PBN Leaders & Achievers Awards 2025
PAUL V. FONTAINE
Providence College Senior associate vice president and chief information officer
PAUL V. FONTAINE has a routine for every course he teaches at Providence College. At the end of every semester, he asks students if they learned something that they did not know before.
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In his roughly 30 years of teaching, he’s never received a “no” to that question. Fontaine’s work as an educator is multifaceted, involving more than teaching courses on cybersecurity and technology.
“I like to say that even though I consider myself a technologist at the core, my job revolves around strategy and people,” Fontaine said.
In his expansive role as the Dominican Friars college’s senior associate vice president and chief information officer, Fontaine works to ensure that technology strategically supports the college’s mission by providing faculty, students and staff with innovative and secure solutions that enhance education, research and campus operation.
Fontaine points to his efforts overseeing PC’s new Ben Mondor Center for Nursing and Health Sciences, which opened at the end of 2024, as an initiative he’s especially proud to have been a part of. The $90 million, 125,000-square-foot school building serves as a place where future health care professionals are nurtured as compassionate and principled healers. It’s equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, such as an anatomy visualization table that doubles as a diagnostic tool, plus educational virtual reality technology.
Fontaine’s dedication to nurturing and cultivating community extends beyond his work at PC and into local organizations. He’s served on the boards of a variety of organizations, such as Community College of Rhode Island, McAuley Ministries, Cisco Higher Education and more. Plus, Fontaine has volunteered as a varsity women’s basketball coach and senior high school project mentor in Warwick, in addition to nearly a dozen other volunteer efforts.
Fontaine finds inspiration from the altruism of his family members. What Fontaine finds most meaningful, he says, is the opportunity to collaborate, lift others and drive positive change.
“I have witnessed so many people in my life, such as my wife and my sister-in-law, who selflessly give of their time, talent and treasure to organizations and causes that make a difference,” he said.
