IYRS Welcomes Frank Sargent as VP of Education

Newport’s IYRS School of Technology & Trades is pleased to announce Frank Sargent, Ed.D., J.D., will join the IYRS leadership team as Vice President of Education. Sargent will serve as the School’s Chief Academic Officer.

Sargent will “play a key role in senior management and strategic development of enterprise level initiatives, engaging broadly in the execution of the strategic plan, including new program development and implementation, providing leadership to existing programs, developing instructors, and external relationships to respond to industry needs,” according to a release.

“I am privileged to be able to serve as IYRS’s Vice President of Education and Chief Academic Officer,” Sargent said. “I get to help make this world a better place by helping students obtain their education while fulfilling their passion. Over the many years I have had a lot of life experiences and working for IYRS School of Technology and Trades allows me to share those experiences with our students.”

Sargent comes to IYRS from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, where he held the leadership positions of Special Liaison to the President for strategic initiatives, interim Provost, and Dean of the Feinstein Graduate School. Among his accomplishments at Johnson & Wales, Sargent led a comprehensive academic reorganization and significant curricular change, and was instrumental in the design, development, and implementation of a Faculty Center for Academic Excellence and Innovation, designed to support faculty with scholarly efforts while promoting teaching and learning excellence.

“Sargent brings critical education experience to IYRS at a time that the school is growing,” according to Terry Nathan, president. “He will bring leadership and a deep understanding of how to create programming that can be quickly developed and scaled. He rounds out the senior team.”

A first-generation college student, Sargent obtained an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Johnson & Wales University, a J.D. from Suffolk University in Boston, MA, and a Bachelor of Science from Salem State College in Salem, MA. His teaching interests include leadership, higher education leadership, and higher education administration theory and organizational culture.

Sargent is a practicing attorney and academic scholar whose research is aimed at helping higher education leaders better understand the law and its role in higher education.

Sargent is active in a number of professional organizations, including the Association of Chief Academic Officers, New England Resource Center for Higher Education, Northeastern Educational Research Association, and the National Association for College and University Attorneys. Prior to his deep engagement in the education field, Sargent spent 18 years in military service, including as a pilot. He later applied some of this experience in developing training programs in aviation at Bridgewater State College.

About IYRS School of Technology & Trades

IYRS School of Technology & Trades is a world-class experiential learning school with an education model dedicated to teaching highly technical and deeply craft-oriented career skills. The school’s legacy is born out of a mission to preserve the craft of making, building and restoring in the marine trades. Currently, IYRS has three accredited programs and regularly collaborates with post-secondary schools of architecture, preservation, industrial design and engineering through short-term classes, including recently with MIT, Harvard, RISD, Roger Williams and others. The skills acquired in IYRS’ programs are applicable across a broad range of industries and with a wide range of materials from traditional wood to modern composites. Learn more at http://www.iyrs.edu.