A University of Rhode Island alumni chapter composed of Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) employees has captured the URI Alumni Association’s 2009 Outstanding Chapter of the Year Award. A special gathering of URI-RIDOT Affinity Chapter is scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, August 18 at 10 a.m. at the RIDOT Transportation Management Center and will feature new University of Rhode Island President Dr. David M. Dooley who will be presenting the award. Media are invited to the event.
The Chapter was formed in May 2008 on the realization that many employees at the Rhode Island Department of Transportation are URI alumni, and share a common bond. The Chapter has organized numerous social events since its inception, and was recognized for its efforts at the Alumni Association’s Leader Weekend conference on August 1.
The meeting will also provide an opportunity to greet Dooley, 56, who was appointed in May by the R.I. Board of Governors for Higher Education to serve as URI’s 11th president. Dooley previously served as provost and vice president of academic affairs at Montana State University in Bozeman, Mont. He succeeds Dr. Robert L. Carothers, who retired this summer after 18 years at URI.
RIDOT and URI have a strong relationship through the University’s Transportation Center, which was created in 1999 to conduct multidisciplinary education, research, technology transfer, and outreach for surface transportation systems and advanced transportation infrastructure. Each year RIDOT collaborates with the Transportation Center to host numerous activities aimed at introducing middle and high school students to potential careers in transportation though a Robotics Challenge, Engineering Career Day and Construction Career Days and Summer Academies in Engineering, Construction and Business.
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Directions: The meeting will take place in the conference room of the Transportation Management Center, which is located on the first floor of RIDOT’s Operations Center, 2 Capitol Hill in Providence.