WHO: Eva-Marie Mancuso, chair of the Rhode Island Board of Education, Deborah Gist, Rhode Island commissioner of elementary and secondary education; David M. Dooley, president of the University of Rhode Island, Nancy Carriuolo, president of Rhode Island College, and Scott MacKay, Rhode Island Public Radio political commentator. Elisabeth Harrison, host of Morning Edition and education reporter for Rhode Island Public Radio, will moderate the discussion, “The State of Education in Rhode Island.” Colloquium coordinators are, David Byrd, director of the URI School of Education, and Diane Kern, URI associate professor of education. The presidents of URI and RIC graciously agreed to participate when Ray Di Pasquale, Community College of Rhode Island president, and former commissioner of higher education, was unable to attend.
WHAT: The second lecture in URI’s 51st honors colloquium, “Great Public Schools, Everyone’s Right? Everyone’s Responsibility?” Free and open to the public. The event will be streamed live at URI Live! 
and Rhode Island Public Radio will record the event for broadcast Wednesday night, Sept. 18 at 8 p.m.
WHEN: Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Edwards Hall auditorium, 64 Upper College Road, Kingston Campus.
TO MAKE COVERAGE ARRANGEMENTS: Contact Dave Lavallee, URI Marketing and Communications, 401-874-5862.
PANEL MEMBERS THUMBNAILS:
• Mancuso has served as chair of the Rhode Island Board of Education since January 2013. She has been managing partner with the law firm of Hamel, Waxler, Allen and Collins for more than 20 years, and is an accomplished trial attorney. Mancuso began her law career as assistant attorney general for Rhode Island and assistant district attorney for Bristol County, Mass. She has also served as an adjunct professor at CCRI and as a faculty advisor to the National College of District Attorneys. Prior to her appointment as chair, Mancuso served as a board member of the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education from 2011 to 2013. During that time, she chaired the Government Relations Committee and also served as a board member of the Facilities, Finance and Management Committee and the Personnel Committee. Mancuso earned a bachelor’s degree from URI and a law degree from Suffolk University Law School.
• During Gist’s tenure as commissioner of education, she has won two Race to the Top grants for the state’s public schools. Gist has been an educator for 25 years, beginning her career in Fort Worth, Texas, and continuing in Tampa, Fla., where she conceptualized and initiated a literacy program benefitting families in 108 schools in Hillsborough County. Prior to coming to Rhode Island in 2009, Gist served as the first superintendent of education for the District of Columbia. She holds a bachelor’s degree in early-childhood education from the University of Oklahoma, a master’s degree in elementary education and curriculum from the University of South Florida, a master’s degree in public administration from the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a doctoral degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania.
* With more than 30 years of experience in public and private higher education, Dooley became URI’s 11th president in July 2009. He previously had served as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Montana State University. Known for his collaborative leadership style that encourages entrepreneurial approaches to problem solving and program development, he fosters a community of discovery that involves all URI students, faculty and staff. In 2012, his interdisciplinary approach and strong support for interactive learning and research resulted in an invitation from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano for the president to join a 19-member Homeland Security Academic Advisory Council. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of California in San Diego and a doctorate in chemistry from California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Actively engaged in teaching and research throughout his academic career, in 2012 he was named a Fellow of the Council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for his distinguished career of sustained discovery and innovation.
• Carriuolo was named the ninth president of Rhode Island College on May 12, 2008. During 2007-2008, Carriuolo served as interim vice president for academic affairs at RIC, overseeing the management of academic activities and programs for the college, while maintaining her duties as deputy commissioner and chief academic officer at the Rhode Island Office of Higher Education. Carriuolo was promoted to that position in 2006 after serving since 2000 as associate commissioner for academic and student affairs. Carriuolo has wide-ranging experience in higher education. She served as the director of the Office of School/College Relations at the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and, immediately prior to joining the Office of Higher Education, served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of New Haven, where she became a tenured full professor of English in 1987. She also has experience as a junior- and senior-high school teacher and department chair. Carriuolo earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the State College of New York at Brockport and a doctorate from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
• MacKay is a political analyst and commentator for Rhode Island Public Radio’s Political Roundtable. Prior to his work on Rhode Island NPR, MacKay spent 30 years at The Providence Journal as a political reporter, covering politics in Rhode Island and around New England. Along with a wealth of knowledge surrounding local politics, MacKay holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Vermont.
• Harrison’s journalism background includes everything from behind-the-scenes work with the CBS Evening News to freelance documentary production.
She joined the WRNI team in 2007 as a Morning Edition producer and freelance journalist. In 2009, she became a full-time reporter, and became the Morning Edition host in 2011. Harrison’s education is as wide ranging as her work at Rhode Island Public Radio. She has a bachelor’s degree in English and French from Wellesley College, and a joint master’s degree in journalism and French studies from New York University.
For more information on this year’s colloquium, visit the 2013 URI Honors Colloquium website at URI Honors Colloquium.