Class Notes

Let your classmates know what you’re up to! If you have news to share—reunions, gatherings, career or academic updates, weddings and birth announcements, retirements, exhibition openings, travel, or your favorite URI memories—click the button below to submit your update online or send an email to urimag@uri.edu.

Fall 2025 Class Notes

Engagements and Marriages

Noëlle Tubbs ’10 and Sean McCullough became engaged on June 2, 2024. Sean proposed to Noëlle, a lover of beaches (which is what first attracted her to study for a marine biology degree at URI’s coastal campus), on a beautiful beach in the Outer Banks, N.C. They are planning a June 2026 wedding in New York, where Noëlle is from and Sean now lives.

Lars Murphy ’17 and Alissa Margraf ’18 started dating after they were captains of the URI men’s and women’s rowing teams, rowing out of the same boat house for three years. They were married last fall on the water where they feel most at home, surrounded by family and friends they met at URI.  They also purchased their first home together in 2023—walking distance to URI—and one day hope to rent it out to URI students.

James Alfonso ’21 and Carolyn (Sullivan) Alfonso ’22 were married this year. The couple met playing club sports together and have very happy memories of their URI years.

Megan Gray, Pharm.D. ’22 and Michael Burkett Pharm.D. ’22 were married on May 18, 2025 in Connecticut. They celebrated the day with family, friends, and Allie’s Donuts!

General Class Notes

1971
Michael (Mike) S. Gautreaux (B.S. industrial engineering; M.B.A. University of Georgia 1974) recently retired after a 50-year career in the insurance industry. Mike now lives in the Reynolds Lake Oconee, Greensboro, Ga. Community, which is an active lake life community along with seven world-class golf courses. Mike recently made the unique feat of making two hole-in-ones during an 18-hole match. Odds of accomplishing this are 67,000,000 to 1.

1974
Edward J. Linky, Esq., M.M.A. ’74 retired in June 2025 from the federal government after 36 years with the U.S. Coast Guard and the USEPA as a national and regional energy and climate expert. His USEPA work allowed him to assist in the creation of the Energy Star program, which he successfully migrated to the government of Hong Kong in 1994 and the Republic of China in 2000 under the multi-agency U.S. Asia Environmental Partnership. He continues advocacy of sustainability as an adjunct instructor at the Rutgers University Master of Science In Business program. He lives with family in Princeton, New Jersey and welcomes contact from URI alums, especially from the M.M.A. program.

1975
Stan Strembicki was honored to have his work included in the 2025 Netflix documentary series executive produced by Spike Lee called “Katrina: Come Hell and High Water.” Strembicki’s “Memory Loss” portfolio is a series of photographs taken during a 15-year time frame of the rebuilding of New Orleans after Katrina.

1979
Robert Mastin, M.S. ’79 has released a new book titled Liberty Call: When Newport Was Home to the Atlantic Fleet, which tells the story of Newport when it was a rough-and-tumble sailor town catering to thousands of sailors and marines serving aboard the Atlantic Fleet warships. Part I covers the ramp up to World War II, when a huge naval presence was established in Newport and Narragansett Bay. Part II covers the navy town where these sailors and marines went on Liberty Call, when they all came ashore to blow off steam and have fun. Part III covers the total transformation of Newport into a world-class resort destination, beginning in the 1960s with the redevelopment of downtown, the construction of the Newport Bridge, and the departure of the Atlantic Fleet in 1973. The book is available at Custom House Coffee (Mastin’s main business), local bookstores, and online at NewportNostalgia.com.

1980
Vinnie Joyce ’80, ’19, writes, “Rhody Pride at 195 Main Street! I’m a proud two-time alumnus of URI, and I’m thrilled to share some exciting news: my wife, son, and I have just opened The Joyce Restaurant and Pub at 195 Main Street in Wakefield, R.I. We would love to welcome URI alumni, faculty, and staff to join us. Our goal is to become the go-to gathering place for the Rhody community–a spot where memories are shared, friendships are rekindled, and new traditions begin. We have plenty of fond memories from our time at URI and would be honored to share them with you. Come visit us and be part of something special. Go Rhody!”

1982
Dean Dunn, Ph.D. ’82 writes, “21 years ago, I moved from professor of geology at the University of Southern Mississippi, to program manager for geosciences at the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (ACS PRF) in Washington, D.C. At ACS PRF, I have arranged for peer review of 2,715 proposals and managed 602 funded research grants for a total of $52.46 million. At the end of September, I will retire from my “second career” after the fall meeting of the Petroleum Research Fund Committee.

Paul Licata sent photos of two URI traditions: “Doo Dah Day was celebrated each year on the day before finals started. There were rows of kegs lined up between a few of the dorms and as the picture attests, it was attended by what seemed like every person on campus. This picture is from 1980 or 1981. I wonder how many remember this long-gone tradition. The other photo is one original URI sled a.k.a. dining hall tray circa 1980. I still find it very useful.”

1988
David Martinez writes, “I graduated from URI with a B.A. in philosophy (my mentor was Galen Johnson). Currently, I am a professor of American Indian and Transborder studies at Arizona State University (see my info at search.asu.edu/profile/1099665). I wanted to share the news about my forthcoming book, The Maze of History, which the University of New Mexico Press will release next spring on April 21, 2026. It is my fifth book.”

1989
Tim Gray, founder and president of the World War II Foundation, is pleased to announce that an August 26, 2025 article appearing in National Geographic lists the International Museum of World War II in Rhode Island among a short list of World War II museums globally who “do it right.” The museum houses nearly 7,000 artifacts related to World War II, including rare items not found in any other museum. Gray believes it is the best World War II museum in the world when it comes to telling the personal stories of the war. Thom Brassil ’15 is the museum curator and director of education and Sheila (Martin) Gray ’89 is the museum’s director of operations.

1990
Jonathan Barnett, a financial advisor at The Bulfinch Group, has passed the rigorous American College certification of Retirement Income Certified Professional®, an advanced designation for financial professionals who are focused on the needs of the thousands of Americans reaching age 65 who need guidance in obtaining sustainable retirement income. Using the most current retirement portfolio management techniques, the RICP® Financial Professional helps to identify retirement income needs and objectives relative to the client’s lifestyle goals in retirement. The Bulfinch Group is a financial services firm headquartered in Needham, Mass.

1991
Antoinette Kelly, business administrator/board secretary for the Demarest, N.J. Public Schools, has been honored with a Distinguished Service Award by the New Jersey Association of School Business Officials (NJASBO) for her long-term, continuous and exemplary service. In addition to her role at Demarest Schools, Kelly also serves as the treasurer of school funds for several other school districts across Bergen County.

1993
Eric Keeler has been appointed as the new director of the Loudoun County, Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. He was selected after a nationwide recruitment. Keeler is a senior-level housing and community development professional with three decades of experience in managing federal, state and local housing programs for the City of Alexandria, Virginia. He served most recently as the deputy director of the City of Alexandria’s Office of Housing where he has held various roles since 1995.

1995
Nomi Hague ’95, M.L.I.S. ’00 has been appointed librarian of the Cranston Public Library’s Auburn branch. She began working at the Auburn branch in December 2021 as the youth services librarian. Before joining the Cranston Public Library, she served as director of the Langworthy Public Library in Hope Valley from 2019 to 2021 and was the assistant director of the Cross Mills Public Library in Charlestown from 2012 to 2019.

2003
Cristina Costa LICSW, B.A. ’03, B.S. ’05, and Talent Development alum, was named the director of the Rhode Island College Counseling Center. In addition, she was elected as the president-elect for the National Association of Social Work of Rhode Island (NASW-RI) Board of Directors.

2014
Katie Castagno, M.A. ’14 (marine affairs) writes, “By day, I am the director of the Land-Sea Interaction Program at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, Mass., and I credit the marine affairs program largely for how I got where I am today! As a researcher, I was excited to apply my skills to another passion as a singer-songwriter. For the last few years, I have been working on a project called “Our Queer Elders,” a full-length album produced by Erin McKeown and released in August 2025. In a time when queer histories are increasingly erased, “Our Queer Elders” is a collection of original songs celebrating and elevating the lives and stories of people who have queered social and gender norms throughout history. Queer people have always been here, but so rarely is that past acknowledged and cherished. With generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, and Club Passim, several guest musicians lent their talent to the effort, including Patty Larkin, Pamela Means, Catie Curtis, and Natalia Zukerman.

2020
Tyler Dufresne and Kyle Paparelli are lighting up the sports fishing world! Dufresne is captain of the Viking Lights Out and Paparelli is the first mate. Together they won the Oak Bluffs Bluewater Classic for the unprecedented third year in a row. They also won the Sports Fishing Championship Atlantic Division 2025. Both earned B.S. degrees in aquaculture and fishery technology from URI.