Academic Spaces Named in Honor of Outstanding Nursing, Engineering Graduates
Image by Ed Brennen
UMass Lowell alumna Donna Manning, center, was honored in a dedication ceremony that included her husband Robert Manning, also a UMass Lowell graduate, left, and nursing doctoral student Jonelle O'Connor.
10/18/2023
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Two UMass Lowell academic spaces – and a new scholarship fund – now pay tribute to the hard work and contributions of outstanding alumni who forged impressive careers.
In separate ceremonies, Thursday, Oct. 12, university leadership, faculty, staff, students and friends gathered to officially name a UMass Lowell academic building in honor of Donna Manning ’85, ’91, ’11(H), and dedicate renovations to the university’s plastics engineering building to Gyanendra Gupta ’78.
On the university’s South Campus, the Health and Social Sciences Building now bears the name of Donna Manning, who worked 35 years as an oncology nurse at Boston Medical Center where she helped ensure chemotherapy patients had access to translation and transportation services. Manning received her bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1985, a master’s degree in business administration in 1991, and an honorary degree from UMass Lowell in 2011.
In keeping with her wishes, the ceremony was held offsite so as not to disturb the faculty and students participating in classes there. “It’s not about the name on the building, it’s about what’s inside it,” she said.
The recognition honors the lifelong contributions she has made to the university, both individually and together with her husband Robert Manning, also a UMass Lowell graduate, and a former UMass Board of Trustees chairman. High school sweethearts who grew up in Methuen and now live in Swampscott, the Mannings have donated more than $25 million to UMass Lowell, including a gift of $10 million in 2021 as part of a total $50 million contribution to the UMass system.
“Our initial investment in UMass Lowell was to help people like us finish school,” she said, adding the couple’s support in recent years is “an investment in the future of so many.”
Opened in 2013, the Donna Manning Heath and Social Sciences Building is home to the university’s Donna Manning Nursing Simulation Lab and Donna Manning Endowed Chair for Nursing, both part of the Susan and Alan Solomont School of Nursing in the Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences. Located at the corner of Wilder and Broadway streets in Lowell, the building also includes the physical therapy and economics departments, and the School of Criminology and Justice Studies.
Image by Henry Marte
UMass Lowell alumnus Gyanendra Gupta speaks at the Ball Hall dedication ceremony that honored his contributions to the university.
A native of India, Gupta graduated from UMass Lowell with a master’s degree in plastics engineering in 1978 and has built a successful career at companies including Bausch & Lomb, Texas Instruments, Raytheon, and DRS Infrared Technologies.
When he arrived in Massachusetts from India, he was unsure of his path in a new country. Once he found his way to UMass Lowell, he met the late plastics engineering Professor Rudolph Deanin, who developed the university’s plastics engineering master’s program and directed it for more than 30 years.
Deanin became a mentor to Gupta, who established the student scholarship to honor him. Through the years, Gupta has never forgotten the professor’s knowledge, kindness and willingness to help UMass Lowell’s international students as they navigated life in the United States.
“I owe my success to Professor Deanin. His intellect and skillful teaching were incredible, and he helped me adapt to American culture,” said Gupta, today a U.S. citizen who lives in Plano, Texas. “I often look back with gratitude, knowing the contributions I made are the result of opportunities he helped me find. My gift is an investment in a brilliant future generation.”
Manning and Gupta exemplify the success enjoyed by graduates of UMass Lowell, named by The Wall Street Journal as Massachusetts’ top public university for student outcomes.