KINGSTON, R.I. – August 16, 2006 — Deborah Rosen, a University of Rhode Island professor of business administration, has been appointed executive director of the URI Transportation Center, it was announced by URI President Robert L. Carothers. She will direct the center’s interdisciplinary research and education efforts, which are funded primarily by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Rosen teaches graduate level business courses at URI on such topics as knowledge systems, channels of distribution, relationship management, new product development and internet marketing, and she has studied transportation logistics, supply chain management and transportation policy.
Since 1999 she has served as director of URI’s MBA program, during which she revised the curriculum to include student projects in support of local start-up companies and non-profit organizations. She will continue in this role during her tenure as Transportation Center director.
“My first objective will be to develop the Center’s new strategic plan to refocus the organization in such a way as to make us unique from other transportation centers and allow us to rebuild our funding,” said Rosen, a resident of Wakefield. “I don’t intend to abandon the successful direction the Center has taken in recent years, but instead build on those successes and take advantage of synergies between various departments on campus.”
Rosen said that the first step in building the new strategy will be to assess the activities on campus that have the potential to lead to collaboration on transportation and supply chain management issues that are important to Rhode Island’s public and private sector.
According to Rosen, the Center will continue to be responsive to the research needs and interests of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT), one of its key supporters and partners.
“We are very excited about Rosen’s appointment, as she is from the URI community and therefore can better understand the needs of the Center and URI in general,” said RIDOT Director James R. Capaldi. “We look forward to working with her, and we will continue to do all we can to help ensure the Center’s success.”
Rosen noted that the Center could benefit from URI’s participation in the Global U8, a group of eight universities from around the world that was formed to address emerging issues confronting the global community. One topic this group will address this fall is transportation security, which Rosen said could become a focus area of the Center.
Federal legislation approved in 1998 established 33 university transportation centers nationwide, with an aim of advancing transportation technology and expertise through education, research and technology transfer. Among the many activities undertaken by the URI Center each year are numerous short courses for transportation industry professionals co-sponsored by the National Highway Institute; summer transportation camps for secondary school students; various programs to encourage women and minorities to pursue transportation-related careers; and the funding of a wide range of transportation research.
URI News Bureau photo by Michael Salerno Photography