Giving Students Opportunities
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Charles “Charlie” Lemoine ’71, M.B.A. ’74, is on the phone from the spacious West Palm Beach, Fla., condominium that he shares with his wife, Gabriela, whom he met when he lived in Germany. “People who are well-off send their kids to private schools,” he says. “But what about first or second-generation children? How do they get ahead?”
Lemoine provides the answer to his own question: “Gabriela and I are strong believers in education, and we want to give these children educational opportunities they wouldn’t have otherwise. URI is a quality school; it’s educating students at the highest level at an affordable price.”
So Charlie and Gabriela have included URI in their estate plans by leaving $250,000 to the University to provide merit scholarships for students in the College of Business Administration.
Charlie grew up in North Providence. As an undergraduate and graduate management student, he became close to some of his business professors, particularly Professor Emeritus of Management George deLodzia.
“Charlie was extremely bright,” recalls deLodzia. “He was from an average Rhode Island family and had an innate street sense—a savvy. I put some theory under that savvy.” The two friends continue to telephone each other at least twice a month.
Charlie, who was a proud member of Theta Chi fraternity, taught some classes while a graduate student, but teaching wasn’t his goal: “I’ve always marched to the beat of a different drummer,” he says, noting that he transferred to URI after a year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute because “engineering was my parents’ dream, not mine.”
After earning his M.B.A., Charlie moved on to New York City and climbed the ladder of corporate success on Wall Street. “I’ve lived in Europe and Latin America, and I’ve had failures and successes,” says the private investor.
Fortunately for URI, he experienced more of the latter.
Office of Planned Giving, ALUMNI CENTER, 73 Upper College Road, Kingston, RI 02881-2004 Phone: 401-874-2296 or 401-874-5569 • PAUL WITHAM: PWITHAM@ADVANCE.URI.EDU
