RWU enters $20 million partnership with Cummings Foundation

ROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY, following student, alumni and faculty pushback, now plans to rename its School of Architecture, Art and Historic Preservation as the Cummings School of Architecture, rather than the originally intended Cummings School of Architecture and Real Estate. / COURTESY RWU

BRISTOL Bolstered by a new $20 million partnership with the Massachusetts-based Cummings Foundation, Roger Williams University will rededicate one of its schools as it prepares to offer real estate academic programs.

The sponsorship, announced on Wednesday, will prompt the university to rededicate its School of Architecture, Art and Historic Preservation as the Cummings School of Architecture and Real Estate. The university plans to to launch a graduate certificate program in real estate this year, and undergraduate and graduate degree programs in 2023.

The rededicated school will “serve as a catalyst for the university’s continued and growing success in preparing our students to be leaders in all facets of sustainable and equitable design, preservation, and development at the intersection of the natural and built environments,” RWU president Ioannis N. Miaoulis said in a statement, and upcoming real estate programs will bring “new depth and breadth” to the architecture and historical preservation programs.

Richard Godfrey, former director of R.I. Housing and Mortgage Finance Corp., leads the real estate program.

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The program stands out as “first in the nation” due to its “distinctive combination of architecture, real estate, preservation and planning bolstered by further integration with business, legal, construction and engineering expertise across the university,” Miaoulis added.

Bill Cummings, who leads Cummings Foundation with his wife Joyce, is a real estate entrepreneur and founder of Cummings Properties.

The new partnership is one of Cummings Foundation’s largest outside of Massachusetts, according to the university.

The university plans to announce a rededication ceremony in the coming weeks.

Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.

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