University of Rhode Island President Marc Parlange reappointed

The University of Rhode Island (URI) Board of Trustees has approved entering a new five-year contract with university President Marc Parlange, effective July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2029.

The university announced the extension, which was approved at the board’s Feb. 16 meeting, in a news release Wednesday.

The contract still needs to be negotiated and finalized. Parlange began his tenure as president in August 2021 upon the retirement of predecessor David Dooley. 

“In his first three years, President Parlange has introduced a comprehensive, forward-looking strategic vision for URI,” said Margo Cook, the board chair, in a statement. “He has tirelessly engaged in campus and community life, cultivating an inclusive culture. He has strategically and aggressively pursued increased and much-needed state support. And he has, through the new strategic plan, charted a path to make URI a more fiscally sound and agile university.”

In recent appearances at board meetings and at the State House, Parlange has stressed the need for legislative support for the University’s finances. 

The board began conducting a thorough review of Parlange’s performance back in November 2023, as required by the board’s bylaws. Faculty, staff, students, alumni and university partners were surveyed for the review. There were more than 230 responses to the anonymous survey.

“The board found that the president’s performance far exceeds the standard of satisfactory,” Cook said. She noted that survey comments extolled Parlange, who is URI’s 12th president, as effective, authentic and optimistic — a leader who “makes everyone around him feel supported and seen.”

 “I am deeply grateful to the board for their support, and I look forward to continuing to serve the University of Rhode Island,” Parlange said in the news release. “Our students, staff, faculty, and alumni make URI one of the best places to live, learn, and work and I am excited to lead the University into this exciting next chapter, together.”

The Providence-born Parlange previously worked as provost of Monash University, a research university in Melbourne, Australia with a student body of 85,000. A hydrotechnical engineer, Parlange studied climate change with an emphasis on fluid mechanics, and his own doctoral dissertation at Cornell University focused on the interactions of atmosphere and forest terrain. 

Parlange’s renewed contract  comes two weeks after interim president of Rhode Island College Jack Warner was made the college’s permanent president.  

According to the state salary portal, Parlange’s current salary is $530,000.