URI professor taking on new leadership role after 30 years

KINGSTON, R.I. – September 18, 2008 – Kathryn Quina enjoys seeing the students at the University of Rhode Island’s Alan Shawn Feinstein College of Continuing Education work to change their lives. Following the lead of her students, Quina has taken on the role of interim associate dean on the Providence campus.

“With 30 years of higher education experience, a proven leader in her field and a thorough understanding of the Providence campus and our student population, Kat was a natural choice for the position of interim dean,” said John McCray, vice provost for urban programs.

A Scituate resident, Quina officially has been serving in the new capacity since Aug. 17, taking on the role nearly 30 years to the day she joined the URI faculty as a professor of psychology and women’s studies. The students’ passion fuels Quina’s desire for her work.

“I am completely devoted to the mission of the FCCE program,” Quina said. “The people who come here are changing their lives, and to be part of that transition is an honor. The faculty and staff here share that desire to make it work for the students.”

Quina has long served as the coordinator of the psychology degree program on the Providence campus. She also has been director of the behavioral science graduate program on the Kingston campus. In her new role, she will oversee all academic programs at the Feinstein Providence campus, which offers courses and degree programs to more than 3,000 students.

“I have had to adjust to some new responsibilities, but my philosophy since I first came here is that we are all in this together,” Quina said. “In this environment, everybody is working very closely together. With my background, I understand the needs of the faculty as well as the students. We have had a strong level of communication, which is important.”

During her career at URI, Quina’s research has examined the effects of childhood trauma in its various forms, gender and multicultural influences on human behavior, and the status of women in science and in academia. She also has coauthored or co-edited six books and numerous other publications and is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association.

A past president of the New England Psychological Association, Quina served on the Board of the Rhode Island Psychological Association, and is co-coordinator of the 2009 national conference of the Association for Women in Psychology.

Quina was named Woman of the Year by the Rhode Island Women’s Political Caucus and the URI Association for Professional and Academic Women, and received the Faculty Diversity award from the URI Multicultural Center and the Founder’s Award from the Rhode Island Rape Crisis Center (now Day One). Nationally, she received the Christine Ladd Franklin Award for service and the Florence Denmark Mentoring Award from the Association for Women in Psychology.

For information on programs offered at URI’s Feinstein Providence campus, visit www.uri.edu/prov, or call 401.277.5160

Pictured above

Kathryn Quina.

URI Department of Communications and Marketing photo by Nora Lewis