Former CCRI president and RI education commissioner Raymond Di Pasquale dies
Ray Di Pasquale, the former head of the Community College of Rhode Island and the state board of education, died on Thursday, according to an announcement by Massasoit Community College, where he was president.
Di Pasquale led CCRI for a decade until stepping down at the start of 2016. In 2010, he was named Rhode Island commissioner for higher education and became interim education commissioner in 2013 when the boards overseeing colleges and K-12 schools were merged.
After leaving CCRI, Di Pasquale was hired as president of Clinton Community College in Plattsburgh, New York, before taking over as head of Massasoit in Brockton, Massachusetts, in August 2021.
A General Assembly resolution recognizing Di Pasquale noted that he had added many new programs at CCRI, instituted energy cost-saving projects and secured federal grants.
"Since Mr. Di Pasquale arrived at CCRI, the college has enjoyed near-record enrollments and had its largest graduating class ever in May 2012," the resolution said. "CCRI is the largest community college in New England, serving nearly 18,000 students each semester, and its noncredit arm trains more than 30,000 Rhode Islanders annually, making it an important cog in the state’s workforce development efforts."
Before coming to Rhode Island, Di Pasquale was a vice president at the State University of New York Brockport and worked at Springfield Technical Community College and Middlesex Community College in Massachusetts before that.
The Massasoit news release said that Di Pasquale "was committed to serving the communities he called home and worked to advance the lives of others through education."
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Former CCRI president, education commissioner Raymond Di Pasquale dies
