Matthew Manfra will join the George Washington University later this summer as its new associate vice president for alumni relations, the university announced Wednesday.
Mr. Manfra, currently the assistant vice president for alumni engagement at Syracuse University, will begin his new position Aug. 3.
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| Matthew Manfra will join GW as its new associate vice president for alumni relations on Aug. 3. |
“I’m thrilled to be joining The George Washington University family, particularly during such an exciting time and in the midst of Making History: The Campaign for GW,” Mr. Manfra said. “I am thoroughly impressed with the overall vision, leadership and commitment to alumni that was evident during my conversations with President Steven Knapp, Vice President [for Development and Alumni Relations] Aristide Collins, and GW Alumni Association leaders Jeremy Gosbee and Steve Frenkil. GW has outstanding and distinguished alumni around the globe and I look forward to engaging them.”
At Syracuse, Mr. Manfra led the offices of annual giving and alumni relations to create joint outreach efforts to the university’s 250,000-plus alumni and friends. Previously, he served as assistant vice president for alumni relations at the University of Northern Colorado, where he worked with alumni volunteers to create a robust program for more than 125,000 alumni. His focus on marketing and outreach led an alumni relations transformation at Northern Colorado, where the program was a leader in providing news and information to alumni and friends.
“Matt brings a progressive and strategic approach to alumni engagement, empowering volunteers to lead and creating diverse programs that will celebrate the GW student and alumni experience,” Vice President Collins said. “Our alumni leadership and the deans and faculty will enjoy working with Matt as together we continue to enhance our communication with and engagement of our alumni community.”
Mr. Manfra previously spent four years on the alumni relations staff at Rutgers University, first as director of regional clubs and later as director of outreach programs. He began his career in higher education in 1999 at his alma mater, The College of New Jersey, where he held roles in admissions, human resources and as the alumni affairs director. He also served as a volunteer on the executive board of the TCNJ Alumni Association executive board from 1999 to 2002 and again from 2009 to 2011.
“I’m thrilled that GW has chosen Matthew Manfra as its next associate vice president for alumni relations,” said Mr. Gosbee, B.A. ’98, M.B.A. ’02, who succeeded Mr. Frenkil as GWAA president earlier this month. “I’ve gotten to know Matt over the past few weeks during the search process and I’m confident he’s exactly the right person to lead GW’s alumni team. His energy, enthusiasm and strategic acumen will be enormous assets to the GW Alumni Association and I look forward to working closely with Matt to continue building our lifelong and worldwide GW alumni community.”