UMass President Robert Caret, waving, arrives at UMass Lowell Wednesday morning.
10/09/2014
Lowell Sun
By Amelia Pak-Harvey
Caret touted the economic vitality the UMass system has pumped throughout the state, estimated to be worth more than $6 billion.
"You can definitely see it with the city of Lowell," he said. "The city has really come back to life."
Joined by Chancellor Marty Meehan and Board of Trustees Chairman Henry Thomas III, Caret sat down with students at a roundtable discussion featuring UMass Lowell alumnus Robert Manning.
More than 80 percent of UMass alumni -- an estimated 500,000 globally -- stay in Massachusetts, Caret told students in the new University Crossing building.
"We have an impact in the state that is second to nobody's impact," he said.
Manning, CEO of investment company MFS, described how he rose from a Lowell graduate to the head of the company. He recalled first applying for a job at MFS, where everyone had graduated from Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth and other top-tier schools.
During his interview, he offered to make a database to help compare bond ratings with the market. He was hired on the spot.
"I was the only kid out of all of those elite kids from those other schools that knew how to program a computer, and it's because I went to this institution," he said.
He said Lowell is a jewel, and one of the elite science and engineering entities in the world.
"One of the great things about particularly coming here is you get exposed to the depth of all the technology and all the innovation that's happening," he said.
Manning praised Meehan's leadership and passion for the institution.
"Marty has really transformed UMass Lowell," he said. "I wouldn't say 'put it on the map' -- he's actually made it, I believe, the most significant regional public institution of higher education in the U.S."
Meehan noted Manning was the best example of the university's impact.
The scene has changed even more since Manning graduated in 1984.
"We've basically upgraded everything we do," Meehan said, noting the school's new $40 million business school scheduled to open in 2017.
Caret's three-day bus tour includes stops in Fall River, New Bedford and Boston. One concern he said he heard from students, he said, was student debt.
But he said the system is working very hard on that, arguing that they also need state and federal support.
Amanda Robinson, a UMass Lowell junior and president of the student government, came to UMass Lowell not only because it was affordable, but also because she knew about the transformation occurring here.
She said Manning's story and the roundtable discussion were interesting.
"It definitely made me want to go out and work harder as a student," she said.