The University of Rhode Island Foundation welcomes Eric Schonewald as Managing Director of Development of the Academic Health Collaborative. In this role, Eric will lead, plan, and execute fundraising initiatives for the colleges, programs, departments, centers, and institutes comprising the Academic Health Collaborative including the Colleges of Pharmacy, Nursing and Health Sciences.

Eric comes to the Foundation with two decades of complex higher education and healthcare fundraising experience from Yale School of Medicine (YSM) and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. During his tenure at YSM, Eric helped to design and lead the medical school’s educational component of the $3.8 billion YALE tomorrow Capital Campaign, the largest in the University’s History. At Hopkins, Eric has led the strategic planning effort to identify and realign priorities, enhance faculty relationships, renew the funder pipeline, and expand constituent engagement.

Founded in 1892, the University of Rhode Island is the state’s flagship institution of higher education. A Land, Sea, and Urban Grant Institution led by Dr. David M. Dooley, the school offers its undergraduate, graduate, and professional education students the distinctive educational opportunities of a major research university. The University of Rhode Island Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) charged with managing the University’s endowment portfolio, raising all philanthropic support for the University of Rhode Island (URI), and overseeing the University’s charitable giving programs. The Foundation, established in 1957, helps to fund student scholarships, faculty support, and educational initiatives and has an operating budget of approximately $6.5 million, with assets valued at more than $160 million.