A Bigger and Better Decade for All

With real movement of earth and buildings, The University of Rhode Island, College of Pharmacy started the new decade with big dreams and better performance than in any recent past we can remember. Suffolk Education, our new north district pharmacy building general contractor, fenced off the site of our new building and began to dig, move earth and demolish buildings in preparation for our new home. We started planning for new certified good manufacturing process space in a previously un-programmed area of the building to support our new and highly sought BSPS program. We also began study of the addition of a medicinal plan conservatory to the south face of the building. This latter plan is being developed with the help and cooperation of the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, (www.phipps.conservatory.org) where College of Pharmacy alum Richard Piacentini ‘77 is director. We are excited that our research efforts will yield in excess of $10M this year, and we know that our new facility will improve opportunities for students and faculty alike. Student undergraduate and graduate applications are up at URI and in the College as our programs continue to attract the best and brightest to URI.

We were also pleased to learn of awards, fellowships, scholarships, board certifications and other honors bestowed on our students in significantly competitive arenas. Two of our P4’s, Elaine Alexander and Erica Hosek won fellowships at Bayer. There were only 3 available nationally! Steve Surrette, a P3 and MBA candidate was accepted into the second class of the EPSCoR Entrepreneurial Fellows Program. Sponsored by the Slater Fund and the federally funded Rhode Island Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), these fellowships encourage the development of local scientific business opportunities. Nick Dorich, a P3 running for national office within the APhA Academy of Student Pharmacists, learned he was accepted to one of the highly sought advanced practice rotations at APhA with Chief of Staff Mitch Rotholz next semester. Additionally, we were proud to see that six former URI students passed Board Certification examinations this past round, Michelle Thomas ‘07, Jill Arnold ‘04, Chris Ensor ‘07, Kristin Marge ‘08, Kara Canty ‘06 and Wesley Zemrak ‘07. Congratulations!
We continue to Think Big here at URI and in the College. We are certain this will be our best decade yet, and we wish you and yours similar great achievement and success.