UB Athletic Director Warde Manuel to Open Bridge Lecture Series

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Warde J. Manuel, director of athletics at the University at Buffalo, will open the 2008 Bridge Lecture Series, the annual summer lecture series sponsored by the Newman Centers at UB, on June 18 with a talk on "COOL: Competitive Outlook on Leadership."

Manuel's lecture -- and all remaining lectures in the free series -- will be held at 7 p.m. at 495 Skinnersville Road, Amherst.

The goal of the lecture series, now in its sixth year, is to connect the UB family with the surrounding community, says Msgr. J. Patrick Keleher, director of the Newman Center at UB.

Since joining UB in 2005, Manuel has increased the focus on academics by creating a new study center, quadrupling the investment in tutorial support and doubling the number of computers available to student-athletes. Last fall, UB achieved the highest average cumulative GPA since 2004 and the second highest since joining the Mid-American Conference in 1999. In addition, the football team last fall posted the highest GPA in its Division I-A history.

The 2007 football program had its best year since moving up to the Division I-A level and joining the MAC, gaining a share of the MAC East Division title for the first time in school history. The women's tennis team this spring won the university's first MAC championship.

Earlier this year, Manuel was one of 25 individuals selected by Street and Smith Sports Business Journal to be among its national "Forty Under 40" award winners honoring the best and brightest executives in the sports business industry under the age of 40.

The remaining lectures in the Bridge Lecture Series:

• June 25: "Uncrowned Community Builders: Using Technology to Preserve History," Barbara Nevergold and Peggy Brooks-Bertram, senior education specialists in the Office of the Vice President for External Affairs and co-founders of the Uncrowned Queens Institute.

• July 9: "ADHD: What Is It? And How Is It Treated?" Martin T. Hoffman, associate professor of clinical pediatrics, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

• July 16: "Citizen Participation and Environmental Concerns in WNY: Environmental Justice, Social Justice and the Public's Right to Know," Joseph A. Gardella Jr., professor of chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, and faculty fellow, UB Regional Institute.

• July 23: "How Mathematicians Think," William Menasco, professor of mathematics, CAS.

• July 30: "Building UB…Creating Community," Robert Shibley, professor of architecture and senior advisor to UB President John B. Simpson who is overseeing development of UB's comprehensive physical plan.

• Aug. 6: "The Role of Engineering in the WNY Economy," Harvey G. Stenger, Jr., dean, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

• Aug. 13: "Poetry and the Divine Imagination," Msgr. J. Patrick Keleher, director, the Newman Center at UB.