RIC Alumni Awards a Virtual Affair This Year

The Rhode Island College Alumni Association will honor 27 recipients for their distinctive contributions and dedication to the college during a virtual ceremony at 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 5.  

“Although things will look a bit different for our Alumni Awards celebration this year, we’re just as excited for our virtual event recognizing amazing alumni and college community members from 2020 and 2021,” says Rhode Island College Alumni Director Suzy Alba. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the 2020 Alumni Awards ceremony was postponed. 

“These individuals have excelled in academia, business, education, public service, health care, local, state and federal government, the arts, and social work and graduated between 1971 and 2017, truly reflecting decades of outstanding professional achievement and service to the college,” Alba says. 

Attendees are encouraged to register here to view the free presentation. Viewers who donate to the RICochet Emergency Grant and Alumni scholarship program will receive a commemorative Celebration in a Box.  

Sandra Enos ’71 will receive one of the event’s top awards -- the 2021 John Nazarian Alumna/Alumnus of the Year Award. Enos, who earned a bachelor’s degree at RIC, a master’s from Brown University and a Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut, has spent the last two decades as a sociology professor at RIC and Bryant University. In that capacity, she’s been a national leader in the field of service learning and community engaged teaching. She previously worked in the fields of child welfare and corrections, once serving as a policy aide to the Rhode Island governor’s office. After retiring, Enos founded Giving Beyond the Box, a social enterprise that curates gift boxes that showcase meaningful gift giving. 

The 2020 John Nazarian Alumna/Alumnus of the Year is Frederick Harrison ‘07. For 36 years, Harrison worked as a director in the manufacturing, pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields before discovering another passion as a math educator. After graduating from Rhode Island College’s teacher certification program, Harrison went on to become a seventh and eighth-grade teacher in Warwick Public Schools. He created the Professor Helen Salzberg Endowed Scholarship at RIC to assist first generation students pursuing their dreams in math education. Harrison also gives back by serving on the Board of Trustees for the Rhode Island College Foundation. 

Maria Ducharme ’87, president of The Miriam Hospital is the Charles B. Williard Professional Achievement Award winner for 2021. Ducharme, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, has spent her career at Miriam, where she began as a cardiovascular medical/surgical nurse. She’s led in inpatient nursing, respiratory therapy and rehabilitation services. She helped lead the hospital’s response to COVID-19, directly overseeing the deployment of new safety protocols in response to the pandemic. Under her guidance, Miriam attained four-year Magnet recognition –considered the gold standard for nursing excellence – six times, a feat accomplished by only three other hospitals in the United States. 

Former Rhode Island Postsecondary Commissioner Brenda Dann-Messier ‘73, M.Ed. ‘74 is the 2020 recipient of the Charles B. Williard Professional Achievement Award. Dann-Messier, who now works as a senior advisor for the national consulting firm Education Strategy Group, previously worked in President Barack Obama’s administration as assistant secretary of career, technical and adult education from 2009-2014. Dann-Messier serves on the Board of Trustees for Johnson and Wales University and as a board member for the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation. 

For her contributions to her alma mater, Elizabeth Rochefort ‘10 is receiving the 2021 Alumni Service Award. A principal architectural historian at the Rhode Island Preservation and Heritage Commission (RIHPHC), Rochefort’s career in historic preservation began when she was a RIC student who double-majored in history and anthropology. While in college she interned at the RIHPHC and as a special collections assistant in RIC’s James P. Adams Library. Rochefort’s accomplishments include preparing the 2021-2027 Rhode Island Statewide Historic Preservation Plan and writing nominations that resulted in hundreds of properties being listed in the National Register of Historic Places; one of her nominations was based on research Rochefort conducted as a RIC student, leading to the State Home and School for Dependent and Neglected Children Historic District on the college’s East Campus being listed in the National Register. 

The 2020 Alumni Service Award winner is Dayna Gladstein ‘83, M.S.W. ‘87, who works as clinical director of the Gifford Street Wellness Center at Arcadia Healthcare. Gladstein’s work has assisted multiple agencies in homeless, veteran and outpatient psychiatric services and institutional care for women and children. Gladstein has served on the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Association, RI Council of Community Mental Health Centers, RI Coalition of Alcohol and Drug Dependent Women and Their Children and was elected to the Board of Directors for the National Association of Social Workers. She has also served as an instructor in the Psychology Department at RIC and the Vermont School of Corrections. 

Married couple and RIC School of Social Work professors Deborah Siegel and Frederic Reamer are the recipients of the 2021 Alumni Faculty Award. Siegel came to RIC in 1983 after serving as director of field instruction in the B.S.W. program at Auburn University. Her research has examined how clinical social workers integrate research, evaluation methods and logic into their psychotherapy practice. She teaches inter-professional education for health care providers and students from institutions of higher learning across Rhode Island and is developing the integrated behavioral health program at the Rhode Island Free Clinic. 

Reamer, who also came to RIC in 1983, has focused his research and teaching on issues such as mental health, health care, criminal justice, public welfare and professional ethics. A former social worker in correctional and mental health settings, Reamer previously taught at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration and the University of Missouri-Columbia. He has served as director of the National Juvenile Justice Assessment Center of the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and as a member of the State of Rhode Island Parole Board. An author who has published 24 books, Reamer has also served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Social Work Education. 

The 2020 Alumni Faculty Award honoree is Education Professor Charles McLaughlin ‘78, M.Ed. ‘84. A professor at RIC since 2000, McLaughlin has been a leader in the field of industrial technology. His work was instrumental in developing the Langevin Center and the RI Mobile Maker Lab, which pushed RIC to the forefront in the STEM field. McLaughlin was elected president of the Council on Technology and Engineering Teacher Education for three years. At RIC, he has served on at least 14 committees to further the development of STEM at the college. 

The 2021 Alumni Staff Awards goes to Janet Phillips, a familiar face in the college’s Donovan Dining Center for 20 years. Phillips, who has worked for the state for 36 years, started out as a cook at RIC and was promoted to the assistant director of catering and production eight years ago. Phillips, who manages 40 employees on the Donovan staff, has been lauded for her attention to detail and her dedication to staff, student employees, faculty and all members of the campus community.  

The 2020 honoree of the Alumni Staff Award is Jessica Silva Cimorelli ‘00, director of RIC’s purchasing office. Cimorelli has helped to ensure that federal funding continues for initiatives such as the Rhode Island College Upward Bound program and championed vital projects such as streamlining purchasing office operations through online requisitions and approvals. She has also been involved on strategic committees with the Rhode Island Department of Administration and the Office of Postsecondary Education.  

This year’s Young Alumni Award recipient is Nick Lima ‘16, registrar/director of elections for the Cranston Board of Canvassers since 2017. Lima, a U.S. Army veteran, earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from RIC. As registrar in Cranston, he manages canvassing department staff, poll workers, logistics, voter registration, cybersecurity and early voting. While a student at RIC, Lima served as president of Student Community Government, general manager of WXIN radio and managing editor of the Anchor newspaper.  

The 2020 Young Alumni Award is being bestowed to Brittany Richer Ahnrud ‘13, M.Ed ‘16, a sixth-grade language arts teacher at the Lawn School. While a student at RIC, she received the Alan Chille Student Leadership Award, Campus Spirit Award and the Alice Grellner Award for Excellence in Student Teaching. Ahnrud, who also teaches multiple courses as adjunct faculty at the college, was instrumental in bringing the Rhode Island Writing Project back to RIC. Ahnrud has published many scholarly articles and is contributing to a chapter in the book “Re-forming Literacy Education: History, Effects, Advocacy.” 

Below are the 2021 Alumni Award Honor Roll recipients: 

• Arts and Sciences: Eric Auger ‘92 is a mixed media artist and costume designer living in Pawtucket. As co-owner and creative director of TEN31 Productions, he has created hundreds of handcrafted costumes, managed the company’s 8000-square-foot studio space and edited sound and video for TEN31’s YouTube page and seasonal events. 
• Arts and Sciences: Joseph Pari ‘94 is a visual artist and costume designer living in Providence. In 2000, along with his business partner, Eric Auger, Pari created the first iteration of “The Living Gargoyle,” a performing arts piece at Waterfire. That performance led to the birth of TEN31 productions, which Pari co-owns with Auger. He currently serves as the chair and founding board member of the Roger Williams Park Conservancy. 
• Arts and Sciences: Anna-Marie Corvin ‘08 is director of the Warwick Animal Shelter, which has deemed as the best municipal animal shelter in Rhode Island for several years. Her leadership and expertise within her field has been recognized by Rhode Island Monthly, the Warwick City Council and Providence, where she served as a consultant to assist in revising policies and procedures in its shelters. 
• Feinstein School of Education and Human Development: Stacey Aguiar ‘12 is currently the senior director of clinical quality at UnitedHealthcare, where she oversees all quality improvement initiatives, as well as an adjunct professor at RIC, where she teaches performance improvement in the health care administration program for graduate students. Aguiar has 16 years of diversified experience and skill sets in continuous quality improvement (CQI) and data analysis. 
• School of Social Work: Joise Garzon ‘12, M.S.W. ‘13, is the director of Learning for Life (L4L) at RIC. L4L helps students by providing them with case management services to overcome obstacles while working toward their academic goals. Garzon works as an adjunct professor in the college’s School of Social Work and is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in the RIC/URI Ph.D. program in education.  
• School of Nursing: Claire Creamer ‘80 is an assistant professor and chair of the undergraduate program in RIC’s School of Nursing. Creamer, who has worked as a registered nurse in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, has served many years as a consultant for pediatric education and a peer reviewer for seven published works while also publishing two of her own works from her master’s and doctoral programs. 
• School of Business: Jon Macomber ‘17 is a public health and public policy analyst for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the nation’s health protection agency. A Westerly native, Macomber works in the CDC’s Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology and Laboratory Services, where he is responsible for managing Freedom of Information Act requests and inquiries from U.S. Congress members seeking insight from public health subject matter experts.  

Below are the 2020 Alumni Award Honor Roll recipients: 

• School of Nursing: Valerie Almeida-Monroe ‘11 is nurse director of Clinica Esperanza/Hope Clinic in Providence. She was awarded Nurse Leader of the Year at the Rhode Island Nurse Excellence Awards and recognized with the American Nurses Association of Rhode Island Improving Health Award. She is also a member of the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing. 
• School of Social Work: Maria Cimini ‘02, M.S.W. ‘05 is associate director of policy analysis research and development for the Rhode Island Department of Human Services. Cimini also serves as an adjunct faculty member in the college’s School of Social Work and provides internship opportunities to social work students interested in policy. She also serves on the board of New Urban Arts.  
• School of Business: Olalekan Adeduji ‘08 is vice-president and wealth management officer for the Washington Trust Company. Adeduji, who graduated magna cum laude with a double major in finance and economics, has risen through the ranks in the finance industry after starting his career as a trade desk brokerage service specialist at Citizens Financial Group. 
• Feinstein School of Education and Human Development: Ronald Beaupre ‘96 is a fourth-grade teacher at Agnes Little Elementary in Pawtucket and president of the Pawtucket Teachers Alliance for a decade. He has been selected Educator of the Year by the Rhode Island  Audubon Society and has received an outstanding service award from the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals.  
• Arts and Sciences: Yvette Mendez ‘99 is deputy director of the Rhode Island Department of Human Services. Her responsibilities include leading and managing communications, constituent affairs, legislative affairs, federal and community partnerships as well as the offices of child support and rehabilitation services. Her honors include the Community Champion Award from Northern Rhode Community Services and the Champion of Nursing Award from the Future of Nursing in Rhode Island Action Coalition.  
• Arts and Sciences: Kim Clark ‘95 is owner of Rhody Craft, a shop that sells an eclectic mix of locally handmade arts and crafts as well as curated national brands. Through the thriving shop on Hope Street in Providence, Clark has raised more than $5,000 for the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, donating the profits from politically themed merchandise she designs. 
• Arts and Sciences: Marcela Betancur ‘12 is the executive director of the Latino Policy Institute, which works to show the impact and importance of the Latinx community in Rhode Island. Betancur, who received the Young Leaders SPARK! Award from the United Way of Rhode Island, started her career in advocacy at the Providence Housing Authority and as a director of homeownership and asset building for NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley.