

Out of necessity European nations have come to rely on solar and geothermo power. Gas is too expensive. Yet even in the Great Recession, the United States hasn’t seen the necessity to become more energy efficient.

It doesn’t help that dirty energy – coal and oil – is still cheaper than clean energy. Wind electricity costs between 15 percent and 25 percent more than standard electricity and solar power costs more than twice as much, according to David Leonhardt, the Washington bureau chief of The New York Times.

“That will change,” Murphy said. “Oil is a finite resource. It will run out. We’ll be forced to turn to solar and wind out of necessity, and the cost will come down. Digital watches were expensive when they first came out. Now you can get them in a cereal box.”

Murphy has held positions in mortgage banking and was co-owner of the cargo company KC International, Inc. of Boston, moving freight in and out of Ireland and England. He left the company in 2005 and earned a RIC degree in history in 2007.

In 2008 he began teaching students how to manage their finances at RIC’s Outreach Programs. He also earned a Certificate in Green Business Management at RIC. Today he teaches the course himself and in 2012 became head of sustainability on campus.

Part of his job involves planning for RIC’s infrastructure through the Division of Administration and Finance. He’s hoping to have the college invest in green technology and practices that have a quick rate of return, such as solar panels that pay for themselves.

“Basically, it works like this,” he said. “A solar panel company comes in and pays the college to lease space on their roofs for 15 years. The company purchases the panels, installs them and maintains them. They make their money by selling the electricity the panels generate to National Grid. The grid is obligated by a new state law to buy anywhere from six to 16 percent of renewable energy.

“Because solar panels last for 35 years, entering into a 15-year lease with the college gives the college 20 years of use. Once the lease is up, the company can flip the panels over to us.

“Whether we buy the solar panels outright or lease the roof space to an outside company, everyone gets a piece of the action.”

“If you want sustainability to gain traction, you have to show people it’s economically advantageous for them to do so. . . . If you give people a dollar-and-cents incentive to live sustainably, they’ll do it.”

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Murphy is also exploring incentives offered by federal and municipal government and nonprofits to move institutions toward greater sustainability. He’s looking into retrofitting campus buildings for renewable energy, he’s looking at a waste minimization plan and he’s already begun a community garden that’s being farmed by faculty, staff and students.

Though Murphy teaches the Green Business Management Certificate course once a week, he’s pragmatic enough to know that “even as the college develops a sustainability curriculum, it’s meaningless if students can’t find jobs in the green industry.”

According to an August 2011 report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 0.7 percent of all U.S. employment was held by workers in green technologies and practices.

Not only is there a low percentage of employment in green jobs, the largest number of the employed are among the lowest paid. They are janitors; air conditioning, heating and cooling mechanics and installers; and general maintenance and repair workers. The highest paid positions are held by general and operations managers, construction managers and civil engineers.

But there may be a runway for green businesses to take off. President Obama recently announced that he had lowered the amount of carbon industries can pump into the atmosphere. That’s a significant blow to coal miners and coal producers, but it’s a great opportunity for businesses to create cleaner sources of energy.

“I think it’s an effective three-pronged attack,” Murphy said. “It will immediately lower the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, which means a significant reduction in the depletion of the ozone. It’s forcing the grids – the electric companies – to find an alternative way to generate electricity. And it will create green jobs. We need engineers to design solar panels, we need people to install them, we need people to service them, we need insurance agents to insure them, and we can produce this technology not just for the United States but for the rest of the world. Everybody is working when renewable energy comes to town.”

But will everyone in America be working? China’s solar companies hold more than 60 percent of the global market, according to Reuters.com.

“It’s true that China holds a good share of the market,” Murphy said, “but the United States Department of Commerce recently placed punitive tariffs on solar panels imported from China.

The cost of transporting foreign-made panels will make panels made in America more desirable for the U.S. market.”

But what if American companies outsource the jobs to China?

“I believe the new tariffs will be an incentive for companies to keep their businesses state-side,” Murphy said.

Without being a soothsayer, Murphy knows that if we don’t reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which exploded at the start of the Industrial Revolution, we’re well on our way to irreparable damage to the planet. We can’t keep kicking the can down the road year after year and hopefully make the tough choices then.

“The earth’s population reached 7 billion in 2011,” he said. “When you factor in the rising atmospheric temperature and the fact that only three percent of the earth’s surface is fresh water, the scarcity of supply will not meet the demand.

“Our summers are getting longer; our winters shorter, with more concentrated snowfall; our springs are shorter, with less time for food to grow; the climate changes and the scarcity of food and water hurts all living things.”

“It’s admirable that President Carriuolo has made sustainability her goal,” he said. “Her impact is being felt now and will be felt long after she leaves office.”

Carriuolo hopes it becomes a collective effort. She said, “We all need to work on sustainability issues for short-term reasons, such as controlling costs, but also for long-term reasons, such as protecting the planet for future generations.”

“The greatest influence on my life was JFK, not only because he was the first Irish-Catholic president, but because of his social consciousness. My favorite quote of his is, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you – but what you can do for your country.’ It’s what I live by,” said Murphy.

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RIC Sustainability Coordinator Jim Murphy ’07, front; and RIC student Rene Breton, far right.

A vendor from White Oak Farm, Gloucester, Mass., at the Fruit Hill Farmers Market at RIC.

While the economy soured, one business grew steadily – farming. More and more land is being used to farm, both in rural areas and urban areas. Rhode Island College has become one of the new urban farmers.

RIC students asked for a community garden in the spring of 2012, and Jim Murphy ’07, RIC sustainability coordinator, got it for them. He was able to acquire three garden plots on the grounds of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, RIC’s neighbor. The plots are being farmed by RIC faculty, students and staff.

Rene Breton, a junior social work major, is one of the students heading the effort. She said when she first saw the plots, she felt a little distressed.

“There were a lot of weeds and tall grass, while the crops from the community gardens surrounding ours were nicely coming along.”

The adjacent plots were being tended by Laotian, Vietnamese, Cambodian and Latin American farmers – also benefactors of the Franciscan nuns.

“We started out using a well that had an old-fashioned hand pump to water the garden, but the well eventually ran dry. That was a challenge because we had to get people on rotation to water the garden at different times,” said Breton.

“So far, we have a lot of tomatoes, and the pungent odor keeps the bugs away. We have a pumpkin patch, green bean plants, a small lettuce patch, a little bit of corn and one surviving cucumber plant. We’re also growing basil.”

The produce will be sold at the Fruit Hill Farmers Market on the RIC campus through the end of October.

“The downturn in the economy has been a mixed blessing,” Murphy said. “Americans are getting back to basics. They’re buying food from homegrown areas instead of ingesting the pollution and preservatives that come with vegetables being shipped hundreds of miles away.”

And RIC students have an active interest in sustainability, Murphy added. At Freshman Orientation this year, where incoming students are exposed to 75 campus organizations, 65 students elected to join either the Green Team or the Environmental Club. In fact, it was Breton who revived the once defunct club.

“It’s hard not to be an optimist,” Breton said. “Though there’s been irreversible damage done to our ecosystem, I feel empowered knowing there are things I can do – that we can do – together.”

The Business of Urban FarmingBY GITA BROwN

From the Farm

To the Market

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State of the Union: A Bird’s Eye ViewBy ERin KaVanaugH Flynn ’82, M’99

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SCI @ RIC – Creating a Sustainable Future One Community at a TimeBY JED GREENBERG, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF THE SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES INITIATIVE AT RIC

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ith the rapid growth of human population and increased material consumption of the past hundred years, humanity no longer extracts natural resources from the earth at a rate that can be sustained. The consequences of such developments have proven ecologically and socially devastating.

Acclaimed environmental scholar David Orr wrote, “All informed citizens know about the perils ahead, including rapid climate destabilization, species extinction, pollution, terrorism and ecological unraveling in its many forms, and the human, political and economic consequences.”

RIC’s Professional Studies and Continuing Education Office and the Sustainable Communities Initiative at Rhode Island College (SCI @ RIC) have developed a program to address the daunting challenges outlined by Orr. SCI @ RIC is an innovative pilot project that works to inform students and the general public on the local and global issues of sustainability, while providing a vehicle through which to take action for positive change.

Launched in February 2012, SCI has already exposed RIC students and community members to some of the region’s and nation’s most recognized sustainability thought leaders, trained nearly 20 SCI community leaders from 12 Rhode Island communities and established a nine-person leadership committee. SCI has also begun to work collaboratively on the development of a participatory research tool that will empower community residents to evaluate and improve the sustainability performance of their own towns and cities.

“SCI is unique in its mission to combine public discourse and training with individual initiative and community change,” said Dante Del Giudice, RIC director of Professional Studies and Continuing Education.

In order to further engage community residents in efforts that address today’s sustainability challenges, SCI uses a three-pronged approach consisting of enrichment education, participatory research and informed community activism. To date, SCI has focused on the first of these three strategies and in time will expand programming to include the latter two.

In its educational programs, SCI maintains a comfortable and welcoming environment for all, prioritizing respect, active listening, peer learning and deliberation. By practicing these essential competencies in the classroom, SCI participants are equipped to participate in and, in some cases, even lead a larger public discourse on sustainability.

SCI launched the Critical Issues in Sustainability Speaker Series in February in front of a packed audience in the Clarke Science Building. Comprised of 12 highly distinguished speakers, the series events were free and open to the public. Seven sustainability themes were covered over the course of the series, ranging from Just Sustainability, to Climate Change and Sustainable Food Systems.

Two of the speaker series events, Humans and Nature, and Where the Wild Things Are: Living with a New Top Predator in Your Backyard, are available for viewing online at www.ric.edu/pdp/2012_spring.php#sciSpeakers.

In coordination with the speaker series, a Community Leaders course was offered to provide a forum to explore the topics in greater depth, meet peers and practice facilitating community-based sustainability discussions.

During the summer, a second cohort of students was trained in these techniques while receiving an introduction to the

principles of sustainability. The next step will be for these leaders to bring the SCI curriculum into their own communities by facilitating informed discussions and action planning based on SCI readings and lectures.

“RIC’s green and sustainability programming is expanding rapidly, and SCI has positioned RIC to be an important resource for individuals and communities

that are interested in adopting sustainable practices,” said James Murphy, RIC sustainability coordinator.

Moving forward, the initiative will also provide participatory research opportunities to community members, whereby residents will have the opportunity to use the SCI Sustainable Communities Index (currently under development) to evaluate their own communities’ sustainability performance and build consensus around issues that residents can most effectively address together. The index is being developed collaboratively among SCI staff, students and advisors.

“The ecological crisis is in every way a crisis of education.” wrote Orr.

In recognition of the central role that educational institutions have to play in solving the sustainability challenges of the 21st century, Rhode Island College has made a commitment to increasing its sustainability programming through expanded academic and extra-curricular offerings, as well as greater engagement with the larger community of Rhode Island. The Sustainable Communities Initiative at RIC is one such example.

A slide from the SCI @ RIC Speaker Series event Where the Wild Things Are: Living with a New Top Predator in Your Backyard.

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hat Rhode Island needs most to overcome the devastating effect of the recession is good-paying, reliable employment for its residents – in a word, jobs.

Yet even when jobs are available, Rhode Islanders are not always ready to take those positions because they lack the skills required, leading to what the experts say is a sizeable skills gap in the Ocean State – a troubling, stubborn problem not easily resolved.

Yet that is exactly what Rhode Island College is trying to do. The college is a major player in ongoing efforts to eliminate, or at least reduce, the skills gap through its workforce development and job-training outreach programs, supported by government and private funding.

These programs, according to Director Jenifer Giroux, have trained approximately 3,000 people during its 20 years of operation. In 2011, 140 were trained.

“Outreach Programs [at RIC] play an integral role in addressing the state’s skills gap,” said Giroux, who is also interim associate vice president for Professional Studies and Continuing Education. “Our rigorous training programs are multi-dimensional. Students receive training in the core subjects, computers, business writing, public speaking, interview skills, financial literacy and soft skills.”

Charles Fogarty, director of the state Department of Labor and Training (DLT), can see a clear need for programs like RIC’s.

“Even with double-digit unemployment in Rhode Island, we hear from some employers that they have trouble filling job openings,” Fogarty said. “That is why it is so important that Rhode Island’s workforce development and education systems work together to better incorporate employer demand into the curriculum, so that we train people adequately for the job openings that are available.”

Fogarty and DLT’s communications manager, Laura Hart, stressed that the job-training programs supported by DLT, such as those at RIC, have demonstrated through labor market analysis a clear need for workers. “All training programs . . . must demonstrate they meet a labor market need,” Hart said.

The skills gap in Rhode Island is most severe for middle-level jobs, which require more than a high school education but less than a four-year college degree, according to the Economic Progress Institute (formerly the Poverty Institute).

Close to half of the jobs in the state – 48 percent – are middle-skill occupations, which generally pay well, in such industries as health care, construction, information technology, advanced manufacturing and marine trades, the institute said.

Yet only 37 percent of the workforce has the skills to fill these jobs.

Although Rhode Island College cannot boast the greatest number of job-training programs in the state, RIC offerings fill an existing need, particularly in the area of English as a second language (ESL).

“Rhode Island College’s short-term training programs . . . address real needs in the current marketplace,” Fogarty said. “In the cases where ESL is embedded in the curriculum, RIC is providing what we call ‘contextualized education.’

“This is the most effective and expeditious way we know to connect job seekers who have language barriers with viable employment opportunities, because language training and occupational training occur in tandem.”

Because the ESL curriculum is geared to the work environment trainees hope to enter, Fogarty noted, “their new language skills are immediately valuable on the job.”

Currently, RIC programs require those enrolled to have basic competency in reading and math. “There has been an increase in the number of people being laid off and seeking training,” Giroux said. “These individuals may seek training, but many of them have low literacy and math skills. As a result, the educational functioning level is not high enough for them to enter a training program [at RIC].”

One of Giroux’s goals for the future, in fact, is to develop training programs to meet these needs.

The main RIC Outreach Programs zero in on three professional areas: medical assistants (most in demand), bookkeeping/accounting clerks and insurance technicians. All three offer job security and pay $11 to $15 per hour, depending on the field.

The Outreach Programs looks forward to expanding its certificate programs to meet the needs of Rhode Island employees.

All programs include financial literacy lessons and midpoint internships, which, Giroux pointed out, often lead to employment. Once finished, students are not left to fend for themselves but work with program staff until they find jobs.

In a report published in late 2011, Giroux cited an impressive 75 percent placement rate for all outreach programs at RIC.

RIC’s Outreach Programs Help to Close the State’s Skills GapBY DENISE PERREAULT

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“Outreach Programs [at RIC] play an integral role in addressing the state’s skills gap,” said Giroux, who is also interim associate vice president for Professional Studies and Continuing Education. “Our rigorous training programs are multi-dimensional. Students receive training in the core subjects, computers, business writing, public speaking, interview skills, financial literacy and soft skills.”

Senator Jack Reed and Charles Fogarty, director of the R.I. Department of Labor and Training, advise RIC students enrolled in the Contextualized Medical Assisting Training Program. RIC President Nancy Carriuolo and Senator Jack Reed visit the

RIC Outreach Programs.

Jane Palmer, senior employment and training manager for the R.I. Department of Labor and Training, presents a certificate of completion to a student.

Graduation day for RIC outreach students.

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Fogarty Life Science

Gaige Hall

Craig-Lee

YESVote 3#R E N O VAT E

Fogarty | Gaige | Craig-Lee

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Fogarty Life Science

Gaige Hall

Rhode Island College will be on the ballot in November seeking $50 million in general obligation bonds to renovate and improve facilities at Rhode Island College.

Approval of the referendum will ensure funding for renovation and improvement of the college’s two main classroom buildings – Craig-Lee and Gaige Halls, as well as the expansion of the Fogarty Life Science Building beyond its current 8,000 square feet. Expansion of the Fogarty Life Science Building, which houses the college’s allied health and nursing programs, will not preclude the possibility of locating a joint nursing school in Providence.

RIC Alumni Association President William Fazioli, who graduated from the college in 1986, urged his fellow grads to vote yes on Question #3. “This is a tremendous opportunity for the college’s alumni to show their support for RIC by approving the bond referendum,” Fazioli said. “I have many fond memories of taking classes in the three buildings, and I recognize the need to renovate and modernize them.”

Fazioli, who has a son enrolled at Rhode Island College, said that the “time has come for the college to bring these buildings forward.”

According to RIC President Nancy Carriuolo, the passage of Question #3 is essential to the college’s mission to provide quality, affordable education for Rhode Island students pursuing a four-year degree. “Nearly every one of our students has classes in either Craig-Lee or Gaige Hall,” Carriuolo said, “and both of these buildings are woefully inefficient and in a state of disrepair. Passage of the bond issue will allow us to upgrade our classrooms and learning environment relative to improved technology and teaching space.”

Earl Simson, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, cited problems with Gaige and Craig-Lee that could be significantly improved by the renovations, including leaking pipes, inadequate temperature control and acoustics.

“The general condition of both buildings makes it difficult for them to be good learning environments, which is discouraging to both the faculty and students,” Simson said.

Ultimately, it will be the students who most benefit from the project. Collectively, the buildings targeted for renovation house social sciences, humanities, the sciences, and nursing/allied health. These buildings are also host to campus tutoring and counseling services, and Upward Bound and PEP, programs that serve students with economic challenges.

Bond Issue on November Ballot for RICBond Issue on November Ballot for RICVote yes on Question #3 to approve funds for improvements to Gaige and Craig-Lee Halls and Fogarty Life Science Building

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n July 8, 28 juniors and seniors from 13 public and six private high schools across Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts converged on the Newport Naval Base to participate in a weeklong seminar to explore STEM curriculum (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and how these subjects could be turned into employment opportunities in the future.

Mary Sullivan, RIC professor of math and computer science and director of the R.I. Stem Center at RIC, coordinated student enrollment for this pilot program. She said Starship POSEIDON was created to support President Barack Obama’s and the chief of naval operations’ vision of motivating students to pursue education in STEM fields.

“The U.S. Navy has been a leader in leveraging technology and science-based development to defend the nation,” said William Bundy, a professor at the Naval War College who led the seminar.

“The nation also needs scientists, engineers and technologists to maintain a strong economy,” he said. “Today’s investment in STEM education will help the Navy and the nation maintain a competitive edge in the future.”

One of the major goals of the seminar was to draw not only STEM-strong students but underrepresented populations as well. High schools such as Mt. Hope, Classical, Mount Pleasant and Coventry as well as the Prout School and LaSalle Academy were represented.

STEM-related lectures and tours were given each day and participants took part in academic courses taught by professors in the Naval Academy Preparatory School. Tutorials were also given on résumé polishing and prepping for an interview.

The objective, Sullivan said, was to prepare these students for college, to offer insight into employment opportunities in STEM fields and to build student confidence through hands-on learning activities.

Student participant Halley Martin, an incoming junior at Ponaganset High School, found the course content to be at a much higher level than she experienced in high school.

“The professors didn’t treat us like high school kids,” she said. “They treated us like we were part of their college roster. They let us explore the concept of each lesson in our own way.”

After the day’s academic work was completed, the students went on tours at locations such as the naval submarine base in New London, Conn., where they learned how submarines retain oxygen by creating their own electrolysis machines; and at the USS Constitution/Boston NROTC Consortium, where they were taught how ocean engineering is used to construct the Navy’s ships.

Through firsthand exposure to practical applications of science and technology, the students gained an appreciation of STEM education as well as a new perspective on STEM careers.

Martin said before she took the seminar, she didn’t have a solid idea of what she wanted to major in in college.

“But the more I progressed through the seminar, the more I realized that a STEM major is a great path to choose because of its versatility and rapidly growing presence in the job market. This realization, plus the opportunity to see firsthand how STEM can be applied in the real world, pushed me toward an interest in a related major.”

Portsmouth High School student Daniel Reynolds knew what he wanted to major in – aeronautical/aerospace engineering. Starship POSEIDON offered him “a rich overview” of the college classes he hopes to take at the U.S. Service Academy.

Upon the close of the seminar, the Admiral Arleigh Burke Award for outstanding leadership was presented to Sara Poor, a LaSalle Academy student and daughter of Frank Poor, a RIC adjunct professor.

The overall success of this pilot program has led to further collaboration between the R.I. Stem Center at RIC, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport and the Naval War College, resulting in a five-year education partnership agreement. This alliance will give RIC STEM students academic credit for work on defense laboratory research projects related to STEM.

The R.I. Stem Center at RIC is the state’s primary educational hub, resource and research collaborative, established to increase interest in the advancement of STEM in Rhode Island. The center provides state-of-the-art professional development, collects and disseminates the best practices and fosters networks and partnerships among PK–12 teachers, teacher candidates, higher education faculty, students, parents and other community stakeholders.

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STEM Seminar, the Starship POSEIDON, Launches at Naval BaseBY NICOLE WILSON

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Starship PoSEIDon students board the uSS Constitution for a tour at the Charlestown Navy Yard. The students attended a weeklong camp and seminar set up by William Bundy, a STEM program executive and professor at Naval War College, in conjunction with Rhode Island College and the Naval Academy Preparatory School.

From left to right: Mary Sullivan, director of the R.I. Stem Center at RIC, poses with student award winner Sara Poor and William Bundy, following the inaugural STEM camp graduation ceremony.

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Twenty-eight high school students from Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts participated in the Starship POSEIDON Seminar.

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ueen Bee-atrice, Queen Latifah and their swarms of worker and drone honeybees have arrived at Rhode Island College. The two bees are queens of their respective hives, which are located between buildings 7 and 8 on the east campus.

The college is the first institution of higher learning in the state to host beehives, which were donated by the Rhode Island Beekeepers Association.

RIC President Nancy Carriuolo provided opening remarks at a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the college’s new beekeeping program on August 15. The event was led by Jim Murphy ’07, RIC’s sustainability coordinator.

Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, Rhode Island Beekeepers Association secretary and RIC professor emerita, provided an informative presentation on honeybees prior to attendees viewing the

hives. Fluehr-Lobban had proposed establishing the beekeeping program at the college.

Among those in attendance were State Rep. Ray Hull, children’s author Susan Ring, RIC alumni and R.I. Beekeepers Association members Scott and Emily Langlois, and Ken Ayars and James Lawson of the Rhode Island Department

of Environmental Management’s Division of Agriculture.

When the beekeeping initiative was first announced, RIC President Nancy Carriuolo stated, “I am proud that Rhode Island College is taking another step forward in its ongoing efforts to promote green initiatives and assist in the collective work to safeguard our most treasured asset – our environment. By fostering a culture of sustainability among students, faculty and the community at-large, we are doing our part to create a brighter future for generations to come.”

QRhode Island College Holds Dedication Marking New Beekeeping Initiative

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hode Island College’s first “Light the Flame” ceremony – a celebration for RIC freshmen who are beginning their undergraduate careers – was held on Aug. 26 on the Campus Quad.

Incoming freshmen were divided into six groups, representing the five counties of Rhode Island and out-of-state students. Each student received a specially designed “Light the Flame” t-shirt, color

coordinated for each group, along with a candle.

The Anchor and the Flame, traditional symbols at RIC, played key roles in the ceremony. Representatives of the Class of 1966, bearing lighted torches, led the students in a procession to the Anchor on the Quad. Because they arrived on the RIC campus as freshmen 50 years ago, members of the Class of 1966 provided inspiration as participants in the ceremony. The torches they carried provided the initial flame that the college’s newest students used to light their own candles, passing the flame from one to another until all were lit.

The Class of 2016 plaque was affixed to the fence near the Anchor, where it will remain for four years until graduation. The Anchor light was turned on anew, the symbolic “flame” for the new freshman class.

RIC President Nancy Carriuolo said, “This is a wonderful tradition we are starting tonight.”

William Fazioli ’86, president of the alumni association, offered remarks as did student affairs vice president Gary Penfield, who told the new students, “This week you’re going to experience many firsts, and this is a first.”

The event was created by a group of students who met last spring to develop a way to introduce freshmen to the RIC campus, according to Jim Salmo, vice president of college advancement. “These students were able to take all the important symbols associated with Rhode Island, the college and our graduation ceremony and weave them together to create this new tradition for freshmen.”

The Rhode Island College Alumni Association provided financial support for the event.

The new tradition will come full circle with a similar ceremony to be held by the Class of 2016 graduates and will include relocating the class plaque from the undergraduate to alumni area.

The “Light the Flame” ceremony will take place every year on the Sunday evening before the start of the fall semester for each incoming freshman class.

RIC Establishes New Freshman Tradition to Mark Start of Collegiate Careers

RRIC freshmen light candles.

Alumni Association President Bill Fazioli ’86 presents the class plaque to President Carriuolo.

Maureen Roselli ’66, center, with assistance from Lloyd Matsumoto, right, RIC professor of biology, lead students from Providence County during the ceremony.

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Alex and Ani, LLC, Donates $1M to RIC BY GITA BROWN

3232Designer Carolyn Rafaelian, owner of Alex and Ani, and Giovanni Feroce, CEO

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lex and Ani, LLC, named one of Inc. Magazine’s 500 fastest growing companies, has donated $1 million to Rhode Island College – $100,000 a year over the next 10 years. In recognition of the gift, RIC’s new $17 million art center currently under renovation will be named Alex and Ani Hall. The renovation has an expected completion date of January 2014.

“We are very proud that this building will bear the name of a local world-class lifestyle brand that is deeply devoted to higher education,” said RIC President Nancy Carriuolo.

The “catalyst for the gift was President Carriuolo’s passion and vision for Rhode Island College,” said Giovanni Feroce, CEO of Alex and Ani. “She inspired us to support all that she was doing.

“We also recognized that RIC’s jewelry program, together with our company’s need for a well-trained workforce, is a collaboration that would be of benefit to both entities.”

This is the company’s second large donation to a Rhode Island institution of higher education. Bryant University was the first recipient.

“We are fortunate to partner with business leaders like Designer Carolyn Rafaelian, owner of Alex and Ani, and Giovanni Feroce, CEO, who are devoted to bolstering the state’s economy and who give back so generously to the community,” said Carriuolo. “With this donation, Alex and Ani has set the foundation for a world-class art and jewelry making program at RIC.”

Having long enjoyed a tradition of excellence, RIC’s metalsmithing and jewelry students compete each year against students from colleges throughout New England at the annual Student Jewelry Design Awards sponsored by the New England Chapter of the

A International Precious Metals Institute (IPMI). And each year RIC students come away with top honors.

In 2012 Terren Findeisen won the IPMI President’s Award ($1,500) and Traci Gruttadauria won the New England Chapter Award ($1,000).

RIC graduates have also found employment with prestigious jewelers, while another alumna gained the attention of the White House. A leader in the field of medallic art (the art of making medals), Jeanne Stevens-Sollman ’68 was appointed in 2012 by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, an 11-member cabinet.

“It’s the talent as well as the techniques being taught at RIC that set RIC’s art program apart,” said assistant professor of art Diane Reilly ’91, M’93.

“There’s a certain degree of quality you know you will find here. When you see the work students are producing, you also know what kind of teaching is going on here. Our students are putting passion into their work, and our faculty are committed to bringing out the best in them,” Reilly said.

Since 1978 RIC’s art programs have been accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art – a distinction shared by only two other colleges in Rhode Island.

RIC offers a BA and BFA in studio art, with concentrations in ceramics, digital media design, metalsmithing and jewelry, painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture; a BA in art education, with concentrations in all of the above except digital media design; a BA in art history; and a BS and BFA in art education, with concentrations in art education and media studies.

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D ear Alumni and Friends, What a great year it has been at Rhode Island College! I continue to meet and get to know more loyal, enthusiastic alumni who are actively involved here at RIC. We welcomed over 625 alumni and friends to a series of delightful events this spring and summer hosted by the Alumni Association.

In March we launched RIC on the Road events at Rhode Island Hospital and CVS Caremark, visiting alumni at work. Over 50 guests attended! Helping to organize these gatherings were Jane Williams, dean of the School of Nursing, and David Blanchette, dean of the School of Management. In April we encouraged alumni to attend our Alumni Volunteer Information Night. That evening, the Alumni Association Board greeted over 30 alumni, many of whom signed up to serve on a board committee. In May we hosted our cornerstone event of the year, the Alumni Awards Dinner. Read all about this year’s dinner on page 38.

Also in May, over 45 alumni from the Class of 1962 returned to campus to celebrate their 50th reunion. The group had a wonderful weekend reminiscing and reconnecting. Their generosity was evident as well: the Class of 1962 raised over $39,000 for their Class Gift. A portion of this

donation has been designated to name the Class of 1962 Courtyard between Alger Hall and the new art center, Alex and Ani Hall (see page 32).

During the summer we did not slow down. In June over 50 alumni and guests enjoyed Rhode Island College Night at the Pawtucket Red Sox. In July we greeted over 80 guests for Rhode Island College Day at the Newport International Polo Series. And in August we had over 90 attendees at Rhode Island College Night at the Providence Performing Arts Center. The occasion began with an exclusive alumni reception, followed by an outstanding performance of Jersey Boys. A wonderful evening shared with our Rhode Island College graduates!

Finally, I want to recognize the numerous volunteers who have given their time and talent to make each gathering such a success. Thank you for your brilliant efforts on behalf of Rhode Island College. It is truly an honor to be associated with such a fabulous group of people.

I hope to see you at a RIC alumni event this coming fall and winter!

Kate Brezina Executive Director of Alumni and College Relations

A Message From the Executive Director

Alumni Volunteer Night. Left to right: Chris DeSessa ‘69, Jeff Hebert ‘83, Paul St. Jean ‘86 and Prince Madison Nonwuun ‘09.

Alumni Volunteer Night. Left to right: Kathleen Swann ‘79, M‘89, PhD‘01; Harold Devine ‘65; and Elizabeth Robberson ‘92.

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Janice Carnevale ’76, left, and Laura Razza ’04.

Left to right: Tabitha Marsden ’10, Lisa Gregory ’07, RIC President Nancy Carriuolo, Kim Boghossian ’11 and Michael Consiglio ‘90.Tammy and Henry Tedeschi ’85.

A Day at the Polo Matches

A Night at the Pawsox

Gladys Corvera-Baker ’85, right, and friends.John Vickers ’90 with family member.

Board members Jason Anthony ’99, M’05; Erin McCarthy Plaziak ’93; Kate Brezina; and Walter Musto ‘00.

Left, Jacqueline Manni Lisa ‘65, Anthony Lisa and guests.

Left to right: Cynthia ’92 and Dave Brown, John Vestri ’65 and Rose Vallely Vestri ’59 and guest.

Donna Vassella ’90 and family.

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Jersey Boys After-Show Reception

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tuESday–SatuRday, oCtoBER 2–6, 2012 Homecoming 2012 For details go to my.ric.edu/go/homecoming

New Date! FRiday, oCtoBER 19, 2012 Jack-o-lantern Spectacular 6 p.m., Roger Williams Park Zoo

FRiday, oCtoBER 19, 2012 night to Shine: Step up for RiC nursing Event 5:30 p.m., Chapel Grille, Cranston. Contact Carol Peck at (401) 456-8014

FRiday, noVEMBER 16, 2012 alumni awards 2013: nomination deadline Nominate online today at my.ric.edu/go/alumniawards

WEdnESday, noVEMBER 28, 2012 alumni association Board Meeting 5:30 p.m., Campus

SatuRday, dECEMBER 8, 2012 Rhode island College Holiday gathering at dave and Busters 5–7 p.m., Dave and Busters, Providence Place Mall

WEdnESday, JanuaRy 16, 2013 alumni association Board Meeting 5:30 p.m., Campus

tuESday, FEBRuaRy 5, 2013 alumni Volunteer and Board information night 5:30 p.m., Alumni Lounge

WEdnESday, FEBRuaRy 20, 2013 alumni association Board Meeting 5:30 p.m., Campus

tHuRSday, FEBRuaRy 28, 2013 alumni Board of directors nomination Form deadline Nominate online today at my.ric.edu/go/nomination

WEdnESday, MaRCH 20, 2013 alumni association Board Meeting 5:30 p.m., Campus

tHuRSday, May 9, 2013 alumni awards dinner 5:30 p.m., Donovan Dining Center

tHuRSday, May 16, 2013 graduate Commencement 5:30 p.m., The Murray Center

SatuRday, May 18, 2013 undergraduate Commencement 9:30 a.m., Campus Quad

Questions? Contact the Office of Alumni and College Relations at (401) 456-8086.

Mark your calendar.Events and important dates!

We encourage you to come out for these lively and entertaining gatherings at RIC and around

Rhode Island!

StayConnected to Rhode Island College

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iola Davis ’88, Oscar-nominated actress and winner of the Screen Actors Guild’s best-actress award for her work in the 2011 film The Help, met with theatre students and faculty during a special reception at the on-campus home of RIC President Nancy Carriuolo on May 23.

Students had the opportunity to ask Davis about her journey from RIC to Hollywood stardom. Davis told the students she knows very well the difficult path they are treading on the road to success, and she wished them well in their acting careers.

Davis, who also has won two Tony Awards, two Drama Desk awards, two Obie Awards and an Outer Critics Award, posed for photos with many in attendance, including RIC Theatre Professor Emeritus P. William Hutchinson, who worked closely with Davis during her student days at RIC.

In addition to her undergraduate degree at RIC, Davis received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the college in 2002.

Rhode Island College Hosts Special Reception for Viola Davis V

tuESday–SatuRday, oCtoBER 2–6, 2012 Homecoming 2012 For details go to my.ric.edu/go/homecoming

New Date! FRiday, oCtoBER 19, 2012 Jack-o-lantern Spectacular 6 p.m., Roger Williams Park Zoo

FRiday, oCtoBER 19, 2012 night to Shine: Step up for RiC nursing Event 5:30 p.m., Chapel Grille, Cranston. Contact Carol Peck at (401) 456-8014

FRiday, noVEMBER 16, 2012 alumni awards 2013: nomination deadline Nominate online today at my.ric.edu/go/alumniawards

WEdnESday, noVEMBER 28, 2012 alumni association Board Meeting 5:30 p.m., Campus

SatuRday, dECEMBER 8, 2012 Rhode island College Holiday gathering at dave and Busters 5–7 p.m., Dave and Busters, Providence Place Mall

WEdnESday, JanuaRy 16, 2013 alumni association Board Meeting 5:30 p.m., Campus

tuESday, FEBRuaRy 5, 2013 alumni Volunteer and Board information night 5:30 p.m., Alumni Lounge

WEdnESday, FEBRuaRy 20, 2013 alumni association Board Meeting 5:30 p.m., Campus

tHuRSday, FEBRuaRy 28, 2013 alumni Board of directors nomination Form deadline Nominate online today at my.ric.edu/go/nomination

WEdnESday, MaRCH 20, 2013 alumni association Board Meeting 5:30 p.m., Campus

tHuRSday, May 9, 2013 alumni awards dinner 5:30 p.m., Donovan Dining Center

tHuRSday, May 16, 2013 graduate Commencement 5:30 p.m., The Murray Center

SatuRday, May 18, 2013 undergraduate Commencement 9:30 a.m., Campus Quad

Questions? Contact the Office of Alumni and College Relations at (401) 456-8086.

Oscar-nominated actress Viola Davis ’88, sixth from left, meets with Rhode Island College theatre students at a reception at the President’s House in May.

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An impressive crowd of alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends came out to be a part of the 2012 Alumni Awards Dinner. The evening began with a cocktail reception in Donovan Dining Center followed by dinner and awards. We were thrilled to see a significant increase in attendance over last year’s ceremony. The committee members worked diligently to ensure a successful event and, in cooperation with the Office of Alumni and College Relations, secured a number of new donors for the awards dinner.

Mariam Boyajian ’70, M’72, 2012 Alumni Awards co-chair noted, “The members of the Rhode Island College Alumni Board were delighted to share a delightful evening with over 300 members of our community who attended the 2012 Alumni Awards ceremony. The award recipients are truly accomplished in their professional fields and are a testimony to the quality of education offered at the college. Each is a public relations snapshot of a successful graduate of this fine institution. We look forward to making the 2013 event even more successful. Be sure to nominate outstanding alumni for the Awards Committee to consider next year and join us on May 9, 2013.”

To highlight the Alumni Association’s commitment to the school and the students of today, the Alumni Association launched a student scholarship portion to the Alumni Awards Dinner. This year we recognized six alumni award recipients, seven alumni honor roll recipients and seven $1,000 student scholarship recipients. The seven students were thrilled to attend the ceremony and learn about the accomplishments of all the outstanding graduates from Rhode Island College.

Save the date for the 2013 Alumni Awards ceremony. Do you know of a graduate who has done exceptional things and is worthy of an Alumni Award? Nominate your candidate today at my.ric.edu/go/AlumniAwards. We are accepting nominations now through November 16, 2012.

Rhode Island CollegeAlumni Awards Dinner, May 10, 2012

Alumna of the Year Deloris Davis Grant ’88, M’94, addressed the crowd:“Thank you to the teachers in the Central Falls School District for making me believe in myself and pushing me hard. . . . Thank you to the teachers of the RIC Upward Bound Program for the intellectual and social guidance and opening up my heart to diversity. Thank you, RIC, for my bachelor’s and master’s degrees and the experiences that continue to shape my destiny. I am proud to be a RIC alum. I am proud to be a graduate of Central Falls High School and the RIC Upward Bound Program. I am a testa-ment to the American public education system. I am rep-resenting the American dream. I am a role model for the children I teach and the Central Falls community. My message tonight is that my road to life and success has always been rooted in my exposure to teachers who brought the world to me; and, therefore, I want to help children achieve their dreams.”

Charles B. Willard Achievement Award recipient Victoria Gailliard-Garrick ’75 was surrounded by friends, family members and co-workers for this event. In her speech she noted, “Every day, I realize how blessed I am to have the support of so many people that help me to make a differ-ence. If not for the support of my Board of Trustees, my management staff and a dedicated faculty, I could not do what I do. I am truly grateful that the Rhode Island College community has chosen me for this award. This award extends beyond me, and I share it tonight with all of you who support me every day in my professional and personal endeavors. Thank you.”

THANK YOU TO THE 2012 COMMITTEE MEMBERS Co-Chairs Mariam Boyajian ’70, M’72 Erin Plaziak ’93 Jason Anthony ’99, M’05 Alan Chille ’82 Kristen Dean ’92 Walter Musto ’00 Mark Paolucci ’85 Mathies Santos ’82 Judith Spremulli ’03

THANK YOU TO THE 2012 ALUMNI AWARDS DONORS Ashley Amaral Mary Bettez ‘79 Jean Brown Margaret Carroll ‘63 Christina Cipolla ‘93 Joseph Costa ‘71 Margaret Dooley ‘76 Marianne Douglas ‘72 Donald Driscoll ‘54 Frances Driscoll ‘61 Paula Ewin ‘78 Francis Flynn ‘77 Peter Grant ‘83 Robert Halkyard Jane Hayward ‘71 Nancy Hoogasian Deborah Iannuccilli Sharon Kaye Eugene LaParle ‘78 Paulette LaParle ‘79 Michael Lima Francis Madeira ‘69 Cynthia Marszalek ‘73 Patricia Martinez ‘86 Peter Nero ‘76 Mary O’Leary ‘77 Axel Perez-Bonilla Thomas Ramsbey Leah Ross-Coke ‘94 Michelina Santos Temple AM David Louis Yosinoff ‘40 Anonymous (3)

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Class of 1937 Classes of 1938 and 1940

Class of 1942 Classes of 1945 and 1956

Class of 1946 Class of 1947

Class of 1952 Class of 1957

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1950s1957Edwina M. (gugel) Babiec is membership chair for the Community Players of Pawtucket. She and her husband make several driving trips each year to visit grandchildren in Pittsburgh, Pa., and Wake Forest, N.C. Claudette Campanella has retired to Clermont, Fla., but spends the summer and Christmas holidays in Rhode Island at the homes of her son or daughter. Her granddaughter Sadie Campanella is attending RIC beginning in fall 2012.Joan g. (Murphy) Casement has a new interest, Svaroopa yoga. She finds this exercise very comforting and relaxing.Mary Cullinan enjoys traveling with friends or as part of a group. She has journeyed throughout the United States, Canada and the British Isles. Mary l. Heines is active in RIC’s Once Upon a Time program, telling and reading stories at a nearby daycare center. She plays the autoharp, sings and uses puppets to teach and entertain children ages six months to five years. natalie Migneault continues to teach K-ESL at Gladstone School in Cranston. Her daughter Paula Coro is a graduate of the RIC School of

Nursing. Granddaughter Christine Coro ’11 is a substitute teacher in Burrillville and granddaughter Stephanie Coro is a current RIC student. Joan Vallee is a mathematics resource teacher at St. Joseph’s School in West Warwick. Her granddaughter Megan teaches music in the same school. Vallee has eight grandchildren, all of whom study music to keep up the music tradition in the family.

1959don Babbitt traveled to Tanzania in 2011 for a photographic safari. John and Carol (Hulcup) Hoyle celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in February 2012. Carol retired in 2011 from the Cumberland High School English Department.anthony Marino retired after many years as an adjunct professor of mathematics at RIC.Frederick and alice (Corsair) Reinhardt enjoyed a photographic safari to Zulu Nyala, South Africa, in March 2012.Edward and doris (Fontaine) Rooney recently celebrated their golden anniversary. They divide their time between Rhode Island and Florida. Richard and Janice (Pezzullo) Varone celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a trip to Italy with their children.

Jeanne Stevens-Sollman ’68 was appointed in April 2012 by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, an 11-member cabinet. Stevens-Sollman, an artist, sculptor and medallist, holds a master’s degree from Pennsylvania State University and lives in Bellefonte, Pa. She is a recognized leader in the field of medallic sculpture, with her works exhibited in museums throughout the United States and Europe and in numerous private collections.

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RIC alumni at Newport International Polo Series

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Presiding Justice of the Rhode Island Superior Court alice gibney ’69, a West Warwick native and a first-generation Irish American, served as the 53rd Grand Marshall (only the third female) of West Warwick’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. She was appointed to the Superior Court in 1984 and has held her current position since 2009.

1960s1967Maryanne (gorman) Carpenter (master’s ’71), a recreation therapist at Tewksbury (Mass.) Hospital, has been named an employee of the month by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

1968Retired secondary school teacher and avid boater John amaral is the founder and director of Lazarus Boat Works. Lazarus Boat Works refurbishes and then sells or auctions small sailing, rowing and power craft obtained as gifts or purchased by Amaral at low cost. All sales proceeds are donated to two outreach programs of the First Evangelical Lutheran Church of East Greenwich.

1970s1973alex drinkwater Jr. is the author of The Ghosts of Hanoi, a novel set in the early 1980s that was published as an e-book in 2011. While the book is based on historical events, its story line about the efforts of a young Pentagon analyst to find the truth about American POWs who might still be in Southeast Asia is pure fiction. In the 1970s Drinkwater did have a stint at the Pentagon assigned to the office that was investigating military and civilian personnel still missing as a result of the Vietnam War. It was then that he conceived the idea for The Ghosts of Hanoi.

Left to right: 1962 classmates Mike Iacona and Ed Rondeau lead the 2012 commencement procession.

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1974laura Hines is the special education out-of-district coordinator for Weston (Mass.) Public Schools. Her immediate past position was as the assistant program director for curriculum and instruction at Boston College Campus School, a role she served since 1996.

1975Joan Esneault has been named director of sales and marketing at the New Orleans Marriott hotel. Her responsibilities include overseeing all sales and marketing activities, with emphasis on meetings and groups. Her appointment follows her most recent position as vice president of resort sales at Foxwoods Resort Casino and MGM Grand at Foxwoods in Connecticut. Esneault had previously been employed by Marriott in sales and marketing roles in several locations across the country. The Federal Hill Commerce Association in Providence presented John lombardi with the Man of the Year Award during its 2011 Columbus Day festivities. Lombardi was honored for his years of service as Ward 13’s councilman. He also served as the mayor of Providence.

1976Kathi Crowe, a consultant in youth development and child welfare services for over three decades, is now the executive director of the South County YMCA in South Kingstown, a branch of the Greater Providence YMCA. Crowe has volunteered for the YMCA for the past 25 years. She most recently served as the executive director of the National Foster Care Coalition in Washington, D.C., successfully advocating for several important policies.Professor gary gray was named the director of the MBA program at Johnson & Wales University’s Alan Shawn Feinstein Graduate School. He has been a member of the graduate school faculty for 21 years, previously having a career in banking in which he specialized in commercial lending. Catherine (Sarnosky) Heath retired after teaching for many years in the Woonsocket Public Schools. She is now traveling the country with her husband Steven in their RV, The Blue Bus.

1977denise Charron-Prochownik has been appointed chair of the Department of Health Promotion and Development at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing.

1978The Williamsport Sun Gazette, in Williamsport, Pa., featured Janet Hurwitz (master’s) in its “In the Classroom” column of April 2, 2012. The article credits Hurwitz for offering lessons beyond the classroom and developing strong relationships with her students. lorraine (izzi) Moschella is the principal of St. Rocco School in Johnston. She had been an elementary school principal in the North Providence School District since 1994. Moschella also spent nine years as a special education teacher and four years as a school administrator in the Providence Public Schools.Steven Pennell is the coordinator of arts and culture at the University of Rhode Island Feinstein Providence

Robin lynch ’79 has joined Boston-based Hebrew SeniorLife as the vice president of quality and regulatory affairs for the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center. Hebrew SeniorLife is the largest provider of elder health care and housing in New England and is an affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Lynch has over 30 years’ experience working in health care quality, safety, security and regulatory affairs in area hospitals. She was most recently the director of quality, patient safety and risk management at St. Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, Mass.

Labor activist Scott duhamel ’81 is a board member at Blue Cross Blue Shield of RI and the secretary-treasurer of the Rhode Island Building and Construction Trades Council. In this role, Duhamel advocates for workers’ rights with legislators, contractors and workers. He holds several other labor leadership positions, including business representative for the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, treasurer of RI Jobs With Justice and board member of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO. In addition, he has been a pop culture writer and film columnist for a number of publications, including The New Paper, Providence Phoenix and Providence Monthly.

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campus. In this position he founded the Urban Arts and Culture Program, a monthly arts exhibit held in the main lobby of URI’s Providence campus. Professional and community visual artists display their works, which are often complemented by musical, dance or theatrical performances. As an artist himself, Pennell has contributed to several exhibits generated from oral histories on topics ranging from homelessness to the Holocaust to the GLBTQ community. Joyce C. Ruppell (master’s), a former elementary school principal, was appointed director of Early Childhood Initiatives at Connecting for Children & Families in Woonsocket. Ruppell is responsible for the Early Learning First Program funded by a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education and oversees the Parents as Teachers program.

1979John Mcniff is a ranger/interpreter for the National Park Service and is assigned to the Roger Williams National Monument in Providence. One of McNiff’s roles is to do first-person, in-character impersonations of Rev. William Blackstone. Blackstone was the first European settler in Rhode Island in 1635. McNiff’s performances give insight into Blackstone’s life, including his conflicts with Roger Williams, his interactions with native peoples, his development of the first American variety of apple and his possession of the largest library in the British colonies at the time.

1980s1980Karen Seitler is the principal of Fishing Cove Elementary School in North Kingstown. She assumed this position in 2011 after serving for 31 years in Foster as a special education teacher, elementary school teacher, mathematics specialist, curriculum coordinator and interim principal.

1982timothy R. Bentley is now director of professional relations at Onset Dermatologics in Cumberland. Previously he spent over 20 years with 3M in its pharmaceutical operations.In August 2011 Peter J. Crowell was appointed principal of Station Avenue Elementary School in South Yarmouth, Mass.

1983Susan g. Cady has had her crossword puzzle “Elements Are Everywhere” published in the March 2012 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education.

1985Rhode Island Speaker of the House of Representatives gordon d. Fox was honored by the Classical High School Alumni Association. A 1979 graduate of the Providence high school, Fox received a Distinguished Alumni Award at the sixth annual recognition event held in April 2012.lisa Reid is the vice president of residential lending at Centreville Bank of West Warwick. Prior to this appointment in 2011, she was the lending manager for the Fall River (Mass.) Municipal Credit Union. Reid has worked in banking for the past 30 years and has been credited with implementing a number of innovative new loan products and programs.

1988Peter Spameni, who has had a long career in New England advertising as an art director, copywriter and creative director, received the grand prize for screenwriting in the first annual Spotlight on Rhode Island Screenplay Competition. Spameni’s winning screenplay, The Ashes of Albion, is a period drama set against the Golden Age backdrop of post-Civil War Rhode Island. The action centers around Providence and the Lincoln village of Albion. The Rhode Island screenplay competition was created by the Rhode Island Film and Television Office and the Rhode Island International Film Festival to draw Hollywood’s attention so more feature

films would be made in the Ocean State. For his winning screenplay, Spameni received five free pitches to Hollywood studios and producers through VirtualPitchfest.com, as well as a copy of Final Draft screenwriting software. Spameni previously won a fellowship award from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts for this screenplay.

1989lorrie Bruno, an educator with 23 years of experience, is involved in a new venture as the owner of Forno Pizzeria, an 80-seat restaurant in Cumberland. This is a family-owned business in which Bruno’s husband Joseph (’90) and children Kaitlyn and Nicholas (a RIC student) also work. Bruno took a leave of absence from her third-grade teaching position in Glocester.

1990s1990Joseph J. Voccio joined the staff of the Putnam Bank of Putnam, Conn., as assistant vice president and commercial loan officer. Prior to this appointment, he spent 19 years with the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation.

1991 Celeste Bowler (master’s, Phd) was named the assistant superintendent for learning for the Hamilton–Wenham Regional School District in Massachusetts. The unanimous choice of the Search Committee, Bowler was selected from over 60 applicants. She was previously the director of elementary education for West Warwick Public Schools.Ellis Island: the Dream of America, composed by Peter Boyer, celebrated the 10th anniversary of its premiere on April 9, 2002. During the past decade, the work has received 140 performances by 60 orchestras with a combined total audience of over 200,000 people. Grammy-nominated Boyer is the 2012–13 composer-in-residence of the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra. In October 2012 he will

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return to the Fort Worth Symphony, as a former composer-in-residence, for its centennial season, which will feature three performances of his recent work Festivities.

1992Babak Bina is now the director of outpatient physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Los Angeles, Calif. A graduate of the University of New England’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, Dr. Bina has been at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center since 2006 as an attending physician. He is also a co-investigator in the Interdisciplinary Comprehensive Arm Rehabilitation Evaluation Stroke, a national stroke recovery study.

The Department of Art at Plymouth State University hosted a large exhibition of the paintings, large drawings and lithographs of gaetano laRoche (master’s), a painter, printmaker and artist-educator. The show, Gaetano LaRoche: Painting as Art, was held from October 11 to December 10, 2011. LaRoche’s art reflects the colors, textures and forms found in nature. His work has been exhibited in several states and is held by the Library of Congress and Columbia University. LaRoche lives and works in New York City.Robin nadeau was recently promoted to the newly created position of senior director of alumni success at Year-Up Boston. Nadeau was also selected to participate in the 2011–12 class of the Institute for Nonprofit Management and Leadership (INML), a signature program of Boston University’s Graduate School of Management’s Executive Education Program. The INML program is only open to select executive directors and senior management leaders in the nonprofit sector.Robin Ryan, a third-grade teacher at Lincoln Central Elementary School, was presented with the Golden Apple Award in a surprise ceremony at the school on October 28, 2011. Rhode

Island Department of Education (RIDE) Commissioner of Education Deborah Gist and other dignitaries were in attendance. The award, sponsored by RIDE, NBC 10 and Hasbro, honors exceptional teachers nominated by students or their parents. Ryan also received a $250 contribution from Hasbro for a DonorsChoose.org card to help fund her classroom needs.

1993Michael a. Skeldon, principal of Beacon Charter High School for the Arts in Woonsocket, earned an EdD in educational leadership from Johnson & Wales University in 2012.

1994Margaret V. Sherrer (master’s), associate professor of human services at

Marine chemist Christopher Reddy ’92, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole (Mass.) Oceanographic Institution, is conducting research on the BP oil spill that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010. Reddy was involved in this investigation almost immediately after the incident. In June 2010 he was a team member aboard the research vessel next to the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. The scientists were there to collect data from the rig’s broken wellhead, about 5,000 feet deep, that was still spewing millions of gallons of crude oil and natural gas.

Michael deQuattro ’96, a percussionist and composer, was the featured performer in a special concert titled Eclectic Creativity held at Rhode Island College on October 26, 2011. Two of DeQuattro’s original compositions, A Friend of Mine and Pulse, were on the program.

Eleanor “Candy” Brown-McSwain ’96 is the founder and director of Destiny House in Providence, the first minority domestic violence agency in the state. Since its establishment in 1998, Destiny House’s mission has been “to empower adolescents, pregnant and parenting teens, and families in communities of color to break the cycle of violence and poverty.” Brown-McSwain was the 2010 recipient of the Marguerite Beaubien Award for Community Service from the Urban League of Rhode Island.

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Lyndon State College, was selected as a Fulbright-Nehru Scholar for 2012–13. She will spend spring semester 2013 in Kerala, a state at the southwestern tip of the Indian subcontinent. Sherrer will teach in a social work program and conduct research on the development of mental health services for individuals with serious psychiatric disorders.

1995Jennifer (Barrette) Maiello was named Citizen of the Year for 2010 by the Kiwanis Club of Woonsocket. A two-time recipient of the Teacher of the Year Award given by the Woonsocket Education Department, Maiello teaches English, theater and dance at Woonsocket High School, her alma mater. Every year she coordinates theater productions and music cabarets that benefit needy causes in the community.Regina (Ferrucci) Mcadam has been recognized as the 2011–12 Teacher of the Year for the North Smithfield School District. McAdam is the North Smithfield High School choral director. Since her arrival at the high school, the choral program and individual choral students have earned numerous awards. Paula Mottshaw now owns Paula Mottshaw Communications & Design. She provides graphic design, Web design and development, and content creation services for clients. Mottshaw has 15 years’ experience in marketing communications. lori Velino (master’s), guidance counselor and activity advisor at the Cranston Area Career and Technical Center, is the 2012 Skills USA Advisor of the Year. U.S. Congressman James Langevin ’90 presented the award to Velino in a ceremony at Cranston High School West. Skills USA is a national organization that brings students, teachers and businesses together to help prepare young people for careers in trade, technical and skilled service occupations, including health occupations. In the latest round of state competitions, Velino’s Skills USA chapter amassed both the highest number of total medals and of gold medals.

Democrat B.J. Whitehouse (master’s) won a second four-year term on the Jamestown School Committee in November 2011. He is a music teacher in the Little Compton public school system, a position he has held for the past 23 years. Whitehouse is also the long-time director of the Jamestown Community Chorus.

1997Heather Ball is an assistant professor of special education and special education program coordinator at the University of Maine at Machias. Ball recently completed her doctorate in special education from the University of Maine.The U.S. Small Business Administration recognized doris Blanchard as the 2011 Rhode Island Financial Services Champion of the Year. Blanchard, a native of Peru with 18 years’ experience in banking and investments, is a business development consultant for DB Consulting. She assists small business owners and entrepreneurs in growing or starting a business. She is also active as a community volunteer, providing financial literacy programming, often in Spanish, to several organizations, including the Center for Women and Enterprise. Blanchard is the founder and president of the Rhode Island Chapter of the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting, president of Centro Cultural Andino and president and chair of the Center for Hispanic Policy and Advocacy. Steven Clapprood-Madancy has been named principal of the John F. Kennedy Middle School in Southington, Conn., effective July 1, 2012. He will oversee the day-to-day school operations and a $43 million renovation project. He previously held administrative and teaching positions in Milford and Wallingford, Conn., respectively. Matthew Collins recently published his fifth e-book, Expectant Geeks Guide to Boy Baby Names – 26 Names Your Wife Won’t Let You Use for Your Son.

Splendid Green Split Pea Soup is a new book written by Peter Fletcher. Fletcher, an elementary school art teacher in New York City, developed the book’s concept when writing a lesson plan on warm and cool colors. Christopher Hoard and his wife, Tonya, are the proud parents of a daughter, Reese Gabrielle, born in September 2011. Both Hoards teach at Woonsocket Middle School. James laurie is a Providence and Boston weather examiner at Examiner.com. He is an independent contributor to this entertainment, news and lifestyle network that serves more than 20 million monthly readers around the world.Jason P. Roy was promoted to the rank of sergeant for the North Attleboro (Mass.) Police Department in February 2012. Roy, a North Attleboro native, has been a patrolman for 16 years.

1999talia Cairo married Ramon De La Cruz Jr. in Allen, Texas, on October 16, 2010. Cairo earned an MEd in curriculum and instruction from Dallas Baptist University in 2011.

2000s2000Faith deambrose is now the managing editor of Penobscot Bay Press in Stonington, Maine. In 2009 she earned a master’s degree at the University of Maine, Orono.dominque doiron has opened a vocal studio at the St. Ann’s Arts and Cultural Center in Woonsocket where he is the executive director. Doiron, a tenor, has performed in musical theater and opera throughout New England. andrew galuska, an award-winning organist known for organ improvisation, was named the minister of worship and music by the Venice (Fla.) Presbyterian Church in February 2012. Since 2007 he had served as the minister of music and organist at the historic Metropolitan United Methodist Church in Detroit. He is also a composer of organ music and a choral conductor. Many of his recordings are on YouTube.

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derrick M. Robinson is the president of the Rhode Island Academy of Physician Assistants. He earned an MS in physician assistant studies at Lemoyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., in 2006 and has been employed by University Internal Medicine since 2007.

2001Celeste Bowler (Phd) – see 1991.Jennifer McSparren is the 2012 Teacher of the Year for the Ramona (Calif.) Unified School District. McSparren, a special education teacher at the Mt. Woodson Elementary School, has been teaching in the district for 11 years. In 2010 she was recognized as a California Distinguished School Primary Writer.

2002luisa gaudreau, a financial center manager of Fifth Third Bank in Greensburg, Ind., has joined the board of the Hospital Foundation of the Decatur County Memorial Hospital, a county-owned facility in southeast Indiana. Gaudreau will complete a 2013 term. Michael Roderick, a producer and playwright in New York City, saw the world premiere of his play Beth by the Daydream Theater Company in Providence in November 2011. Beth is a modern-day take on themes from Shakespeare’s MacBeth. Roderick is the founder and artistic director of Small Pond Enterprises, LLC, and the founder of the Independent Producers Alliance of New York and the Program for Launching Arts Entrepreneurs. He has produced over 50 shows since his arrival in New York City in 2002.Centreville Bank, based in West Warwick, promoted Walter Richardson iV to assistant vice president of commercial lending. Richardson has been with the bank since 2003.

2004Jason Mayoh is the originator and director of Haunted RI, a new documentary television series developed for Rhode Island PBS. Haunted RI

investigates Rhode Island’s most haunted spots and legends. Mayoh teamed with Rhode Island natives Brian Harnois, known for his roles on SyFy Channel’s Ghost Busters and Ghost Busters International, and Christian White to produce the programs. Two episodes have been aired to date.

2005Suzy alba was honored in June 2012 by the United Way of Rhode Island for her work as a Steering Committee member for the United Way’s Young Leaders Circle.

2006Brain laFauci (master’s) is executive director of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense organization. The mission of the ESGR is to gain and maintain support from all public and private employers for the men and women of the National Guard and Reserve. LaFauci is also a captain in the 143rd Maintenance Group of the Rhode Island Air National Guard.

John lincoln is the assistant director of Second Stage Studio in Cumberland, which offers a wide range of enrichment classes, workshops and events in the visual and performing arts. Lincoln works with approximately 70 students per week, promoting their creativity in the arts. His primary focus is on acting. In May 2012 he directed the Second Story Repertory Company’s production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.Joseph R. Wasilewski of Cranston received a JD degree from the Roger Williams University School of Law in May 2012. He served as an intern in the Office of the Rhode Island Attorney General, in both the Criminal and Civil Divisions, and for the municipal solicitors of East Providence and Charlestown.

Certified mental health instructor Mary Cimini (master’s) ’05 teaches a 12-hour Mental Health First Aid class which is analogous to a CPR course. She is presenting this program to individuals and groups who seek certification as mental health first aiders. Participants learn how to recognize the signs of mental illness and substance abuse disorders and how to deal with them. The 12-Hour Mental First Aid program was developed in Australia in 2008 and is now being used in 14 countries.

Jason Masterson ’04, of North Cumberland Middle School, was named the 2012 Assistant Principal of the Year by the Rhode Island Association of School Principals. Masterson has been assistant principal since 2008 and previously served for four years as a resource teacher. He was honored at a banquet in Washington, D.C., and an award ceremony in Rhode Island.

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2007Ryan Burns, an English teacher at East Greenwich High School, is enrolled in the joint PhD in Education Program offered by Rhode Island College and the University of Rhode Island.Colby Cook was awarded an MA in graphic design from Suffolk University in May 2012.Jamie l. dellorco is the education coordinator and a performer at Kaleidoscope Children’s Theater in Cranston. She also works at the Princess Academy of the annual King Richard’s Faire held in Carver, Mass., teaching little girls how to be princesses.

2008In 2010 Carlo abueg co-founded Vexter Design Studios, LLC, a full-service design studio, with his sister and cousin. Abueg’s brother is the executive director of the company. The following year, the brothers and their cousin developed an iPhone app called Easy List described as “the easiest to-do list.” Their app was approved by Apple within just a week of their first contact.Matthew Bergeron has become a partner in the expansion of Upper Deck Baseball Academy in Cumberland in two new locations. Bergeron joins three other new partners in this venture. gregory Pomfret was sworn in as a police officer with the Cumberland Police Department in December 2011 after graduating from the Rhode Island Municipal Police Academy. He

previously worked with special needs students at the Rhode Island Transition Academy in Warwick.

2009The selectman of Somerset, Mass., appointed donald Cormier as a full-time police officer. Cormier has been a full-time dispatcher and police reserve officer in Somerset for the past four years.danielle Corso is the production office coordinator for Woodhaven Films, a film production company located in East Greenwich and New York City that pursues all aspects of filmmaking. She has been with Woodhaven Films since 2010 and worked on the movies Inkubus and Infected.gianna (giorgi) deluca married Daniel DeLuca in 2010 and welcomed the birth of their first child, Olivia Christine, on March 29, 2012. DeLuca works as an administrative assistant at Thielsch Engineering in Cranston. Brittney godbout, a teacher in the Chariho School District, is the head coach of girls’ soccer at Chariho High School. She also teaches basic soccer skills for the New England Revolution Soccer Academy. avery lucas, artist, metalsmith and jeweler is a 2012 graduate of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s College of Visual Arts. For her graduation thesis she created a series of sculptures from fabricated copper that she titled Envelope. Lucas has shown her

work in several galleries, including the Mesa Art Center in Mesa, Ariz.

2010s2010adam Charpentier and laura Bright ’11 were married in Kanazawa-shi, Ishikawa, Japan, in September 2011. They were in Japan because they were among five finalists from five different countries who earned an all-expenses-paid trip to the country as part of a travel promotion contest. devin grandchamp received an MS in criminal justice from Roger Williams University in May 2012. He is a member of Alpha Phi Sigma, the national honor society for students of criminal justice.Julie lamarre is a seventh-grade English teacher at the Segue Institute for Learning, a public charter middle school that opened in Central Falls in 2009.

2011laura Bright – see Adam Charpentier ’10.tonya Hoard (master’s) – see Christopher Hoard ’97.Heideh Shadravan was awarded $10,000 scholarship for aptitude in accounting and auditing and high ethical standards by the Public Accounting Oversight Board. RIC’s accounting faculty nominated her for the scholarship. Shadravan competed against students from 52 schools to win the honor. She is enrolled in the Master of Professional Accountancy program at RIC. ian Wilmont has joined the firm of J. Marshall Associates Inc. as a registered representative with Investors Capital Corporation Member FINRA/SIPC.

2012Stephanie lopez is now employed by the Gagnon Group LLC in Boston. She is the IT associate working to administer and manage the firm’s IT infrastructure.Michael Reed is a supply specialist with the Rhode Island Air National Guard headquartered in North Kingstown.

Just a few days after graduating with a BS degree in community health education, Kelsey Fournier ’12 was crowned Miss Rhode Island America 2012. She represented her hometown as Miss Pawtucket and was selected winner from a field of 16 contestants. Along with her crown, she received a full graduate scholarship to Salve Regina University and $5,000 in cash scholarships. Fournier will compete in the nationally televised Miss America Pageant in Las Vegas in January 2013. Her platform is child obesity.

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1927Elizabeth R. Murray in March ’12 (105 years old)

1932Marion E. Clough Cormack-Worrell in December ’11 (102 years old)

1934lillian longo in May ’12

1937Kathryn “Kitty” E. Fee in August ’11

1938dorothy “dotty” nelson Brophy in March ’12dorothy l. o’Brien Johnston in March ’12

1939Roberta Benoit in November ’10norma dosick Mushnick in October ’08

1940agnes E. Kirk Snow in January ’12

1941Eleanor Crandall Thayer in March ’12lillian C. Mcgowan Wagner in May ’12

1942Elizabeth a. Quinn in November ’11

1944Muriel M. Benson Winchell in March ’12

1947Mary l. Fillo Blecharczyk in April ’09genevieve “Jimmie” H. Baughan Carroll in February ’12

1948Janet dougan dailey in February ’12

1949dolores H. Marchand Matteson in April ’12Catherine langton Sutton in May ’12

1952Christine a. Emidy detonnancourt in April ’12Sylvia B. Fiyod Magnelli in April ’12

1954Mary a. geoghegan gervais in January ’12louise M. Roy laBrosse in February ’12

1955Joan M. little Engelhardt in January ’12Muriel J. Hadley glowitz Kent in January ’12dorothy “dotty” l. Wescott lawing in March ’12anne E. gervais Morse in March ’12

1956dorothy Frost Cleasby in January ’11taimi Kiiss lepasaar in May ’12

1958John J. McKenna in March ’12 (master’s)

1959anne M. Cahill Reynolds in May ’12

1961Shirley Stevens Mulligan in December ’11

1963dr. James g. Paras in December ’11 (master’s)

1965diane M. Pace Kittsley in June ’10Michael E. nelson in April ’12

1968Elisha Moniz in January ’12anne Palow Mushnick in March ’12 (master’s)

1969iora Jane Crannell alexander in February ’12 (master’s)Sr. Mary E. lister in April ’12 (master’s)

1970Christine anthony Mulligan in May ’12

in me

moria

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1971Kathryn a. Curtin neidlinger in May ’12

1972Patricia E. o’Brien d’aloisio in April ’12

1973louis E. delPapa in April ’12 (master’s)James M. donohue in March ’12Richard a. Metthe in January ’12

1974Barbara E. Montanaro Palumbo in March ’12 (master’s)John E. Pyne in April ’12 (master’s)

1975Helen B. Seery McKeown in March ’12B. Patricia “Pat” gallagher Wyatt in April ’12

1977Joanne Fallon in June ’11The Honorable gordon M. Smith in March ’12

1978lenore d. Hall Collins in April ’12Margaret “Peg” a. laurence in March ’12 (master’s)Jeffrey B. Page in May ’12

1979amy B. Cohen Soscia in August ’11 (master’s)

1980antonio H. Cordeiro in February ’12Sr. Rose Mary S. galligan in January ’12 (master’s)

1981antonio J. Mazza in February ’12 (master’s)Rev. Michael nordstrom in December ’11

1982Sheila C. Morrissey in March ’12Jayne B. McFetters Starring in May ’12

1983Meredith C. olsen in April ’11

1985Marylee Muscatelli abanilla in May ’12Paula F. Rogers Henry in March ’12 (master’s)

1986lynda a. lewis Hays in March ’12

1990donna E. drake Cowett in May ’12Maureen Bonaventure Rahill in March ’12

1993Kristen M. Cook in April ’12

1994Margaret “Meg” S. Rankin in April ’10 (master’s)

1995ann Marie Volpe Corona in March ’12Stephen t. Raftery in September ’11linda Holland Washington in March ’12 (master’s)

1998Esther greenberg Chester in February ’12 (master’s)Jason C. Penza in April ’12

2000ann M. Stephens Boland in April ’12 (master’s)

2003Florence Maynard Baker in April ’12

2006Jean M. Ciotola Perez in March ’12

2007amnath Souvannarath in May ’12

HONORARY DEGREE

1978governor J. Joseph garrahy in January ’12

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1996Thomas Hewes to Carol Browning in July ’11

1986Jacque Wuest to Michael Marocco Jr. in October ’11

2000amy M. Ponte to Michael T. Vadney in July ’11

2001Jennifer l. tellier to Edward R. Ecklund in May ’11

2003Kelli a. Cahill to Ryan McKenna in June ’11 alaina R. gerzog to Gregory J. Roch II in October ’11

2004Jeffrey Schneider to Ruby Wells in July ’11 Monique Martin to James Grauer in July ’11

2006Joseph R. Wasilewski to Elisa M. Capaldi ’07 in June ’11

2007Erica M. damiano to Richard M. DiPietro in August ’11Colby t. Cook to angela M. Beaudoin ’08 in March ’09

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ings 2005

david Cranshaw ’05 to Alison Cornell in April ’12

David Cranshaw ’05 and Alison Cornell were married on April 21, 2012. The Middletown, Conn., residents enjoyed their honeymoon in Napa Valley. David has been working as a senior/writer in the Communications and Public Affairs Office at the University of New Haven since April 2011. Previously, he spent five years working at Bryant University, where he earned his MBA.

2008Meghan a. lynch to Ryan S. Shoemaker in October ’11

2009gianna giorgi to Daniel DeLuca in October ’10

2012aubrie M. Mazza to Kenneth C. Viera Jr. in October ’11

What is the Class of 2012 doing since graduation?

Are you in graduate school? Employed? Still looking?

The Office of Alumni Affairs and the Career Development Center want to know!

Watch your email and your snail mail later this fall for a link to a survey to let us know what you’re doing with your RIC degree.

Members of the Class of 2012 who respond by the deadline will be entered into a prize drawing. 2012

See, also, story of alex and ani’s $1M gift

to the college on page 33.

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All Rhode Island College alumni have access to a wide range of valuable benefits. Stay connected to Rhode Island College and take advantage of the benefits below.

Performing arts Series ticketsThe Performing Arts Series at Rhode Island College is pleased to announce our ticket discount program. RIC Alumni are able to purchase single tickets for any Performing Arts Series event at a substantial discount. To receive a discount, simply ask for it when purchasing your tickets by phone, (401) 456-8144, or at the box office. The alumni discount is not offered to online ticket purchasers.

alumni E-newsE-news is an electronic newsletter sent monthly to alumni and friends of Rhode Island College. E-news contains news updates about the college as well as what is happening

with our alumni and friends. Are you on the e-news list? Send your email address to alumni@ric.edu to receive alumni e-news.

liberty MutualLiberty Mutual provides special rates and offers for Rhode Island College Alumni Association members.

The Rhode island College alumni association Visa® Platinum CardThe Rhode Island College Alumni Association and U.S. Bank have teamed up to provide the Rhode Island College Alumni Association Visa credit card. When you sign up to receive your Visa Platinum Card, RIC benefits with an initial payment from U.S. Bank. The rewards to your alma mater continue as you use your card, since a percentage of purchases are donated to RIC! Apply today; call 1-800-853-5576, extension 9104.

Advantages of Being a RIC Alumnus Alumni Class Notes and NewsUpdate your personal information online at http://my.ric.edu/alumni_benefits_update.php or mail to Alumni Office, Rhode Island College, 600 Mt. Pleasant Avenue, Providence, RI 02908-1996; fax to (401) 456-8851; or email to alumni@ric.edu. Deadline for the next issue of the Alumni Magazine is Jan. 2, 2013.

Rhode Island College Alumni Association Is Pleased to Announce the Rhode Island College Alex and Ani Affinity Bracelet Available in Russian Gold or SilverOrder just in time for the holidays! Contact the Office of Alumni and College Relations at (401) 456-8086 today!

®

2012

See, also, story of alex and ani’s $1M gift

to the college on page 33.

Rhode Island College 600 Mt. Pleasant Avenue Providence, RI 02908-1996

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