PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Russell Carey, a 1991 graduate of Brown currently serving as senior vice president for Corporation affairs and governance, has been appointed executive vice president for planning and policy, effective July 1, 2012. Brown President Ruth J. Simmons announced the appointment to the University community in an e-mail message today.
“Russell has a deep knowledge of and love for Brown, and he is a respected colleague on and off campus,” Simmons wrote. “I know President-elect Paxson looks forward to working with him in the years ahead, and we thank him for his willingness to take on this new role.”
In his new role, Carey will be the senior officer responsible for coordinating Brown’s strategic planning processes. He will oversee the data collection and analysis that is essential for measuring the University’s progress toward its strategic goals and for determining the effectiveness of its policies and procedures. As the senior officer for planning, Carey will coordinate and support the University’s ongoing work for economic development in Providence and elsewhere in Rhode Island, including planning for the University’s own strategic growth and its Knowledge District strategy and initiatives. He succeeds Richard Spies in the strategic planning role.
Carey will continue with many of his current responsibilities, including oversight of the Corporation office and oversight of the Department of Public Safety. He will continue to chair the University’s Core Crisis Committee and will serve as a member of the University Resources Committee and the Space Committee. Carey is also co-chair of the University’s steering committee for planning its 250th anniversary celebration.
“Russell’s knowledge, skills, and thoughtful, strategic approach have been extremely valuable during these months of transition,” said President-elect Christina Paxson. “I am delighted that he will be a member of my senior staff, and I look forward to beginning our work in July.”
Russell Carey
After graduating from Brown, Carey joined the University as a student life officer — later assistant dean — in the Office of Student Life. He had a number of responsibilities there, including management of the University’s system for nonacademic discipline and adjudication.
Carey has continued his academic interests throughout his career at Brown, first as an evening law student at Suffolk University (J.D., cum laude, 1995) and then in the Brown Graduate School (A.M., political science, 2006). He developed and teaches a course in University governance through the Taubman Center. With former Chancellor Stephen Robert, Carey published a paper based on Brown’s review and revision of its own governance structure (“In Search of Good Governance: A Time of Change and Constancy at Brown University,” Trusteeship (Association of Governing Boards, Washington, D.C.; Spring 2006).
After a year as an assistant district attorney in Northampton, Mass. (1995-96), Carey returned to Brown, serving in University Hall as assistant to the provost. He was named assistant to the president in 1997, and served in that capacity during the transition from President Vartan Gregorian through the presidency of E. Gordon Gee. In 1998 he was also named secretary of the University, managing communications and staffing for the Corporation of Brown University and serving as liaison to the chancellor and other Corporation leaders, a role he continues in his new position. He became vice president and secretary of the University in 2003.
Carey returned to student life for a two-year appointment as interim vice president for campus life and student services (2006-08), providing planning and leadership for several crucial projects, including residence hall renovation and expansion, the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center, creation of a temporary pool leading to the new fitness and aquatics center, and the renovation of J. Walter Wilson Hall as a home for many important campus and student services. In July 2008 he returned to University Hall as senior vice president for Corporation affairs and governance.