Robert Lee Carothers (born September 3, 1942),Robert Lee Carothers. The Complete Marquis Who's Who (R) Biographies, Copyright 2017 Marquis Who's Who Ventures, LLC. a writer and poet, served as chancellor of the Minnesota State University System and the tenth president of the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

from 1991 to 2009.

Early life and education

Robert Carothers was born on September 3, 1942, in

Sewickley, Pennsylvania Sewickley is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, west northwest of Pittsburgh along the Ohio River. It is a residential suburb of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 3,907 at the 2020 census. The Sewick ...

to Robert Fleming Carothers and Mary (Skinner) Carothers. He attended public schools in the Quaker Valley. Carothers received his B.A. degree from

Edinboro University Pennsylvania Western University, Edinboro (abbreviated as PennWest Edinboro) is a campus of Pennsylvania Western University in Edinboro, Pennsylvania. The campus had an enrollment of 2,259 as of fall 2024. History PennWest Edinboro was foun ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

in 1965. He joined

Delta Sigma Phi Delta Sigma Phi (), commonly known as Delta Sig, is a fraternities and sororities, fraternity established in 1899 at City College of New York, The City College of New York (CCNY). It was the first fraternity to be founded based on religious and e ...

fraternity Delta Nu Chapter in 1962 and was elected the President of the Fraternity twice. From 1960 to 1968, Carothers served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, and availed of military scholarships for his studies. On November 2, 1974, he married Mary Patricia "Pattie" Ruane (1948–2022). Carothers earned a Ph.D. degree at

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

in 1969 and a J.D. degree from the McDowell School of Law,

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public university, public research university in Akron, Ohio, United States. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM fields, STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advance ...

in 1980, and he was admitted into the Pennsylvania

Bar Association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence.

in 1981.

Academic career

Robert Carothers began his academic career in 1969 at his ''

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

as a professor and dean, eventually becoming its vice president. He went on to serve as president of Southwest Minnesota State University from 1983 to 1986, and chancellor of the Minnesota State University System from 1986 to 1991 before being selected as the tenth president of the University of Rhode Island. Early in his presidential tenure at URI, Carothers was faced with the takeover o
Taft Hall
the oldest academic building on campus, by 200 mostly African-American students protesting racial discrimination on campus. Carothers was able to diffuse the tensions by advocating for a Multicultural Center at the heart of the campus. Throughout his tenure at URI, he was known for changing the student culture of the university from a 'party school' to an outward looking 'college with a conscience.' He was a member of National Institute Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (Committee on Campus Drinking 1999 to 2002). Also during his presidential tenure, Carothers and his second wife Jayne Richmond, dean of URI's University College, were active in URI campus philanthropic projects. During his administration, there was a strengthening of anti-discrimination toward

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

members of the campus community. He retired from academia in May 2009 and David M. Dooley, former Provost at

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It enrolls more students than any other college or university in the state. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's d ...

, took over as the URI's 11th President.

Retirement and honors

In their retirement from URI, Carothers and Jayne Richmond have been engaged in academic consulting. Carothers has been honored recipient of several awards, including the Humanitarian Award, from the

Urban League The National Urban League (NUL), formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for Afri ...

of Rhode Island, 2000; the Jean Hicks Award
Rhode Island Conference for Community and Justice
2000; History Makers Salute from

Rhode Island Historical Society The Rhode Island Historical Society is a privately endowed membership organization, founded in 1822, dedicated to collecting, preserving, and sharing the history of Rhode Island. Its offices are located in Providence, Rhode Island. History Foun ...

2001; the Silver Anniversary Honor Roll Award,

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...

, and the Council Fellows Mentor Award, from the

American Council of Education The American Council on Education (ACE) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) U.S. higher education association established in 1918. ACE's members are the leaders of approximately 1,600 accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities and higher educatio ...

in 2005. The main library at the URI campus has been named the ''Robert L. Carothers Library and Learning Commons.'' Carothers was also honored in 2017 by the University with an honorary doctorate for his services to the University and the State of Rhode Island.

Selected publications

*Carothers, R.L. (1966). Muskrat. Kent Quarterly 10(3):1-18. *Carothers, R.L., and J.L. Marsh.(1971). The Whale and the Panorama. Nineteenth-Century Fiction 26(3):319-328. DOI:10.2307/2933209. *Carothers, R.L. (1992). Recreating the research university: Cutting the Gordian Knot. Speech at the URI Centennial. 14pp. *Carothers, R.L. and M.L. Sevigny (1993). Classism and quality. pp.13-15 in New Directions for Institutional Research. San Francisco: Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company DOI:10.1002/ir.37019937804 *Carothers, R.L. (2004). Declaring Independence: A New Model for Public Presidents. Connection, New England's Journal of Higher Education. 19(2):17-18. *Carothers, R.L., M.D. Wood, and F. Cohen. (2006). Common ground on curbing campus drinking. Trusteeship 14(6):19-23.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carothers, Robert 1942 births Living people Academics from Pennsylvania Academics from Rhode Island University of Rhode Island faculty Kent State University alumni University of Akron alumni Pennsylvania Western University, Edinboro alumni Presidents of the University of Rhode Island