Triplets will graduate from the University of Rhode Island this weekend. Well, not exactly, but they do share the same genes. The routine will go something like this: Mia Heissan, 46, a URI lecturer in math, will get her doctorate in math on Saturday. On Sunday, she will award undergraduate diplomas to her two children, Anna and Chip Slaybaugh. “It’s so great,’’ says the proud mother, who is even more thrilled that her kids are each getting a bachelor’s degree in her beloved field: math. “That’s so cool.’’ It’s not unheard of for URI instructors to award diplomas to their children, but this …

 When Janice Wray lost control of her car on Route 95 in Connecticut last year, everything stopped. A 2009 graduate of East Greenwich High School, Janice was in her third year of nursing school at the University of Rhode Island. Now, suddenly, she was paralyzed from her chest down. “It’s like going from 21 to zero, when you first learn to crawl and walk,” Janice says now. “I have to learn to move my body in a whole different way.” She stayed in the ICU at Yale–New Haven for a month because her accident took place just outside New Haven, in Watertown. After that, Janice moved to Spaulding …

Janice Wray is sweating. Sitting on the edge of a raised physical therapy mat, Wray tugs her left leg up onto the platform, then grabs her right leg and pulls it up too. It’s excruciatingly hard work, requiring balance and muscle she’s worked to build for the past ten months. There's not a lot of muscle to build – her body lies dormant from from her chest down, paralysis the result of a car accident in April 2012. One year later, Janice goes to Providence five days a week to work with the physical therapists at Southern New England Rehab at St. Joseph’s Medical Center. There she works on the…

Release courtesy of the University of Rhode Island Department of Communications and Marketing. University of Rhode Island President David M. Dooley has announced that URI's 127th undergraduate commencement exercises will be held at the Thomas M. Ryan Center on Sunday, May 19. The decision to move commencement to the Ryan Center this year reflects the ongoing assessment of safety and security measures across the university. The Ryan Center is the largest and most appropriate venue to accommodate the more than 3,000 undergraduates and some of their guests. Each graduating student will receive …

The University of Rhode Island now offers one of the nation’s first undergraduate programs focused on green business: the green business double major. This program combines majors in general business and environmental economics and can be completed in four years. “The double major in green business gives students a competitive edge for many professional careers in the new green economy,” said Emi Uchida, an assistant professor of environmental and natural resource economics. “The private sector needs professionals who have creative ideas and the tools to formulate corporate strategies that …

Release courtesy the University of Rhode Island Athletic Department. The University of Rhode Island and head coach Dan Hurley have agreed to a contract extension that will keep him at the school through at least the 2019-20 season.  Director of Athletics Thorr Bjorn, University officials, and representatives for Hurley have been working on finalizing the details for the past week. "This is a huge statement to our student-athletes, our program, and the many dedicated fans of Rhode Island basketball.  I thank President David Dooley and Thorr Bjorn for their support, trust, and shared commitment…

Release courtesy of the University of Rhode Island. The individual who was the subject of a photo distributed to the campus community on Monday, April 8, voluntarily went to the URI Police Department on Tuesday afternoon. He identified himself as the man shown in images taken Friday, April 5, from the Kingston URI Library video. He is not a URI student. Witnesses had reported on Friday evening hearing the individual talking on the phone and in distress. He apologized to police for causing any concern in the community. Police do not believe he had any connection to the Chafee Social Science …

The University of Rhode Island Police Department is looking for a man involved in an incident at the campus library Friday night. The university provided no details of the incident in a press release, but said it has nothing to do with police locking down the campus Thursday after unfounded reports of a man with a gun. The man shown in the attached photo is described as a white male with a buzz haircut, clean-shaven, about 6-feet-tall and 220 pounds with a muscular build. He has a receding hairline and appears to be between 27 to 33 years of age. "At this time, we have no evidence that there …

Release courtesy the Legislative Press Bureau. Rep. Donald J. Lally and Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski, both of whose districts include University of Rhode Island’s Kingston campus, applauded URI and local emergency responders on Friday for their swift and thorough response to the report of a possible gunman on the campus on Thursday. “On behalf of our community, I feel safer seeing how quickly URI’s staff and our local police, fire and rescue crews responded, and how they organized a complete investigation under chaotic circumstances while keeping citizens and students out of harm’s way. We are …

Statement released via the University of Rhode Island Department of Communications and Marketing. To Members of the University Community, We are grateful that an alarming, and to some a terrifying, experience in Kingston yesterday ended with all members of our community safe and sound. A threatening statement believed to have been made in a lecture hall caused about 300 students to flee the auditorium, an entire building evacuated, an emergency alert system activated, and a university campus put in lock down mode for nearly three hours. We appreciate the swift and professional response of the…

Release courtesy the University of Rhode Island Department of Communications and Marketing. Friedrich Löhr, retired consul general of Germany, and Fabien Fieschi, consul general of France, will be among the panelists discussing “Is Europe Back? From Crisis Region to Transatlantic Free Trade Area?” on April 17 at 5:30 p.m. at the University of Rhode Island. The program will take place in the Lippitt Hall auditorium on the URI Kingston campus.  The event is free and open to the public. Others participating in the panel discussion are URI professors Gordon Dash, business management, Silvia …

Release by Rachel Donilon, a University of Rhode Island Marketing and Communications intern, and writing and rhetoric major. Ask Celia MacDonnell what her reaction was when she found out she had been honored for the best pharmaceutical publication in 2012, and her answer may surprise you. “I had no idea what the award even was,” she said, humbly. “I had no idea it was such a big deal.” And a big deal it is: MacDonnell, clinical associate professor of pharmacy at the University of Rhode Island, has been honored with the Rufus A. Lyman Award, presented annually by the American Association of …

Release courtesy the University of Rhode Island Department of Communications and Marketing. Registration is open for South County Habitat for Humanity’s annual “Pound the Pavement, Pound a Nail” walkathon, which begins and ends at the University of Rhode Island quadrangle on April 6.   The 3-kilometer walk begins at 2 p.m., and all proceeds will support Habitat’s Old North Village on the edge of the URI Kingston campus. Immediately following the walk, Rhode Island lifestyle brand Alex and Ani will host a free concert on the quadrangle by its musical partners, Colour of London.  In addition to…

Release courtesy of the University of Rhode Island Department of Communications and Marketing. Twenty-five years of water quality data collected by volunteers from the Watershed Watch program at the University of Rhode Island has shed light on the variability of the conditions of Rhode Island’s ponds, rivers and streams and how climate change and the increasingly severe weather affects them.  The program is now seeking additional volunteers to continue to monitor the state’s water bodies. “We know that our waters are highly variable from site to site and from year to year,” said Elizabeth …

Release courtesy the Jai Consulting Group, on behalf of the Get Pink Bridal Show. The Rhode Island Wedding Group’s Annual Get Pink Bridal Show will take place on Sunday, March 24, from noon until 4 p.m. at the Newport Marriott Hotel. Proceeds from the event, which includes a silent bridal auction, will be donated to the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation.  Visitors can expect a well-rounded experience including sneak peeks at the latest wedding trends, dance lessons, and a bridal fashion show featuring breast cancer survivors modeling gorgeous gowns, formal attire, mother-of-the-…

Release courtesy the URI Department of Communications and Marketing. The University of Rhode Island has frozen tuition for 2013-14 for both Rhode Islanders and non-resident students and has increased financial aid to record levels. “We believe the tuition freeze for both in-state and out-of-state students, as well as the increase in financial aid, is an important step forward in addressing affordability and access to higher education,” said URI President David M. Dooley. “While we recognize that a college education is a major investment, we also know that college graduates fare much better in…

Release courtesy of the University of Rhode Island. Hillel, the Jewish center at the University of Rhode Island, is hosting events in April to honor victims of the Holocaust, the murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime. The events, at various locations on the Kingston campus, are free and open to the public. “In only a few short years, the generation of Holocaust survivors will no longer be alive,’’ said Amy Olson, director of Hillel at the University of Rhode Island. “It is our responsibility to continue to tell their stories and hopefully prevent such a tragedy from ever occurring …

Shannon Long, an MBA student at the University of Rhode Island, will run the Boston Marathon next month as part of the Miles for Miracles team, which runs road races to raise money for Boston Children’s Hospital. A resident of Newport who grew up in Dartmouth, Mass., Long qualified to run the race after completing her first marathon in 2011 in a time of 3 hours, 27 minutes. This year’s Boston Marathon takes place on April 15. “As a runner, there is no greater joy than being able to do what you love while helping others,” said Long, a track star in high school who returned to running after …

There are no exams, no grades, and no requirements for an academic degree. In fact, no previous experience or degree is necessary, just a desire to learn for the joy of it. It’s open to all Rhode Islanders age 50 and older that want to participate in a community of fellow learners. The University of Rhode Island’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), founded in 2009 and part of a national network of Osher Institutes, is where 600 members are finding a place where people can exchange ideas, learn from each other, foster their creativity, and develop new friendships. The Bernard Osher …

Release courtesy of URI Theatre. The University of Rhode Island Department of Theatre will take audiences along on mythological adventures with its production of Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman. The show will be staged Wednesday, Feb 21 to Friday, Feb. 23, and Feb. 28 to March 2 at 7:30 p.m., and Feb. 24 and March 3 at 3 p.m. in J Studio in the URI Fine Arts Center on the Kingston Campus. General admission for the performance is $20; $15 for seniors, URI faculty and staff; and $12 for students. Tickets can be purchased by calling (401) 874-5843 or online here. Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses is …