Providence Journal photo / Sandor Bodo
Bryant University president Ron Machtley and his wife, Kati Machtley, are a team that stretches back through 42 years of marriage. Click to view the slideshow.
It's among the most important rituals for a university, especially a rising one like Bryant: Wooing accepted students.
So Ron Machtley, school president, is the first speaker at a recent event welcoming hundreds of prospects.
He is a former three-term congressman, but he doesn't talk about that. Instead, he begins with a telling reference:"Kati and I ... that's my wife ... have been here for 17 years."
He calls her his best friend and partner, and talks of her work to promote women in business, a big issue at a college where most students get business degrees.
It's more than a husband making a perfunctory nod.
At most universities, the president is the face of the school -- at Bryant, it's the first couple.