University’s Appreciation for Nursing Alumna Donna Manning Set in Stone

Solomont School of Nursing alumna Donna Manning ’85, ’91, ’11 (H) isn’t one for fanfare, which makes dedicating a building in her honor a bit tricky. 

“My husband kept it very quiet. He knows I don’t like this stuff,” she said of business alum Rob Manning ’84, ’11 (H), former chair of the UMass Board of Trustees.

With more than $20 million in lifetime giving to UMass Lowell, the Mannings are the biggest cash contributors in university history. In recognition of their most recent $10 million gift, the university has dedicated the Donna Manning Health and Social Sciences Building in her honor. 

“It’s not about the name on the building, it’s about what’s inside it,” Donna Manning said after the recent naming ceremony — held in the Chancellor’s suite at University Crossing so as to not disrupt classes taking place in the South Campus building.

Manning retired in 2018 from a “rewarding, life-changing” 35-year career as an oncology nurse at Boston Medical Center, where she worked to ensure that chemotherapy patients whose treatment was complicated by socioeconomic disparities had access to services such as translation and transportation.

“Donna has dedicated her life to try to narrow that gap” in health disparity, said UMass President Marty Meehan, who noted that she did not accept a salary for much of her career. “Her experience in health care, and where we need to get to as a society for health care, have inspired me. I can’t think of a better person to name the Health and Social Sciences Building for than Donna Manning.”

Chancellor Julie Chen said Manning has been critical to nursing education at UML in many ways, from supporting the Donna Manning Nursing Simulation Lab and Donna Manning Endowed Chair for Nursing to serving on the Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences advisory board.

Manning’s nursing career was almost derailed before it started. Heading into her senior year at UML, she was $500 short on her tuition. When she visited the registrar’s office to withdraw, a woman at the front desk told her, “Don’t leave. No one ever comes back.”

With the help of her parents, who raised her on the family farm in Methuen, Massachusetts, Manning was able to stay in school and finish her degree, eventually returning for an MBA.

Years later, when she received a call from the university’s Advancement office asking if she could contribute “probably $50” to a student scholarship fund, she donated $1,000.

“I just never forgot where I came from,” said Manning, who is “proud” to see nursing students thriving at her alma mater today.

“Our initial investment in UML was to help people like us finish school,” she said, adding that her and her husband’s larger support in recent years is “an investment in the future of so many students.” 

Rob Manning, who recently retired as chair of MFS Investment Management and for whom the Manning School of Business is named, credits his wife for teaching him the value of philanthropy.

“I was very lucky in life to be good at investing and making money, but I didn’t know how to give. It wasn’t even on my radar,” he said. “But because Donna is my soulmate and wife, and I watched her do what she did in her life, she taught me how to give.

“It’s the greatest gift anyone’s ever given me,” he said, his voice cresting with emotion.  

Opened in 2013 on South Campus, the $40 million building is home to some of the university's most popular majors in health and social sciences, including nursing, physical therapy, economics, and criminology and justice studies. The four-story, 69,000-square-foot structure features a demonstration hospital wing, simulation laboratories and observation rooms, as well as classrooms and meeting spaces for team projects and community engagement.

Nursing major Melanie Chaves, a recipient of the Robert and Donna Manning Scholarship for Nursing, was on hand for the ceremony. So were four recipients of the Solomont Family Nursing Scholarship: Jonelle O’Connor, Sarah Broughton, Rachael Halas and Bianca Konchinski.

O’Connor, a third-year student in the Doctor of Nursing Practice program, has worked as a nurse for 19 years and is currently a nurse case manager at Mass General Brigham Salem Hospital. 

“Scholarships and contributions from people like the Mannings and Solomonts have assisted me through advancing my nursing career, from undergraduate to graduate school,” said O’Connor, who presented Donna Manning with framed photos of the building. “Their financial assistance eases the burden so that we can truly focus on learning and bettering ourselves for our patients and communities.”

The School of Nursing was named in honor of Susan and Alan Solomont ’77 in 2017, and the oncology clinic at Boston Medical Center where Manning worked is also named for the Solomonts. Alan Solomont attended the ceremony to congratulate Manning and meet with the scholarship recipients.

Chen noted that the Mannings’ philanthropy has had an impact on “tens of thousands of people, starting with the students here at UMass Lowell.”

“The Donna Manning Health and Social Sciences Building will be a beacon for those students aspiring to follow in your footsteps,” she said, “and for those students that will have an impact on the health and lives of so many others in this world.”