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.

Spring 2026 Class Notes

Engagements and Marriages

Sophia Theilacker ’19 and Anthony Arcand ’20 were married on October 18, 2025 with many URI alumni at their wedding. (Photo left to right: Alex Surdan, Isabel Nagy ’20, Emma Lund ’20, Sophia Theilacker ’19, Anthony Arcand ’20, Mason Delisle ’19, Kateri Gomes ’19, and Ana Nimaja-Ippi ’19)

Hannah Gregson ’20 is excited to announce that she and Jay Forcello ’21 were engaged in March 2025. They met on the URI fencing team in 2017, their freshman year. Forcello proposed on March 30 in the Memorial Union Ballroom where they first met in fencing practice.

Victoria A. Langellier (Castillo) ’16 and Jeffrey W. Langellier ’16, both College of Business graduates, got married on September 20, 2025. We had our first date a week after our graduation from URI in 2016 and it’s been the best ever since!

André Marcelin ’16 and Ashley Frezza ’16 were married in 2025. The two met through the URI Music Department and many of their fellow alumni and URI staff were present to celebrate the day. (Photo by Angela Greenlaw Photography)

Brenna Guay ’15 and Eli Salsberry ’15 became husband and wife on August 2, 2025 at the Roger Williams Botanical Center. The two first met as classmates in URI’s civil engineering program, where they became friends. A few years after graduating, their friendship blossomed into a relationship, and after seven years together, they tied the knot. Many fellow URI alumni were there to celebrate their special day.

Jessica Piccoli ’13 and Michael Iannuccilli ’13 were married on May 10, 2024 in Rehoboth, Mass. surrounded by their close friends and family. Engagement photos were taken at Black Point Trail, bringing them back to Narragansett where they lived during their time at URI.

General Class Notes

1960

Richard Durst (B.S. chemistry URI, Ph.D. analytical chemistry MIT 1963) was recently elected to a third term on the presidium (the highest strategic and governance body) of the European Academy of Sciences headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Durst, elected a fellow of the Academy in 2002, was the first non-European scientist to be so honored. He was also recently appointed as presidium representative to the executive board of the Academy. His term on the presidium will expire in November 2029. He is currently an emeritus professor of chemistry at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Durst moved to Germany in 2013 when his wife, Prof. Dr. Antje Baeumner, who was also a professor at Cornell, accepted a position as a W3 professor and director of the Institute of for Analytical Chemistry, Bio- and Chemosensors at University Regensburg. They have a son, Vincent, studying at the University of Regensburg and daughter, Julia, at the Technical University of Munich.

1968

Peter D’Amico reports that the Class of 1968 Scholarship Endowment distributed $1,390.64 to students for the 2025/2026 academic year. The endowment was valued at $46,161.64 as of June 30, 2025.

Alan (Andy) Meshekow graduated from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1974. He received the Orel F. Martin Medal from the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons (ACOS) at their Annual Conclave in September 2025. This metal is the highest honor awarded by the ACOS. It recognizes Dr. Meshekow’s decades of service to the college and osteopathic surgery. He served on the Board of Governors of ACOS for 10 years and was president of the college in 2021. He retired from his active general surgery practice in 2019 after 40 years. His legacy is carried on by the numerous general surgery residents he trained. Dr. Meshekow lives in Massillon, Ohio with his wife Susan and their four cats.

1974

Carol Cioe Klyman has co-authored the third edition of Massachusetts Elder Law, a definitive guide to the complexities of elder law in the Commonwealth. Published by LexisNexis, the book is an essential resource for attorneys, financial professionals and policymakers dedicated to protecting older adults and their families. Klyman and coauthor Michele J. Feinstein are attorneys and shareholders at Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C. Klyman focuses her practice in the areas of estate planning, long-term care planning, and special needs planning.

1976

Scott Decker (zoology) was recently honored as one of the University of Michigan Medical School’s notable alumni. The UM Medical School commemorated its 175th anniversary with a special issue of its Medicine at Michigan magazine featuring stories of the “leaders and best” alumni and faculty. Decker is proud to be among the 175, which include Nobel laureates, National Medal of Science awardees, Presidential Medal of Freedom winners, and a presidential candidate.

Jeanne Sutton Stabile is currently studying and painting at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, adding to her URI B.S. degree in textiles and her Parsons School of Design B.F.A. (1981). She and fellow alum Sue Rodger Rooney ’77 were partners in the successful children’s wear line Penguin Parade, which Jeanne started during her year living in Australia over 40 years ago. Jeanne is looking forward to the 50th reunion on campus and getting back to the New England living she missed so much while living in Nashville for years with her husband and three daughters.

1977

Wayne Kaplan sent a photo of four URI alums who are still very good friends 50 years later. Photo left to right: Kathy (Marx) Kaplan ’78, Roni (Arons) Schloss ’78, Wayne Kaplan ’77, Laurie (Kikoen) Schwartz ’77.

1979

Ezra D. Bowen has accepted the role of vice president marketing and sales for the Americas with Fuji Seal International, driving sustainable options in the plastics industry. A former Ellery Hall resident, he majored in economics with a minor in chemistry. Other interests include beekeeping, woodworking, and travel.

1989

Kam Ng, Ph.D. ’89 writes, “Since my retirement in December 2021, I have been writing eBooks in memoirs, travel, and science and technology. As of today, I have written 228 eBooks, which were published in Kindle edition. About half of them, 112, were released as audio books. My eBooks are available at www.amazon.com/author/kam_ng.”

1991

Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Kenneth Grundy was a Critical Care Registered Nurse in the U.S. Army and was part of the Army’s trauma augmentation team, which provides additional personnel in the event of mass casualties. He shared a story from his deployment to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005. Arriving at Landstuhl he was told, “You will never leave here the same person.” Grundy was a member of a team that received over 2,760 combat wounded and battlefield causalities. After the loss of a traumatically wounded soldier under his care, the soldier’s family requested that Major Grundy escort their son home to his final resting place in Kansas. Grundy could not think of a more profound honor. He never left the fallen soldier’s side as he solemnly escorted the casket, draped in an American flag, to the airport in Kansas and presented the flag to the soldier’s family “on behalf of the president of the United States, the U.S. Army, and a grateful nation.” He returned to Landstuhl and later was a member of the Rhode Island Medical Reserve Corps for many years. Now retired, he is a supporter of the Gary Sinise Foundation and shares this message, “Not all wounds are visible. Eighteen veterans die by suicide every single day. Be willing to listen. GO RAMS.”

Melissa Lipa ’91, M.A. ’10 was named Rhode Island’s 2026 School Counselor of the Year by the Rhode Island Department of Education. Lipa, a school counselor at Mount Pleasant High School in Providence, received a surprise visit from state and school leaders, educators, and students during National School Counseling Week in February.

1992

David Borges published his third book, Hurley’s Heroes: UConn’s Return to College Basketball’s Elite, focusing on the team’s rise back to prominence under former URI coach Dan Hurley, who took the reins at UConn in 2018 after six seasons with URI. Hurley guided the Huskies from one of their lowest points in program history to back-to-back national titles in 2023 and 2024.  Borges covered it all as the UConn men’s basketball beat writer for CT Insider and Hearst Connecticut Media. He was awarded the National Sports Media Association’s Connecticut Sportswriter of the Year in 2019. Borges wrote two previous books, Rebound: The Incredible Story of UConn Basketball’s Comeback from Defeat to Dominance, and Images of Baseball: The Pawtucket Red Sox. His fourth book, UConn Basketball: An Illustrated Timeline, is due to be released in June 2026. Borges is married to Kristie (Mayes) Borges, whose parents, Sue (Steinitz) Mayes ‘67 and Keith Mayes ’68 are also URI grads.

Michael I. Miga ’92, M.S. ’94 is Harvie Branscomb Professor and chair of biomedical engineering at Vanderbilt University. He is also a co-founder and director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Surgery and Engineering (VISE). Under his leadership, Vanderbilt’s biomedical engineering graduate program has achieved national distinction, currently ranked 19th in the country by U.S. News & World Report. Dr. Miga also directs the Biomedical Modeling Laboratory, where his team develops platform technologies at the intersection of computational modeling, medical imaging, robotics, and procedural medicine. His research spans image-guided surgery, soft-tissue biomechanics, and technology-guided therapy, with NIH-funded projects in brain, liver, kidney, and breast surgery.

1993

Michelle Girasole ’93, M.B.A. ’97 writes, “As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, I’m thrilled to share some exciting news: my digital storytelling company, FreshMaps, partnered with the Battle of Rhode Island Association to create a mobile app scavenger hunt highlighting stories of Rhode Island rebels and their impact on the Revolution. We welcome URI alumni, faculty, and staff to join in the fun.  Our “RI250 Quest” competition kicks off on May 3, 2026 at the Nathanael Greene Homestead in Coventry, and teams will navigate through eight RI towns to the places where the Revolution unfolded. With videos, trivia, and puzzles to earn points, and a statewide leaderboard with great prizes, it is sure to be a memorable way to celebrate the 250th! Whether you were a history major at URI—or just love learning about history—we invite you to enter yourself or a team and be part of something special. Go Rhody!”

1994

Michelle Simpson’s first job after graduating with an education degree and a concentration in natural resource science was as an environmental educator at the W. Alton Jones campus. Thirty years later she has come full circle and is the executive director of Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center in southern Vermont. In the meantime, she was selected to participate in Harvard’s Women in Educational Leadership program, explored ecosystems on six continents, and raised a family. Her son, Case ’29, has followed in her footsteps and is pursuing a degree in marine affairs.

1995

Deb Beal was named MIAA girls soccer coach of the year in Division 4 this past fall by the Boston Globe. She led the Cohasset High School Skippers to a 17-4-0 record and a berth in the Division 4 semifinals. This is her fourth coach of the year award. She played soccer at URI.

Christopher Colson ’95, ’96 received the 2025 Rhode Island STEAM Educator Award for middle school education from the Rhode Island Department of Education. The award recognizes one elementary educator (grades K-5), one middle school educator (grades 6-8), and one high school educator (grades 9-12) whose innovative and engaging lessons spark curiosity and creativity in their students. Colson is a teacher at Goff Middle School in Pawtucket.

Correction: Greg Silva has been named an NFLPA Institutional Financial Advisor. Designated financial advisors selected for this program work one-on-one with current and retired NFL players to provide holistic financial advice. In addition, Greg earned his NIL certification and has been offering financial literacy training to college athletes as well. Greg was also recognized in The Providence Journal as the winner of the 2025 Rhode Island Community’s Choice Award (Best Financial Planner). This marks the third time he has received this honor.

Alexander Smolenski Jr., M.S. ’95 was selected to the 2025 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list in the Intellectual Property category. Each year, no more than 5 percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor. Smolenski is a partner at the regional law firm Barclay Damon.

1996

Wendy (O’Brien) Haller announced that her debut novel, The Flannigan Girls, was voted runner-up for the 2025 Best Contemporary/Literary Fiction by the Indie Author Project—an honor awarded by librarians across the country. The next book in the trilogy will be released in May 2026.

2000

Nikki Noya was invited to speak at Davos Lodge in January 2026. Davos Lodge, an initiative of People4People, is an independent, non-profit platform held in Davos, Switzerland that brings together global leaders from business, government, philanthropy, and innovation to foster meaningful dialogue, partnerships, and impact-driven collaboration. According to a Davos Lodge speaker announcement, Noya “brings a unique media voice to Davos Lodge, enriching our dialogue on connectivity, culture, and the future of global storytelling.”

2002

Amy Barlow ’02, M.A. ’06, M.L.I.S. ’06 was recently appointed head of research, teaching, and collections in the libraries at the College of the Holy Cross.

2003

Reza “Rites” Clifton was selected by the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts as a creative practitioner on the Rhode Island Teaching Artist Roster. The roster is a directory of teaching artists who have been approved by public panels to work in educational settings. Inclusion on the roster means the state’s Arts Council has endorsed their skills and credentials. Reza Rites a bilingual writer, multimedia artist, professor, former radio producer, and “whimsiologist” from Providence, R.I. She has an M.F.A. in creative writing from New England College, a B.A. in Africana studies from URI, where she also studied international development, and a post-baccalaureate secondary teaching degree from Providence College.

Ed Garcia ’03, M.L.I.S. ’08 was named the 2025 recipient of the Page Turner Award by the Rhode Island Center for the Book. Established in 2023, the Page Turner Award recognizes a librarian or educator who has made a significant contribution to the Center’s mission and inspired a love of reading throughout Rhode Island. Garcia is director of the Cranston Public Library in Cranston, R.I.

Tiffany Risch ’03, M.A. ’05 received the 2025 Rhode Island STEAM Educator Award for high school education from the Rhode Island Department of Education. The award recognizes one elementary educator (grades K-5), one middle school educator (grades 6-8), and one high school educator (grades 9-12) whose innovative and engaging lessons spark curiosity and creativity in their students. Risch is a science teacher at Coventry High School.

2004

Francis Boyle (B.F.A. Theatre) writes, “I’ve had a year. 2025 began for me with the printing of my play (co-authored with James Mainard O’Connell) Mountain of Crime, a murder mystery comedy, by Uproar Publishing. It’s since been produced in Kentucky, Ohio, and Texas. Also, my one-man adaptation of Moby-Dick: The Year of the Whale will have its world premiere at the Steeple Playhouse in New Bedford Jan 29-Feb 1, 2026. It is a commission by Neil McGarry. And I got the call from Jeopardy! I’ve been a fan as long as I can remember, and my episode aired December 11. It was a lifelong dream to even become a contestant. I had an incredible time, and anyone interested should go take the Anytime Test. I’m writing and teaching out near Cincinnati, Ohio with my wife Angie, the Statler to my Waldorf.”

2008

Emily Greenhalgh (marine biology) released her second and third children’s science books: Fun with Outer Space (2024) and Bug Explorer! A Bug Book For Kids (2025). Both books were published through Penguin Random House/Z Kids. Greenhalgh is a science writer who can be reached at emilygreenhalgh.com.

Heather Schmutzler (nursing) presented an innovation session at the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet & Pathway conference in October 2025, highlighting a homegrown anesthesia resident orientation program she co-developed with a colleague. Schmutzler serves as the orthopedic service team lead in the main operating room at The Miriam Hospital in Providence, R.I., which also celebrated receiving its seventh Magnet designation at the conference.

2009

Tanios Elie BouRamia has joined International Manufacturing Services, Inc. (IMS), located in Portsmouth, R.I. as their new vice president of sales and marketing.

Erin Masse is excited to announce that she has opened The Little Bubblegum Bookshop, Rhode Island’s first brick-and-mortar romance-only bookstore. Located between the Fox Point neighborhood and the Jewelry District in Providence, the shop celebrates all things love, connection, and happy endings. Masse plans to host author signings, book clubs, after-hours gatherings, and community events that bring readers together. More information at thelittlebubblegumbookshop.com.

2011

Kyle Spaltholz, a school counselor at Portsmouth Middle School in Portsmouth, R.I., was one of 30 educators nationwide to receive a prestigious Milken Educator Award in December 2025. The award recognizes his solution-oriented, student-first approach and enthusiasm for student, family, school, and district-wide engagement. The Milken Awards represent the nation’s preeminent teacher recognition program, often hailed as the “Oscars of Teaching.” The prize empowers recipients to broaden their impact and encourage capable young people to consider careers in education.

2013

Zachary Oliveira achieved the designation of Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society after passing all 10 required actuarial exams. Only 4,000 people hold this designation worldwide. Oliviera is currently working as an actuarial pricing manager for The Hanover Insurance Group in Worcester, Mass., determining the company’s home and auto insurance prices in the Midwest region of the country.

2020

Madelyn McCarthy ’20, M.A. ’21 is thriving at IUC Public Relations in Boston, where she started her career shortly after completing her graduate studies at URI. She has already risen through three positions and now serves as one of the agency’s emerging leaders. Known for her professionalism and collaborative spirit, she has helped secure major press coverage for clients and strengthen several key accounts. McCarthy stays closely connected to her Rhody roots and is grateful for the mentorship and community that shaped her path.

Isabella Silverman completed the Berlin Marathon in September 2025, proudly representing URI.

2021

Lt. Col. Robert A. Creamer, P.S.M. ’21 was appointed by Most Reverend Bruce Lewandowski, Bishop of Providence as the Diocese of Providence’s director of compliance as of January 5, 2026. Prior to the appointment, Creamer served as the deputy superintendent and chief of field Operations of the Rhode Island State Police, where he was the second-in-command overseeing more than 650 employees. As diocesan director of compliance, Lt. Col. Creamer is responsible for ensuring all diocesan entities and employees follow policies, procedures, and law.

2023

Stephanie Argus, Ph.D. ’23 was appointed to the Vermont Commission on Women by the governor of Vermont. Argus holds a Ph.D. in education and is a professor at Landmark College, a post-secondary institution for neurodivergent students with learning differences. Her topics of academic research and writing include critical whiteness studies and anti-racism, gender equity, intersectional feminism, DEI, LGBTQ+ folks, immigrants/refugees, and English language learners. She has significant experience with nonprofit organizations empowering girls and women, including the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), Girl Scouts of the USA, and the YWCA.

2024

Gabrielle Santos (Business) was a competitive dancer before joining the Ramettes dance team at URI. In her senior year, the Ramettes were invited to perform with the New England Patriots cheerleaders during a half-time performance. That day, Santos knew she wanted to become a New England Patriots cheerleader. Encouraged by her Ramettes coach and mentor, Valerie Soles, she tried out while still in her last semester at URI. Juggling rigorous tryouts with her studies was a challenge, but she was elated when she found out she made the team. She jumped right in, even before graduation, and has been enjoying every minute of it—especially as the Patriots made it through the playoffs to the Super Bowl! In addition to her NFL career, Santos works full-time as a medical device senior inside sales representative for B. Braun Medical. She is the daughter of proud Rhody parents, Jennifer ’94 and Raymond Santos ’94 (a men’s soccer alum).