In 2011, Dr. Deb Cohen enters her fourth year as an Academic Advisor/Learning Specialist at URI, where she works specifically with the men's basketball and men's track & field student-athletes.Cohen - whose background includes more than 15 years of experience in higher education - came to Rhode Island from Dean College, where she was the Director of Academic Advising. There, she provided advising for registration, career exploration and life skills, in addition to assisting student-athletes with process of transferring to four year colleges/universities. She also served as an advisor for the Black Student Union (BSU) while at Dean.Cohen received her doctorate in Educational Leadership from Johnson & Wales University in 2006 and recently published an article on her dissertation topic of E-portfolios. She is an active member of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) and is a board member for the New England Transfer Association (NETA).A Connecticut-native, Cohen completed her undergraduate and graduate studies at URI, earning her B.A. in Psychology (1988) and receiving her master's degree in 1991. An avid runner, she and her husband, Ian Lester - a Lead Technologist in URI's College of Pharmacy - reside in East Greenwich with their two children.Updated Sept. 21, 2011
