Hentschell retires after 33 years

01/30/08 - Deb Hentschell started working at the University of Rhode Island when she was 19 years old, fresh from Katharine Gibbs secretarial school. Little did she know that she would work at URI for 33 years, retiring as executive assistant to Cynthia Bonn, dean of Admissions. Friday, Jan. 18 was Hentschell's last day of work, and her coworkers miss her already."[Hentschell is] a highly-organized person who made many things work around this office because of that characteristic," said Cheryl Resmini, who worked in Admissions with Hentschell for eight years. "She was respected for that. It will be hard to find a replacement."

Many factors went into Hentschell's decision to retire this year. The Admissions office is arguably the busiest office on campus. Also, during her time in Admissions, Hentschell worked with three different deans.

"It was fairly trying," she said. "[During the transition], a lot of work fell on my shoulders."

Hentschell's colleagues in the Admissions office remember her as being knowledgeable and helpful.

"She had a way about her," said Shawn Dufault, main receptionist for Admissions. "She was firm but fair."

Hentschell began her career as a clerk typist at the Coastal Resources Center at the Narragansett Bay campus. About three years later, she moved to working at the marine programs office. During her stint at the marine programs office, Hentschell applied to be an assistant to John Knauss, dean of the URI Graduate School of Oceanography. While she enjoyed that position, she moved to a new position at the Kingston campus a year after Knauss's retirement.

"I worked with [Vice President of Student Affairs] Tom Dougan for a few years," Hentschell said. "It was an ad-hoc position, and as a single mom, I wanted something permanent."

As her time working with Dougan was coming to a close, Hentschell applied to work in the URI research department.

Hentschell explains the various changes in departments as a result of her consistent dedication to her work.

"Every new position was a move up," she said. "I always challenged myself."

Hentschell spent four years working for Peter Cornillon and Lewis Rothstein, two professors at the Graduate School of Oceanography.

"[Cornillon and Rothstein] had a four-year editorial job for a major oceanographic journal," she said. "They needed to get an office up and running quickly, and Peter [Cornillon] knew me from my time at the GSO."

Former Vice Provost for Academic Programs and Services Blair Lord requested that Hentschell work for him as an executive assistant. In 1999, after four years of working for Lord, Hentschell made her final career move at URI. Her time in the Admissions office was the longest stretch of time that she spent in one department at URI. She became executive assistant to the dean of Admissions after the current assistant retired, just five months after she started in Admissions as chief clerk. As executive assistant, she helped the dean and assistant dean of Admissions, as well as supervising the other administrative staff.

Although Hentschell retired from URI, she has not stopped working. Her new position, which she started immediately after leaving URI, is also in a university setting. She is now executive assistant to the chair of the national security decision-making department at the Naval War College in Newport.

"I know the ins and outs of academy," she said. "This is a low key, quiet environment. But we're dealing with national security here. I'm in awe."

Hentschell plans on leaving her position at the Naval War College when her husband retires. They plan to travel on their sailboat, a 41-foot Island Packet yacht.

Resmini remembers Hentschell taking a walk daily around campus to deliver documents to different departments. When Hentschell went on her walks, she would put up an away message on AOL Instant Messenger that said, "gone truckin' around campus!"

"I felt better hand delivering them," Hentschell said. "The students that [Admissions] employ are busy with processing applications, so I didn't want to bother them."

At her new job, she takes half of her lunch break for a walk around the Naval War College, located on Narragansett Bay.

"Nothing beats Kingston in the spring," she said. "I miss the agriculture, but I love the ocean."

Although Hentschell is enjoying her new job and looking forward to her complete retirement in the future, she misses URI.

"I feel blessed that I've had this experience," she said. "It's been great.