Making a Difference

“I am inspired by the dedication, commitment, and hard work of the adult students at the Alan Shawn Feinstein College of Continuing Education. Please join me in promoting education and community service and rewarding continuing learners who reach for their dreams and bring the whole community with them.” -- Alan Shawn Feinstein

To Better the Lives of Others

True to his motto that “helping to better the lives of others is the greatest of all achievements,” Rhode Island’s legendary philanthropist Alan Shawn Feinstein, Hon. ’98 is presenting everyone with a unique opportunity to join in his quest to help college students one degree at a time.

Feinstein has pledged to fund a $500,000 challenge grant that will double the value of gifts of $12,500 or more to establish endowed scholarship funds at the University’s Alan Shawn Feinstein College of Continuing Education. These scholarships will help nontraditional students who are making changes in their lives to attend school and who contribute to their communities through service projects.

The new challenge grant will open the doors to help donors build support for continuing education at the University. Any individual, family, corporation, foundation, trust, estate, or other entity may participate in the Feinstein-URI Endowment Challenge.

Each new scholarship will be awarded annually. Scholarships may benefit both in-state and out-of-state students, may be need or merit based, and may be restricted or unrestricted as befits the intentions of the individual donors as long as the student recipients are enrolled in classes at ASFCCE.

For 60 years, URI has been serving adult learners at its College of Continuing Education—now named the Alan Shawn Feinstein College of Continuing Education—in downtown Providence. Each year, more than 4,000 nontraditional students enroll in both undergraduate and graduate courses at ASFCCE with an eye on fulfilling their educational goals while balancing work, family, and community obligations.

Eighty percent of these students work full time and 30 percent are single parents. Many go into debt to finance their dreams as they pursue careers in fields such as education, social work, and the sciences—careers that serve the public but that often have modest salaries. That is why scholarship funds are so critical to these students.

“Beginning school again as a newly single mother was intimidating, but I was helped from the outset by brilliant and understanding professors and indispensable support staff at ASFCCE. Every-thing about this campus enabled me to succeed. I am in my graduate program thanks in large part to the generosity of a scholarship from Mr. Feinstein. When I received my award letter, I actually grabbed my son and swung him around, I was so happy.” -- Caroline Hutchinson ’06, who is pursuing an M.A. in adult education.

For more information about the Feinstein Challenge Grant, please contact: URI DevelopmentAlumni Center73 Upper College Road Kingston, RI 02881 Phone: 401-874-2145 Email: campaign@uri.edu

In Providence: Phone: 401-277-5174 Email: jdb@uri.edu

For more information about giving to URI, visit us atadvance.uri.edu/giving

“We are challenging College of Pharmacy alumni to make a difference by helping our alma mater build for the future. Please join us in supporting the College of Pharmacy. Our challenge grant will double your gift so that you can establish a legacy with an endowed scholarship to help pharmacy students for generations to come.” -- Tom and Cathy Ryan

“ My mother does what she can to help me with school, but the majority of my college education is paid for by many loans. I don’t have the words to express how thankful I am for this scholarship,” said the recipient of the Jacob and Bayne Temkin Scholarship.--Sandra M. Rodak, who will earn her doctor of pharmacy degree in the spring of 2010, is one of three sisters from a single-parent family.

Call to Action

One of the definitions of the word “challenge” is a call to action. That’s exactly what Tom Ryan ’75, Hon. ’99, president and CEO of CVS/Caremark Corp. and CVS Pharmacy, Inc., and his wife, Cathy, had in mind when they pledged $2.5 million to the Making a Difference campaign.

The gift supports a variety of initiatives, but probably most central to the Ryans’ mission to enlist the support of others is the $500,000 Challenge Grant that bears their name.

The grant will match, dollar-for-dollar, donations of at least $12,500 from individuals wishing to establish endowed scholarships for pharmacy students.

“We are challenging College of Pharmacy alumni to make a difference by helping our alma mater build for the future,” the couple said. “Please join us in supporting the College of Pharmacy. Our challenge grant will double your gift so that you can establish an endowed scholarship to help pharmacy students for generations to come.”

The gift is especially appropriate in this 50th anniversary year of the college, said Pharmacy Dean Donald Letendre: “URI has been educating leaders in the pharmacy profession for half a century. Graduates of the college have a unique opportunity to establish a legacy that will give back to the college and help future pharmacy students realize their hopes and dreams. I am tremendously grateful for the generosity and support that Tom and Cathy Ryan have demonstrated again and again for the College of Pharmacy.”

As a 1975 graduate of the College of Pharmacy, Ryan can relate to the challenges facing students. The chair of the Making a Difference Campaign said he is proud of the college’s work in research, outreach, and teaching, “The college has helped many bright, talented, ambitious students begin successful careers.”

A long-time supporter of the college and of Rhody athletics, Ryan and CVS provided the majority of funding for the Thomas M. Ryan/CVS Chair in Community Pharmacy at URI, and he successfully co-chaired a $15 million private fund drive for the arena that bears his name.

“ As the second member of my family to attend college, I truly cherish my education because it means that one day I can help a person in need, as I once was,” commented Fong, who is a first generation Chinese immigrant. -- Mei Ka Fong, who is on track to earn her doctor of pharmacy degree in 2009, was a recipient of an existing CVS Scholarship.

For more information about the Tom and Cathy Ryan Challenge Grant, please contact: URI Development Alumni Center73 Upper College Road Kingston, RI 02881 Phone: 401-874-9017. Email: rpopovic@advance.uri.edu

“I taught at URI for 40 years—from 1948 to 1988. When you’re teaching, you never know which students you’re really having an impact on. It was a complete surprise to hear that one of my former students was making such a generous gift in my honor. I am especially pleased that the gift doesn’t just honor me, it helps URI and the electrical engineering program.”--Professor Robert S. Haas

Anonymous Alumnus Donates $1 million to Honor Professor

An anonymous donor has provided a $1 million challenge grant to the University that will match gifts of $10,000, $25,000 or $50,000 and above to establish the Robert S. Haas Endowed Professorship in Electrical Engineering.

The gift, which is part of the Making a Difference capital campaign, honors the professor emeritus of electrical engineering who taught at URI from 1948 to 1988.

“When you’re teaching, you never know which students you’re really having an impact on,” said Haas, a resident of Kingston. “It was a complete surprise to hear that one of my former students was making such a generous gift in my honor. I am especially pleased that the gift doesn’t just honor me, it helps URI and the electrical engineering program.”

“Gifts to the Haas Endowed Professorship will help us recruit the best faculty and maintain our commitment to academic excellence and professional preparation—a tradition exemplified by Professor Haas,” said Faye Boudreaux-Bartels, professor and chair of the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering.

“I was fortunate to be Professor Haas’ student, and later to be his colleague,” said William Ferrante ’49, professor emeritus of mechanical engineering. “His methodical, precise, and crystal clear classroom presentations showed me how to learn—and how to teach. As a colleague, Bob Haas was a model and mentor to faculty and administrators. He personified integrity, competence, and excellence in teaching. This endowed professorship is a wonderful tribute to an extraordinary and inspiring teacher.”

Originally from Milwaukee, Haas earned degrees from Marquette and Northeastern universities, and taught courses in electrical engineering and ocean engineering. He earned an award for teaching excellence in 1970, was cited for his teaching in Outstanding Educators of America in 1971 and 1974, and won the Western Electric Fund Award for excellence in engineering teaching in 1974. He was elected the University’s first ombudsman in 1972.

The anonymous donor who established the Haas Endowed Professorship is a graduate of the College of Engineering and a long-time supporter of the University who previously made major gifts to the Ryan Center campaign and the Fund for URI.

“We are greatly appreciative of the selfless act by this donor to establish a professorship in honor of Bob Haas, and we hope that many alumni who remember Professor Haas will join in this effort,” said Robert Beagle, vice president for university advancement, who is leading the University’s effort to secure campaign leadership gifts. “The donor has consistently demonstrated an unselfish desire to give in order to make good things happen.”

- By Todd McLeish

For more information about the Robert S. Haas Endowed Professorship in Electrical Engineering, please contact: URI Development Alumni Center73 Upper College Road Kingston, RI 02881 Phone: 401-874-2162 Email: rclough@advance.uri.edu