James R. Winoker ’53, of Providence, R.I., passed away on May 14, 2025. He was responsible for the revitalization of Providence’s Jewelry District by being the first major investor to convert abandoned manufacturing buildings into modern commercial and residential spaces and was subsequently recognized as the first president of the Jewelry District and the founding president of the Jewelry Institute. Previously, he was copresident of B.B. Greenberg Co., a jewelry manufacturer in Providence, and later was founder and CEO of Belvoir Properties, named after Fort Belvoir, where Winoker taught at the Army Management School. In 1977, he and a partner purchased 222 Richmond Street and converted it into office space. He was quoted in a 1997 New York Times article as saying, “I knew the location and the value of the location and had faith in the city.” During the next two decades Belvoir Properties expanded their portfolio. At the time, David A. Duffy, president of Duffy & Shanley, an advertising and public relations firm that moved into the jewelry district, said, “We call it Proho,” short for Providence’s version of SoHo. The Providence Children’s Museum joined the jewelry district in the Fall of 1997 and 222 Richmond Street went on to become Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School. In 1986, the Ocean State Review named him Businessman of the Year. He was founding chairman of the Providence Industrial Development Corp., a trustee of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, and in 1989, was the recipient of their Brotherhood Award. In 2008, he received the Rhode Island Historic Preservation and Heritage Commission Award for his renovation projects that included Union Station. Together, he and his wife Marilyn, who predeceased him, received the Rhody Award for their lifetime of achievement in historic preservation in 2011. He was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 2023. He was an executive member of the Rhode Island Business Development Corporation, and former chairman of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce. He also served as a director of the Original Bradford Soap Works, Rhode Island Hospital Trust National Bank, and was the chairman of the Providence Foundation from 1996 to 1999. He is an emeritus trustee of Brown, a fellow of Brandeis University, and served on the President’s Council of Providence College. He also served on the National Campaign Board of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and was a U.S. Army veteran. He is survived by three children, including son Steven E. Winoker ’89; six grandchildren, including Zachary Winoker ’13 and Elliot Winoker ’23; and two great-grandchildren.