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BALLENTINE HALL The home of the College of Business Administration, reopened on June 4 after extensive renovations and rebuilding that were supported by the Shareholder’s Campaign. After the ribbon cutting, the sparkling new building with its state-of-the-art Bruce S. Sherman Trading Room was open for public tours while refreshments were served in the lobby to the music of the URI Honors String Quartet. That evening, the college celebrated the fifth annual Hall of Fame Banquet and Induction Ceremony at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick. The inductees included former Gov. Lincoln C. Almond ’59; Steven E. Elterich ’72, M.B.A. ’74, president of Fidelity eBusiness, a division of Fidelity Investments; and Bruce S. Sherman ’69, CEO and chief investment officer of Private Capital Management. BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH LAB As part of a $7.6 million federal grant to stimulate biomedical research across the state, URI has opened the $2 million Centralized Research Core Facility. The facility provides researchers with the latest analytical equipment to investigate cancer generation, the effects of toxic chemicals on reproduction, drug metabolism, and the identification of natural health products. The statewide initiative, called the Rhode Island Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network, is housed in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the College of Pharmacy. With URI as the lead institution, the network includes Brown University, Rhode Island College, Providence College, Bryant College, Roger Williams University and Salve Regina University.
In Memoriam-Eric Kumpf Eric Kumpf ’94, 30, of Hoboken, N.J., was one of a dozen young people who died in a porch collapse in Chicago on Sunday, June 29, 2003. The group was standing on the second floor back porch of an apartment building when the porch floor above them gave way. While a student at URI, Kumpf was a tour guide for the Admissions Office, a Freshman Orientation leader, a member of the Student Alumni Association, and a basketball fan. He majored in journalism with a minor in political science. The URI Alumni Association will name the Student Alumni Association office in the new Alumni Center the Eric Kumpf Room in his honor. Following graduation, Kumpf was a URI admissions officer who recruited heavily in New Jersey. He was the youngest alum to make a leadership gift to the campaign to build the Ryan Center, and he was also a leadership donor to URI’s Annual Fund. He was a member of the Northern New Jersey Alumni Chapter and a member of the 2001 Watson Council. Kumpf was a director at Barclays Bank, PLC, in New York City. He was working at Barclays office at 222 Broadway, two blocks away from the World Trade Center, on September 11, 2001. His office was relocated after the attack. Kumpf and his fiancée, Alexis Brady ’96, planned to marry on September 27, 2003, at Castle Hill in Newport, R.I. Kumpf was one of three sons of New Jersey Superior Court Judge Fred H. Kumpf. To learn more about the Eric Kumpf memorial at the new Alumni Center, contact the Alumni Relations Office, call Mary Ann Mazzone at 401-874-2242 or email mamazzone@advance.uri.edu. Did You Know? URI alumni are everywhere! More than 90,000 strong, they live in every state from Alabama (where they number 96) to Wyoming (where there are 18). Here’s a look at the top 10 states that URI alumni call home. Rhode Island 38,561 Massachusetts 10,455 Connecticut 5,794 New York 4,294 New Jersey 3,987 Florida 2,939 California 2,421 New Hampshire 1,636 Virginia 1,593 Pennsylvania 1,472
In Memoriam-Ralph C. Potter One of the University’s most dedicated alumni and a renowned competitive sailor, Ralph C. Potter ’47, Hon. ’79, age 81, died on July 3, 2003, at Kent County Memorial Hospital. A resident of Warwick, R.I., he retired in 1977 as chairman of the board, CEO, and treasurer of Potter Hazelhurst, Inc. A cum laude graduate of Rhode Island State College, Potter was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1979. He was also the recipient of the URI RAM award in 1977 for 30 years of distinguished service to the University. Potter was vice president and trustee emeritus of the URI Foundation and the charter chairman of its Boat Committee and Patent Committee. He had chaired the College of Business Administration Advisory Council and served as the college’s executive in residence in 1977. In 1976, he was elected to the National Honorary Society of College of Business Administration Beta Gamma Sigma, and he was inducted into the college’s Hall of Fame in 1999. A Coast Guard veteran of World War II, Potter was an All-American sailor at URI who was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame. He had been named Rhode Island Commodore by Gov. J. Joseph Garrahy and acted as liaison to the America’s Cup community. He was the winner of numerous New England and Narragansett Bay Yachting Association championships. He was twice national champion, five-time champion of the Indian Class fleet, and involved in two America’s Cup defenses with Easterner and Clipper. He is survived by his wife, Barbara; three sons: David L. Potter, Gregory P. Potter, and Jeffrey B. Potter, and three grandchildren. BERNARD LAFAYETTE BERNARD LAFAYETTE, distinguished scholar-in-residence and director of URI’s Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies, is included in a national documentary called This Far by Faith: African American Spiritual Journeys. The six-part series aired on WGBH-2 in June. LaFayette appears in the “Freedom Faith” segment that follows the civil rights movement in the years after World War II. He speaks about spirituality, church, and his experiences in the movement.
Updates on Alumni John M. Geddes ’74 assumed his new position as a managing editor for The New York Times on September 2, 2003. Geddes, 51, who had been the newspaper’s deputy managing editor since 1997, is responsible for news operations. The publication’s former Washington Bureau chief, Jill Abramson, will focus on newsgathering. The two succeed Gerald Boyd, who resigned earlier this year. Geddes, who graduated from URI cum laude with a B.A. in Economics, also holds an M.A. in Business Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Throughout his more than 25 years as a journalist, Geddes has held numerous positions in the U.S. and abroad—ranging from his days as editor of URI’s student newspaper The Good 5¢ Cigar to bureau chief, Bonn, Germany, for The Wall Street Journal. Prior to joining The Times as a business/financial editor in 1994, Geddes was CEO of the market research company BIS Strategic Decisions and a principal at the investment partnership Friday Holdings. Geddes was on campus in 2001 to participate in a panel discussion of the strategic uses of communication in politics and its impact on the outcome of political campaigns. He also was the keynote speaker at URI’s Alumni Awards ceremony in 1999.
From Your Alumni Association President Dear Fellow Alums: As I sit down to write this letter, I’ve had a chance to reflect on my first month as the new president of the Alumni Association. It’s been quite an eventful journey. The week before assuming my role, I had the pleasure of participating in the Golden Grad luncheon at the University Club where I met the Hagopians and the Lysiks. Mr. Hagopian and Mr. Lysik represent the classes of ’48 and ’39, respectively. I got a chance to get to know them a little bit and hear about their experiences on campus. From there, I attended the College of Business Administration’s Fifth Annual Hall of Fame dinner at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. This special event marked the opening of the newly renovated Ballentine Hall and honored the newest members to the Hall of Fame. It was a proud moment for everyone involved in making that project a reality. If you haven’t seen the new Ballentine Hall, you really should visit and take a look at the Bruce Sherman Trading Room. Next up, the groundbreaking for our new Alumni Center. Many of the people who worked hard to make this project a reality were there, and some even donned hard hats and took shovel in hand to get the project going! It was definitely an exciting day, and I look forward to recreating that moment in Fall 2004 when we’re all there to open the doors to our Alumni Center. This is just the beginning! I’m committed to making sure that the Alumni Center project remains on target and on budget. I’m looking forward to working closely with President Carothers to learn more about his vision for the University as well as with members of the Alumni Association Executive Board. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the outgoing members of the Executive Board: Jessica J. Palumbo, Susan P. McGuirl, and Richard Vangermeersch. I would also like to welcome our incoming members: Mark A. Davis, Margaret J. Frazier, and Paul Arakelian as well as Abu Bakr, who moves from councilor at large to vice president. I would like to say a special thanks to Linc Almond, our past president, who worked tirelessly over the past two years on behalf of our alumni. He was a pleasure to work with, and I learned a great deal from him. I will do my best to keep the work he started moving forward. Sincerely, Kathy Goulding ’77
Writings About the Sea The sea has always been a key element in the life of Edmund Rumowicz ’57. So in 1995, Rumowicz and his wife, Nathalie, established an endowment that supports an annual literature of the sea course, a program of guest lecturers, and an annual maritime essay contest open to all URI undergraduates. Some of those prize-winning essays have now been assembled into a book entitled Writings About the Sea. Recently published by URI’s Department of English, the book was edited by Professors Dorothy Donnelly and Sally Burke. Funding was provided by the Rumowicz endowment. Subjects of the essays are as diverse as their authors, who come from a variety of majors. In “Kittimat” Ian Catmur ’96, a political science graduate, poignantly speaks of meeting his father for the first time. Landing on the British Colombian coast when he was 7, Catmur catches fish but no more than a glimpse of his father. John H. Lahoud Jr. gives readers another view of a hurricane in “What About Bob?” The 1996 marine affairs graduate, a devoted surfer, writes: “The hurricane season is like Easter or Passover for surfers. A time for rejoicing praise and prayer, all in anticipation of a Wave Messiah.” In “Undertow,” Karen Pfeil ’01, who majored in English, becomes aware that the “waves of success, fame, and love” she is seeking have dangers lurking beneath them. Other featured essayists include Ernest Borraccino ’03, Titus DosRemedios ’02, Devin Crimmins ’04, James Gruczka ’05, Scott J. Kirkpatrick ’00, Scott Lord ’00, Susan Lynch ’98, Cheryl Madden ’02, Kathryn McRedmond ’99, James Monti ’00, and Elisabeth Nadin ’99. Writings About the Sea is available by calling the English Department at 401-874-5244. |
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