PBN Leaders & Achievers 2023
Barbara E. Wolfe
University of Rhode Island
Provost and executive vice president for academic affairs
BARBARA E. WOLFE HAS SPENT her 33-year professional career embracing change.
Unlock AI Potential with High-Speed Connectivity
The rise of AI is reshaping businesses across the country and transforming processes and workflows…
Learn More
A pivot from psychiatric clinical nursing to administrative roles within the same specialty led to an opportunity to join the faculty at Harvard Medical School. Several other academic appointments, as well as published research in numerous medical journals, shaped her trajectory toward her current position as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of Rhode Island.
“I don’t necessarily think of myself as an overachiever,” she said. “I’m just happy to be engaged, to get the work done and to better the community that I live in.”
Wolfe, who holds a master’s degree in psychiatric mental health nursing from Yale University and a doctorate in nursing from Boston College, is humble about her many accomplishments. She is unabashedly exuberant about the growth she’s witnessed in URI’s academic impact since first arriving there six years ago as dean of the university’s College of Nursing. In January 2023, Wolfe was promoted to provost, succeeding Donald H. DeHayes, who retired.
She points to her work to increase visibility as helping to elevate national program rankings.
“We’re very proud of that. It’s a very exciting time for URI,” she said. “It’s a thriving environment. It doesn’t feel like work when you’re having fun doing it.”
Part of her success in being a “change agent,” she said, is knowing that people are naturally uncomfortable with change.
“It’s a puzzle and a challenge, but I think what’s important is getting key stakeholders involved, feeling like they’re part of the process, and getting their input because you end up with a better product in the end,” she said.
Regarding her position to help future academic leaders develop, Wolfe stresses the importance of mentorship and creating opportunities. It’s affording opportunities to individuals who might not have thought of themselves as having that skill set of being a leader or even being aware of the notion of being a leader, she said.
“If they have those opportunities, that can be a life-changing event for people,” Wolfe said.
