Biography

Jane O’Connell Stich is a native of Providence, Rhode Island and grew up in the Gaspee Plateau section of Warwick. She graduated from the former St. Francis Xavier Academy and received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and Education from the University of Rhode Island in 1962. She went on to earn a Master of Arts in guidance and counseling in 1969 and a Master of Business Administration in 1983. and started her teaching career in September 1962. 

On 26 June 1965, Jane began her affiliation with the military when she married Lieutenant Commander John (Jack) D. Stich, a career naval aviator. In 1968, Jack deployed to Vietnam serving with VAW-111 as part of Carrier Air Wing 21 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Hancock, and Jane joined thousands of other women across this country who were known collectively by the alliterative term, “Waiting Wives.”

Early in her marriage, Jane completed the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society Volunteer Course. She gave her time and energy counseling service members and dependents primarily in the areas of interest-free loans, grants and money management. Her efforts were a model for today’s “Family Readiness Group Coordinator.”

Jane began her employment at URI in 1975 and served for nine years as Assistant Director of Admissions with responsibility for the transfer admissions process. In 1984, after completion of the M.B.A. program, she became the Assistant Dean of the College of Business Administration where she managed the undergraduate program and was responsible for the college budget preparation and control. In 1989, she received the Fifth Quarter Club Appreciation Award and, in 1993, the URI Foundation Administrative Excellence Award. She retired in 2004 after a twenty-nine year career at URI. She currently serves as a trustee of the URI Foundation.

Jane has been an enthusiastic advocate for cadets and has become one of the prominent supporters of the University of Rhode Island Army ROTC Alumni Chapter. She is actively involved in all facets of the chapter’s activities. One of her first projects was to research and compile a listing of all ROTC Alumni. This project required months of research and has proven to be a vital tool for the reinvigoration of the ROTC Alumni Chapter.

Jane has also been the Co-Chairperson of the annual ROTC Golf Tournament which has resulted in a contribution of over $10,000 each year for the Cadet Fund. She has contacted members of industry to contribute prizes and has spent hours of her time making military quilts for silent auctions in support of this fundraiser.

Jane has also been a supporter of the “Army Blue Uniform Program.” Established over ten years ago, the Anne L. O’Connell/John D. Stich Award highlights her long-term support for the URI ROTC program and honors the memory of her husband and sister, a career Navy nurse. She also established the Anne L. O’Connell/John D. Stich Memorial Scholarship, which supports undergraduate business students.

Assistant Dean Emerita Jane O’Connell Stich is an alumna of extraordinary dedication and talent who has given over twenty-five years of unselfish service, leadership and care to the betterment of the Army ROTC program at the University of Rhode Island.

Jane Stich currently resides in Narragansett, Rhode Island.