Educational leader Meredith (Merry) Stanley Caswell ’75 was inducted into the Pawtucket Hall of Fame on Nov. 1 at a gala held at the Pawtucket Armory Arts Center.

Caswell is also a part-time faculty member in the Feinstein College of Education, was voted Principal of the Year in 2007, and runner-up for the national Principal of the Year award that same year. She received the URI Alumni Service Award in 1978, and the “Excellence in Teaching” award from URI in 2019. In 2022, the U.S. Congressional Coalition honored her with the “Angel in Adoption” award for her work with students and families in foster care.

Born and raised in Pawtucket, Caswell began her career in education as an English teacher at Samuel Slater Middle School, where she served in various capacities before becoming principal in 1999 until her retirement in 2009 after 35 years in the Pawtucket School Department.

She also served as an educational consultant for Adoption Rhode Island, administrative director of the First Star URI Academy, and principal of the St. Joseph Cluny School.

“I’m everything I am because of Pawtucket,” Caswell said. Giving back to the community and make it a better place than how they found it is something her parents instilled in their children, she said.

“Merry Caswell has always been a force to be reckoned with – a force with class, grace, kindness, empathy and always with a sense of humor. She has gone above and beyond helping students, teachers, families, and her hometown of Pawtucket,” said long-time friend Michaela Mooney MS ’87, who worked at URI for 31 years in roles that included communications, development, admission, and new student orientation.

The Pawtucket Hall of Fame induction award is given to individuals whose efforts, in any line of endeavor, have gone “above & beyond” in their community service activities and/or who have been vehicles that shine a positive light upon the city, according to a press release announcing this year’s inductees.