Aristide J. Collins Jr., the George Washington University's vice president for development and alumni relations as well as secretary of the university, will serve as chair of a GW working group that coordinates the transition for the university’s 17th president.
The new responsibilities mean that Mr. Collins will return full time to the Board of Trustees office as vice president and secretary to oversee the transition for incoming president Thomas LeBlanc.
Matthew R. Manfra, associate vice president for alumni relations, will serve as interim vice president for the Division of Development and Alumni Relations.
“As our Making History campaign rapidly approaches a successful conclusion, Vice President Collins is taking on our next critical initiative: ensuring a seamless presidential transition. I am committed to doing everything I can to support him in this effort,” said George Washington President Steven Knapp.
Mr. Collins has managed the office of the Board of Trustees and serves as the administrative liaison between the trustees and university leadership. As chair of the presidential transition working group, he will lead a team that will plan and coordinate visits of the incoming president and seek input from and facilitate meetings and forums with students, faculty, staff, alumni, elected officials and other university partners and community members.
“Aristide has been invaluable to the Board of Trustees throughout his service, and I appreciate his willingness to lead this critical effort to prepare our next president to lead our great university on day one,” said Nelson Carbonell, B.S. ’85, chair of the Board of Trustees.
Members of the working group include Senior Vice President and General Counsel Beth Nolan, Vice President for External Relations Lorraine Voles, Deputy Provost for Academic Affairs Teresa Murphy and Senior Advisor to the Executive Vice President and Treasurer Dorinda Tucker. The Office of the Board of Trustees will provide administrative support for the working group.
The working group will report directly to the Board Committee on Presidential Selection and Transition, led by trustee Madeleine Jacobs, B.S. '68 and D.Sc. (Honorary) '03, who served as chair of the presidential search committee.
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| Matthew Manfra |
Making History, the campaign for GW, is 95 percent of the way to its $1 billion goal, having raised $952 million from 62,880 donors. Originally anticipated to conclude in 2018, the Making History campaign is expected to reach its goal this year.
“I am grateful for the trust placed in me to lead the presidential transition and look forward to engaging students, faculty and staff to ensure their views and needs are well understood by our incoming president,” Mr. Collins said.
“I also want to recognize the work of many people who have enabled the university to achieve the goals of the Making History campaign. We are in the home stretch, and with the leadership of Matt Manfra and the collaboration of the DAR team, we will soon cross the finish line.”
Mr. Manfra has overseen the office of alumni relations at GW since 2015. He came to GW from Syracuse University, where he led the offices of annual giving and alumni relations to create joint outreach efforts to the university’s 250,000-plus alumni and friends. He previously served as assistant vice president for alumni relations at the University of Northern Colorado and as director of regional clubs and director of outreach programs at Rutgers University.
