URI inducts GSO’s Jane Miner into Lifetime Service Society

December 10, 2024
The 2024 Lifetime Service Society inductees, from left: David Nelson, Craig Louzon, Joanne Lawrence, Jane Miner, Heather Faubert, Peter Nightingale, and Arthur Gold were honored on Dec. 6. Inductees Richard Anderson, William Euler, Paul Florin, and Stuart Westin were unable to attend the ceremony.

Ceremony honors members with 40 or more years of service to the University

December 9, 2024

The University of Rhode Island inducted 11 retired faculty and staff members into the Lifetime Service Society honoring them for 40 years or more of service to the University. The annual induction and brick dedication ceremony was held Dec. 6 in the Higgins Welcome Center.

This year’s inductees are: Richard E. Anderson (45 years), William Euler (41), Heather Faubert (42), Paul Florin (42), Arthur J. Gold (40), Joanne Lawrence (42), Craig Louzon (40), Jane S. Miner (47), David R. Nelson (42), Peter Nightingale (40), and Stuart Westin (40). The group joins more than 150 employees who have been inducted since the award was started in 2013.

“Today, we honor the many hands and minds that have shaped our campuses – faculty in chemistry, psychology, environment and life sciences, molecular biology, physics, and business, and leaders in facilities, landscape and groundskeeping, and the Narragansett Bay Campus,” said President Marc Parlange. “You have educated, inspired, and kept our university running. We thank you for the tremendous impact you have made on URI, and we honor your legacy.”

Friday’s recipients, who retired between January 2023 and July 2024, received certificates of appreciation from the University, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner, and Gov. Dan McKee. A commemorative brick engraved with each inductee’s name and years of service will be placed in the patio in front of the entrance to the Robert L. Carothers Library and Learning Commons.

“I look upon all of you with us today – and remember with fondness those who could not be with us – and I wonder how the decades could have passed so quickly,” said Barbara Wolfe, provost and executive vice president of academic affairs. “The University has changed and advanced in significant ways due to your efforts, passion, and dedication to both students and colleagues, and it is a better place because you chose to make your life’s work here.”

The Bay Campus community gathered to celebrate Jane’s retirement in February 2024.

During the ceremony, each honoree was introduced and honored by a colleague.

Jane Miner, of Jamestown, business manager for the Narragansett Bay Campus and the Graduate School of Oceanography, was introduced by David Smith, professor of oceanography.

Miner, who grew up in Jamestown, never strayed far from her beloved island but she made a world of difference at URI as part of the GSO for nearly its entire history, said Smith. After graduating from Clark University with a degree in environmental science, she started working at the newly established Coastal Resources Center at the GSO in 1977.

“Eventually, Jane came to sit at the center of all things financial at GSO,” said Smith. “The answer to most questions regarding money was ‘go see Jane,’ as she has a truly complete and nuanced knowledge of every separate unit at GSO. … [H]er efforts at GSO were essential in supporting research around the globe by dozens of faculty and hundreds of graduate students. We are all grateful.”

Read about the other inductees in Rhody Today.