PROVIDENCE – Ronald K. Machtley, president of Bryant University, was named the winner in the Business Leadership category in Providence Business News’ eighth annual Business Excellence Awards competition.

The seventh president of Bryant was singled out for his success in transforming the school from a business college to a university comprising both a College of Business and a College of Arts and Sciences, with about 3,750 undergraduate and graduate students. During his tenure, Machtley also has more than doubled the institution’s revenue; taken Bryant from running a deficit to being in the black; and nearly doubled its endowment to $170 million.

Past recipients of the contest’s Business Leadership laurels include 2007 award winner Paul J. Choquette Jr., chairman of Gilbane Inc., as well as predecessors John C. Warren, chairman and CEO of The Washington Trust Co., and James Purcell, president and CEO of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, among others.

PBN undertakes the competition to celebrate the Rhode Island business community’s successes, and to highlight the varied paths that local businesses and individuals have taken to the top. The award for Business Leadership goes to a leader who not only has shown outstanding business results but also has made a serious contribution to the community.

Companies are recognized in five categories: Excellence In Business for Companies With More Than 100 Employees; Excellence In Business for Companies With Fewer Than 100 Employees; Entrepreneurship; Excellence in a Nonprofit Organization; and Community Involvement.

Winners in those categories this year are:

• Cox Communications: Excellence In Business for Companies With More Than 100 Employees.

• Gates, Leighton & Associates Inc., an East Providence-based landscape architecture firm: Excellence In Business for Companies With Fewer Than 100 Employees.

• St. John Stone, a specialty stone supplier based in North Kingstown with offices in Las Vegas and Shanghai: Entrepreneurship.

• International Institute of Rhode Island, based in Providence: Excellence in a Nonprofit Organization.

• South County Hospital, in South Kingstown: Community Involvement.

The awards ceremony and dinner are scheduled to take place Thursday, Nov. 13, from 5:30 to 8 p.m., at the Providence Marriott Downtown, One Orms St. Providence.

Keynote speaker this year will be U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse; returning as master of ceremonies will be Frank Coletta, anchor of “NBC 10 News Sunrise.”

For reservations and tickets, e-mail marketing@pbn.com or call (401) 273-2201, ext. 200.

A special section celebrating the winners of the 2008 Business Excellence Awards 2008 supplement that will be published in the Nov. 17 edition of Providence Business News. Meanwhile, to read about the 2007 Business Excellence gala – or see profiles of last year’s winners – click here.