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CCRI Hall of Fame

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  4. 1994 Hall of Fame inductee - Dr. William F. Flanagan

1994 Hall of Fame inductee - Dr. William F. Flanagan

Dr. William F. Flanagan

Dr. William F. Flanagan served as the first president of Rhode Island Junior College, the state’s only public, two-year institution. He was appointed by the Board of Trustees of State Colleges in March 1964, and when he assumed office in September that year at the University of Rhode Island Extension Building in Providence, he had a borrowed desk, a part-time secretary and a modest $30,000 state appropriation.

Flanagan was a staunch supporter of public higher education for all high school graduates and oversaw RIJC’s growth in enrollment from 300 students to 9,000 at his retirement in 1978. During his 14 years as president, he established the Blackstone Valley Campus to serve more students from the northern part of the state. As a tribute to his dedication, the campus was later renamed the Dr. William F. Flanagan Campus.

In 1982, Flanagan was inducted into the Rhode Island Hall of Fame for his educational contributions to the state. He also was named to the CCRI Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984 and was the driving force behind the construction of the Knight Campus Field House, which was one of the first collegiate field houses in the northeast. The college honored him for his founding role in college history by inducting him into its Hall of Fame in 1994.

Flanagan got his start in education as a high school English teacher and vice principal at Lockwood High School and then principal at Nelson W. Aldrich High School both in Warwick, R.I. After taking time out to serve as a naval officer in World War II, he returned to the field of education to establish the state’s first community adult education program. In 1956, he joined the Rhode Island College faculty as a professor of education and later became the first director of the college’s graduate program.

A graduate of Providence College, Flanagan received a master’s degree from Rhode Island College and a Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut. He also received honorary doctorate degrees from Rhode Island College, Providence College and the University of Rhode Island.

Flanagan passed away in 1984.