Features

The Not-So-Secret Garden

Cultivated by a fourth-generation URI family, the Kinney Azalea Gardens are a spring tradition in Kingston.

Indefatigable

The research vessel of URI’s College of the Environment and Life Sciences, the Cap’n Bert works hard, supporting the long-standing Fish Trawl Survey, introducing high school students to shark research, and more.

It’s Complicated

URI nursing professor Betty Rambur and URI alumni who work in the health-care field share expert advice and perspectives about health care in the U.S.

Michigan’s Blue Economy Expert

Alan Steinman, M.S. ’83, is a prominent voice for protecting water resources and advancing economic development in the Great Lakes state.

From Idea to Invention

How Charles E. Johnson Jr. ’98 turned his idea for a one-handed game controller into an invention.

A Turnaround Year for Rhody Football

2024 was a big year for Rhody Football. Coach Jim Fleming and the team reflect on what it means for the players, the University, and the fans.

Currents

A Distinctive View - Landscape architecture student Aisha Malik ’25 is focused on the challenges of the arctic environment in her home state, Alaska.
My Husband’s Pain Makes His Doctors Uncomfortable - English professor Carolyn Betensky on the other victims of the opioid crisis.
Taking It to Another Level - Music professor Emmett Goods on his album, Another Level.
URI Ascends to Top Tier of U.S. Research Universities - URI has earned the prestigious Carnegie R1 designation.
URI’s Recycling Guy Is on a Mission - Joe Majeika is changing URI’s recycling culture.

Pictured

Dressed Up

Spring sunshine coaxes flowers into bloom all over URI’s Kingston Campus, including these beauties at the Fascitelli Center for Advanced Engineering.

PHOTO: NORA LEWIS

Aperture

Weaving Pixels

Expanding creative horizons

Network

“Beavertail Lighthouse” by Corey Favino ’18

All in the Family - McKay’s Furniture is a family business that’s kept on track by a dedicated group of owners and employees, many of whom are URI alumni.
From the Mediterranean to Mongolia - Jorge Serpa ’83, M.S. ’86, on globetrotting as the spouse of a diplomat.

A powerful ocean wave crashes against rocky jetty under a bright blue sky, with white clouds scattered above. A distant figure stands on the shore.

Scenic Route

“Ocean Swell at Camp Cronin” by Alex Larson ’77

Behind the Photo

Caption This

A vintage black and white photo of a URI soccer player diving for the ball in front of the bleachers.

Caption Contest, Spring 2025

Do you have a funny idea for a caption for this photo from a vintage URI yearbook?

Submit your caption by May 1, 2025.

ENter your caption

A black and white vintage photo of a young man wearing clear safety goggles and lying on a brick wall on the URI campus, taking a nap with his head on his books

Winning Captions, Fall 2024

“And Dad said I didn’t have the work ethic to be a bricklayer.”
—Christopher Mulvaney ’04, M.S. ’05

“Solar Recharging Station.”
—Edmund DeJesus ’75, M.S. ’77, Ph.D. ’86

Fall 2024 winning captions

Epilogue

Elizabeth “Betty” Kinney Faella, M.S. ’67, and her husband, Antonio “Tony” Faella ’51, M.S. ’62

Arm-in-Arm

The Kinney Azalea Gardens in Kingston, R.I., are a local treasure, with approximately 1,000 cultivars in bloom each spring. The 16 acres have been cultivated and maintained by four generations of the Kinney, Faella, and Northup families and have remained open to the public.

Elizabeth “Betty” Kinney Faella, M.S. ’67, and her husband, Antonio “Tony” Faella ’51, M.S. ’62, cared for the gardens for many years. Now, their daughter, Helen Faella Northup ’84, and her husband, Jim Northup ’83, run the gardens, with a focus on keeping them open for the enjoyment and education of generations of visitors to come.

Read about the gardens and the family who tends them in “What Will It Take To Sustain Kingston’s Not-So-Secret Garden?”.

PHOTO: NORA LEWIS