Message from University Leadership

Message from the University President and Chair of the Board

Dear Friends,

We were inspired this past fiscal year by the energy of our students and faculty as they brought our classrooms, labs, and common spaces to life. URI continues to advance in areas of student access, meaningful research, and global reputation. We are proud of the progress that our University has made with your support and encouragement.

Across our University, we have focused on highlighting the value of our research output, from faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates. Endowed professorships, such as the Verrecchia Professorship and Eigen Professorship (detailed in this report), fuel additional research contributions from faculty and their students. The growth of our research enterprise is a long-term undertaking that increases URI’s value in the state, across the country, and around the world.

In addition, we remain committed to making URI a more welcoming place where people of all identities and from all backgrounds can find opportunity. Over the past year we filled diversity, equity, and inclusion leadership positions across the University. We opened the Talent Development Achievement House, began awarding the Narragansett Undergraduate Scholarship, and the Alumni of Color Network established an endowed scholarship.

A major focus this fall will be a bond issue to advance the master plan for the Narragansett Bay Campus. The home of the Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO) and the site of highly regarded interdisciplinary research is on a multiyear path to modernize and expand. Rhode Island voters will have an important role to play this November.

We are currently at work on a 10-year strategic plan, based on input from our community, that should inspire everyone to be optimistic about our future. Thank you.

With best regards,

Marc B. Parlange, Ph.D. President

Margo Cook ’86 Chair, URI Board of Trustees

L to R: URI President Marc B. Parlange, URI Board of Trustees Chair Margo Cook ’86, URIFAE Board Chairman Alfred J. Verrecchia ’67 M.B.A.’72 Hon.’04, URIFAE President Lil Breul O’Rourke on the Narragansett Bay Campus