RWU’s UC Vice President Jamie Scurry Wins Women’s Leadership Award

PROVIDENCE – Jamie Scurry, vice president of RWU’s University College (UC), has won a Women’s Leadership Award from the Ronald McDonald House of Providence.

The charitable organization established this award to celebrate influential women in the community who make a positive impact and demonstrate exceptional leadership. Scurry received the award yesterday at the Ronald McDonald House Charities Providence Women’s Leadership Award Ceremony.

“Jamie Scurry has been a leader in bridging the gap between the local community and higher education,” said Anthony Roberson, a detective in the Providence Police Department, who nominated Scurry for the award. “She’s created a very robust, multifaceted institution that has benefitted both the City of Providence and the State of Rhode Island. I’ve known people who thought college was not for them, but then they meet Jamie and interact with the administrators at UC and fast forward later, they’re so excited to be earning a degree from Roger Williams University.”

Scurry has led RWU’s University College through a period of transformational growth, expanding the school’s mission to meet the higher education needs of learners of all ages and stages. During her tenure, she’s significantly increased the number of academic programs and innovative partnerships with industries, communities and public education. In collaboration with the Rhode Island Department of Education, for example, UC offers the Advanced Coursework Network, providing advanced and college-level, for-credit courses to middle school and high school students, and recently launched the English-as-a-Second Language Teacher Certification Program delivering mastery-based, job-embedded preparation to more than 80 public school teachers statewide in Rhode Island, reaching at least 1,500 students to date.

“It was a big surprise to me to selected for the award by Ronald McDonald House Charities, and very meaningful to me to be nominated by Anthony Roberson, who is one of the true backbones of the Providence community,” Scurry said. “I don’t see my work as being out of the ordinary or worthy of recognition. I believe we are called to our professions. In that calling, we must give our absolute best and then give a little more.”