Swampscott's Manning Family Makes $50 Million Donation To UMass

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Swampscott residents Robert J. Manning and Donna Manning have made a $50 million cash gift donation to the University of Massachusetts — the largest donation of any kind in the university's history — the school said on Wednesday.

The donation is aimed at increasing access and opportunity across the five-campus university system.

UMass said the first distribution will be a $15 million endowment to the UMass-Boston nursing program, which will become the Robert and Donna Manning College of Nursing and Health, and will be geared to promoting student diversity and equitable patient care.

The Mannings, who grew up in Methuen, attended UMass-Lowell together and now reside in Swampscott, were already among UMass' greatest supporters with an $11 million donation to their alma mater where the Manning School of Business bears their name.

"The significance of this gift cannot be overstated," UMass President Marty Meehan said. "Rob and Donna are two of our own. As first-generation college graduates, they experienced the transformational impact UMass has on students' lives. Rob and Donna have always led by example in their philanthropy, and this remarkable gift is a call to action to the philanthropic community."

"For the majority of my career in Boston, I was struck by the fact that most of the nurses looked like me while most of the patients didn't," said Donna Manning, who annually donates her salary back to the hospital. "UMass-Boston plays a critical role in supporting diversity in Boston, and I have seen first-hand how diversity in the nursing workforce can improve patient care and address health inequities. We look forward to actively working with the college on these important goals."

UMass said The College of Nursing and Health Sciences at the Boston campus is the fastest-growing college at the school with a diversity makeup of 19 percent Black students, 12 percent Hispanic students and 11 percent Asian-American Pacific Islander students.

"This transformational gift from Rob and Donna comes at the right time and the right place and for a beautiful cause — to foster a culture of healing and health equity in Boston and beyond," UMass Boston Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco said. "It will enable UMass Boston to take the education of the next generation of nurses nobly serving as caregivers to the next level of excellence and engagement.

"Amid a pandemic, rampant medical disinformation, nursing shortages and the heroism of healthcare workers, we at UMass-Boston are more committed than ever to cultivating extraordinary nursing talent. The Mannings' historic gift will be put to use to nurture the next generation of health and wellness scientific expertise, but also the humane heart, the empathy and cultural awareness that define caregiving in its truest sense."

The remaining $35 million of the donation will go toward improving access and opportunity at the UMass campuses in Amherst, Dartmouth, Lowell and Worcester in forms to be determined over the next few months.

"Donna and I are at a point in our lives where we want to make a real difference, and this was the best way to do that, because we know what UMass does for students," said Robert Manning, who is chairman of MFS Investment Management and the long-time chair of the UMass Board of Trustees. "It transforms lives. We firmly believe that UMass is the most important asset in the commonwealth and that the greatest thing we can do to support the commonwealth is to support the UMass campuses and UMass students."

Did you find this article useful? Invite a friend to subscribe to Patch.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)