Biography

Assistant Dean Maher oversees undergraduate affairs operations for the College of Engineering, including the coordination of academic advising services, scholastic standing matters, degree audits, and degree conferral. She serves as the primary contact for all prospective undergraduate students, including transfer students and applicants for readmission. Opening doors and guiding undergraduates to realize their full scholarly, professional, and personal potential brings her great joy.

Prior to joining the College of Engineering in November 2024, Kathleen served for fifteen years as the Assistant Director of the URI Honors Program, where she oversaw the Office of National Fellowships. For seven of those years, she also directed the Pre-Health Professions Advising Program and served as Chair of the URI Health Professions Advisory Committee. Before that, she worked for ten years as Assistant Director of URI’s renowned International Engineering Program. In recognition of her outstanding contributions to the University, Kathleen was honored with the 2023 Administrative Excellence Award from the URI Foundation.

Kathleen earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Siena College in Loudonville, NY, studied abroad in Madrid, Spain, and later earned a Master of Arts in Latin American Studies from the University of Arizona. She also spent a year teaching at a bilingual preparatory school on the campus of Tec de Monterrey (Campus Sonora Norte), a prestigious engineering university in Mexico.