Applause erupted from more than 500 alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of the University when Tom Ryan, ’75, Hon. ’99, president and CEO of CVS/Caremark and chair of the Making a Difference capital campaign, announced on Homecoming evening, Oct. 13, 2007, that the campaign had raised $54.1 million in the leadership gift phase.

The Making a Difference campaign seeks at least $100 million to recruit and retain outstanding faculty, enhance the student-centered campus experience, provide scholarships, and fund cutting-edge academic and research initiatives.

Ryan made the announcement at Providence’s Westin Hotel during a night of celebration and ceremony that honored 30 recipients of the 2007 Distinguished Achievement Awards.

2007 PRESIDENT’S DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENTS

Josepha Campinha-Bacote ’74, second from left, who majored in nursing, treats diverse populations and educates health care professionals about the need to understand their patients’ cultural heritage. As the founder and president of Transcultural C.A.R.E. Associates, a private consulting service that addresses clinical, administrative, research, and educational issues in transcultural health care, she has become internationally renowned. Campinha-Bacote holds an M.S. in nursing from Texas Women’s University, a Ph.D. in nursing from the University of Virginia, and an M.A. in religion from Cincinnati Christian University.

Howard S. Frank ’62, second from right, an accounting major, is vice chairman and chief operating officer of Carnival Corp. Based in Miami, the company has more than 55,000 employees and operates a fleet of 83 ships. A member of the College of Business Administration’s Hall of Fame and keynote speaker at URI’s 1995 CEO Forum, Frank joined Carnival as senior vice president of finance and chief financial officer in July 1989. He became a member of the board of directors in 1992, and was promoted to chief operating officer in 1998.

William R. Holland ’60, left, an education major, served as superintendent in four Rhode Island and Massachusetts school districts and as executive director of the Rhode Island Principals Association. As Rhode Island’s commissioner of higher education, he oversaw an unprecedented $500 million in expansion and improvement at CCRI, RIC, and URI, including construction of the Ryan Center, the Boss Arena, and Ballentine Hall. Holland holds a master’s in history and education from the University of Massachusetts and a doctorate in educational administration from Boston University.

Nina F. Saberi ’82, right, an electrical engineering major, is the founder of Castile Ventures in Waltham, Mass., a company that provides capital and management expertise to entrepreneurial businesses. The company has helped launch such leading technology firms as Network Intelligence, which was purchased in 2006 by EMC2; Trapeze Networks; and Aurora Networks. Saberi was inducted in the College of Engineering’s Founder’s Club in 2004; she is currently vice chair of the college’s Advisory Committee and will become the chair in 2008.

2007 DEAN’S LIST AWARD RECIPIENTS

College of Arts and Sciences

John Dunnigan ’72, center, the head of the Department of Furniture Design at Rhode Island School of Design, is the owner of John Dunnigan Studio, which specializes in one-of-a-kind furniture. His work is included in the collections at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C.

Bernice Pescosolido ’74, left, the Distinguished Professor and Chancellor’s Professor of Sociology at Indiana University, has received numerous awards including the Leo G. Reeder Award for distinguished contributions to medical sociology.

Christopher Savoie ’92, right, is founder/CEO of GNI Ltd., a public, global pharmaceutical company in Japan recognized by The Wall Street Journal and Red Herring as one of the top emerging businesses in Asia. Savoie was named as one of the nine most influential leaders in global biotechnology by Nikkei and as a top innovator by MIT’s Technology Review.

College of Business Administration

Johnny Chen, M.S. ’83, not present, was appointed CEO of Zurich Financial Services Group’s Greater China/Southeast Asia business in 2006. He played a leading role in helping Zurich become the first foreign insurer to obtain a license to establish a general insurance branch in Beijing.

Karen Davis ’82, M.A. ’93, left, vice president of community relations for Hasbro, Inc., is responsible for the company’s philanthropic programs that annually help over 6 million children worldwide. She is a founding member of the Rhode Island Women Ending Hunger program and of World Vision’s Women for Africa Group. A former URI development officer, Davis founded the Student Alumni Association.

Robert Petisi ’74, right, has just been appointed CEO of B. Smith Enterprises, a lifestyle company offering a furniture line, TV and radio shows, restaurants, and recipes and style tips. He is also the president of Tween Waters Marketing Alliance, a strategic growth and turnaround consultancy.

Alan Shawn Feinstein College of Continuing Education

Rebecca L. Burke ’76, left, has spent the last 26 years in nursing leadership positions at The Miriam Hospital where she is presently senior vice president for patient care services and chief nursing officer. Under Burke’s leadership, The Miriam’s Department of Nursing was awarded Magnet status by the American Nurses Credentialing Center for a third time in March 2006.

Carol A. Corwin ’84, seated, is a vice president and commercial loan officer at the Bank of Fall River. Previously, she had served in the same capacity for more than 20 years at Bank of America, Fleet, Shawmut, and Bank of Boston. The former treasurer of the URI Alumni Association Executive Board, she currently serves on the Association’s Finance and Gala Committees.

Joseph Waller ’69, right, is chair of the ASFCCE Campus Advisory Board and a member of the college’s Board of Trustees; he also serves on the URI Foundation Patent Committee. He is a retired brigadier general in the USAF/R.I. Air National Guard where he last served as assistant adjutant general, deputy commanding general/air. He is retired from a civilian career at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport.

College of Engineering

Sherry Embrey ’72, right, is a senior consultant for Verizon Federal, a Verizon business unit. She was previously a systems engineer at the now BAE Systems (formerly Automation Industries) where she worked in various roles related to the U.S. Fleet Ballistic Missile program, DOE National Data Solar Network, and the NASA space program.

Michael Keith ’70, not present, has held senior leadership positions at AT&T and AT&T Wireless. He served as president of AT&T Business Markets and most recently was president of AT&T Wireless. He earned his M.B.A. at Boston University and attended the Senior Executive Program at Stamford University.

Robert A. Weygand ’71, ’76, left, has been URI’s vice president for administration since 2004. Formerly the president and CEO of the New England Board of Higher Education, he was a member of the U.S. Congress and served as Rhode Island’s lieutenant governor and as a state representative in the General Assembly.

College of the Environment and Life Sciences

Suzanne Owren Carcieri ’65, left, Rhode Island’s First Lady, actively promotes issues relating to health, wellness, education, and substance abuse prevention. She has served numerous charitable and community causes. A former science teacher, she and her husband, Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, are co-founders of the Academy Children’s Science Center in East Greenwich.

Robert Marchand ’78, right, a physician with South County Orthopedics and a member of South County Hospital’s medical staff since 1988, earned his M.D. at Cornell University Medical College. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and a team physician for the URI Department of Athletics.

Julia Randall Sharpe, center, graduated from Princeton University with honors in geology. A student in URI’s Continuing Education program, she has served on the Town of Narragansett Conservation Commission and Land Trust and the boards of the Narrow River Preservation Association, Narrow River Land Trust, North Kingstown Land Conservancy, and Washington County Land Trust Coalition. She has participated in URI’s Watershed Watch and the Rhode Island Natural History Survey.

College of Human Sciences and Services

Marguerite Bumpus, right, a retired reading professor and former chair of the Department of Education, was a recipient of the URI Foundation’s Teaching Excellence Award. She is also a former chair of the Board on Student Conduct.

Thomas D. Romeo, left, was executive in residence at URI for 10 years, during which time he taught graduate physical therapy students and led successful efforts to establish contracts between URI and the state’s hospitals, health care agencies, and insurers. Prior to that appointment, he served as director of the state Department of Mental Health, Retardation, and Hospitals for 12 years.

College of Nursing

Steve Alves, Ph.D. ’02, left, a certified registered nurse anesthetist, is associate professor and coordinator of the Graduate Nurses Anesthesia Program at Northeastern University. He established an endowment at URI in honor of former dean Hesook (Suzie) Kim that provides graduate students with seed money to present their research findings at conferences.

Cathy E. Duquette ’84, M.S. ’96, right, is vice president of nursing and patient care services at Newport Hospital where she is responsible for ensuring consistent standards of nursing practice. For seven years prior to this appointment, she was senior vice president at the Hospital Association of Rhode Island. She earned her doctorate from the University of Massachusetts.

Susan E. Sherman ’69, not present, is president and CEO of the Independence Foundation, a Philadelphia-based philanthropy program that supports culture and the arts, health and human services, nurse-managed primary health care, and public interest legal aid. She has headed the foundation since 1996 and has received many awards, including the Philadelphia Health Management Corporation’s Carl Moore Leadership Award.

College of Pharmacy

Mario Casinelli Jr. ’53, left, was invited by CVS to establish and run the innovative Pharmacy Outreach Program at Cranston Senior Services Center. A former independent community pharmacist in Cranston, he is a past president of the Rhode Island Pharmacists Association and has served in many leadership positions in the state organization, including public relations chair.

Kathleen Jaeger ’87, right, is president and CEO of the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, the largest trade association representing the manufacturers, distributors, and suppliers of generic medicines in the world. Prior to joining G.Ph.A, Jaeger was a partner in a Washington, D.C., law firm where she served as the national practice leader of K&L’s Food and Drug Practice Group.

Robert E. Sauté ’50, not present, and his wife, Arda, founded Sauté Consultants, Inc., in 1975, which specializes in research and development in the dermatological, cosmetic, OTC drugs, and related areas. A former director at Avon Products, Inc., and Gillette Co., and a former vice president at Dart Industries, Inc., Dr. Sauté has published in leading cosmetics journals and holds many patents. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. from Purdue University.

Graduate School of Oceanography

James A. Austin Jr., right, has been a marine geologist at the University of Texas at Austin’s Institute for Geophysics for more than 28 years. He has played a prominent role in the international marine geoscience community, in particular scientific ocean drilling, for more than two decades. He is also a trustee of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Larry Mayer ’73, left, is director of the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping at the University of New Hampshire where he is also a professor. He is the recipient of the Keen Medal for Marine Geology. He earned his Ph.D. from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Stockholm. He served on the President’s Panel for Ocean Exploration.

Sandra Whitehouse, Ph.D. ’94, center, is the former chair of the Coastal Resources Management Council, an independent state regulatory agency. She also serves on the boards of numerous nonprofit groups and is an environmental consultant to the Rhode Island General Assembly. She is married to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.