RIIHEA

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — May 19, 2009 — This year, Johnson & Wales University will confer more than 7,000 degrees at three commencement ceremonies:

The Alan Shawn Feinstein Graduate School and School of Education

Thursday, May 21, 7 P.M.
Providence Performing Arts Center Student Degrees Awarded: 806

Keynote Speaker: Peter McWalters, commissioner, R.I. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Providence, R.I., will receive an honorary Doctor of Education degree.

For Jill Lazar and Allie Crowder-Schaefer, owners of Providence-based Everything Events, the flow of adrenaline from throwing a party is addictive – finding the right location, getting the right entertainment, working out the logistics. “I get such a rush,” says Lazar, who teamed up with Crowder-Schaefer in 2007 to launch their events-planning business. So far, they have been successful at assembling corporate gatherings and showcase expos that they say are one of kind, but haven’t broken the bank.

Brown University and computing giant IBM have signed an agreement that will start a two-year pilot program to bring a new generation of high-performance computing to Brown and to Rhode Island. The arrangement should greatly enhance statewide research and collaboration, capitalize on interdisciplinary work, and increase funding opportunities for major research initiatives.

PROVIDENCE — Brown University has given 12,000 graphing calculators to the city’s middle and high school students, the first part of the university’s commitment to pour millions of dollars into the Providence public schools.

In 2003, Brown University President Ruth J. Simmons commissioned a report to explore the connections between the slave trade in Rhode Island and the college’s early benefactors. The Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice was born from that investigation. At the time, Simmons said the report’s findings were a reminder that moral acts can have immense social and economic consequences.

TRAVEL TIME 3 hours by train

WHY? Providence is urban New England at its finest — fascinating, fun and completely unpretentious.

MUST DO Located on beautiful College Hill, a stone's throw from Brown, the Rhode Island School of Design may date back to 1877, but it's anything but stuck in the past. Check out the school's onsite Museum of Art, which finds room for everything from Picasso and Matisse to a retrospective of architect Marcel Breuer's work (through July 19). Even if you're not into art, stop in at the risd works shop around the corner in the Rafael Moneo-designed Chace Center building. The store sells items made by RISD alumni and faculty; there's also a gallery exhibiting the work of current students. Want a city overview? Hitch a ride with Providence Trolley Tours — it'll give you the lay of the land. While Providence is small and easily walkable, it can be a little confusing, thanks to the geography. The tour takes in everything from the redeveloped area along the Providence River to the city's fabled Little Italy, known better as Federal Hill. (more…)

Five faculty admitted to RI Bar; Wed., May 6 – 11:00 a.m.,
Federal District Court, Kennedy Plaza, Providence

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Five members of the Johnson & Wales Department of Legal Studies faculty will be admitted to the United States Supreme Court Bar on Wednesday, May 6th at 11:00 a.m. The ceremony will be held at the Federal District Court in Kennedy Plaza. The full time faculty are: Professor Guy Bissonnette; Assistant Professor Colleen Less; Professor Ernest Mayo; Professor Kenneth Schneyer; and Assistant Professor David Spatt.

Many readers commented on my column last Sunday that forecast that Rhode Island’s jobless rate would rise into 2010 and suggested the keys to rebuilding the state’s economy include strengthening the public education system and job-training programs.

Some said I spread too much doom and gloom. (There are some positive signs, such as a slight loosening of bank credit, but economists still estimate Rhode Island’s unemployment rate will rise well above the current 10.5 percent.)

April 27, 2009 Kingston, RI - AICU Rhode Island Presidents, along with their counterparts from Rhode Island’s public higher education institutions, met with Senator Jack Reed this morning on the campus of the University of Rhode Island.