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Manuel earns place on ‘Forty Under 40’ list
Director of athletics saluted for his work by national Sports Business Journal
By PAUL VECCHIO
Reporter Contributor
Warde J. Manuel, director of athletics, is 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.
MANUEL
Manuel becomes just the fifth college administrator to earn the designation in a pool of 232 honorees over the nine years that the magazine has compiled the list. The selection also gives UB athletics an unprecedented pairing, as Anucha Browne-Sanders, senior associate athletics director and senior woman administrator, was honored in 2002 while with the New York Knicks. Among other Western New Yorkers, only Russ Brandon, chief operating officer of the Buffalo Bills (honored in 2001) has made the list.
Manuel, who in his three years as director of athletics at UB has led the Bulls’ program to several national honors, will receive the award on March 14 in Beverly Hills, Calif.
“While I accept this award on behalf of UB, I also accept it on behalf of our truly outstanding staff, coaches and student-athletes that I work with every day in the Division of Athletics,” Manuel said.
“President John Simpson has given us the opportunity to earn success on the competitive fields of play of Division I athletics and this award is a by-product of his commitment, in the hands of professionals who are working extremely hard to put UB’s athletics programs on the national landscape,” said Manuel. “I continue to be excited about the future of UB’s athletics programs within the scope of President Simpson’s tremendous vision for our university with UB 2020.”
Praising Manuel for earning the honor and, in turn, bringing recognition to the university, Simpson noted: “This is a great and well-deserved achievement for Warde. Since his arrival at UB, Warde has embodied the best of our approach to excellence in all we do.
“When it comes to our scholar-athletes, and the entire UB athletics team, Warde sets his expectations high—in the classroom and on the field—and then finds creative ways to help people achieve them,” Simpson added. “This honor is a reflection of that hard work and integrity.”
Since joining UB, 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.
Last fall, UB’s athletics department was recognized by the NCAA Division I-A athletic directors as a Program of Excellence, the only school in the nation to receive that designation for 2006-07. Earlier in the year, the Women’s Sports Foundation honored UB as one of four “standout” colleges and universities in the nation for outstanding achievement in providing equitable athletics opportunities for its female student-athletes.
The women’s tennis team and the men’s soccer team have advanced to the MAC Championships twice since Manuel’s arrival at UB. The baseball team completed its most successful MAC season in school history in 2007 and the women’s rowing squad finished its best season in 2006, and matched it again in 2007.
Manuel also has been a successful recruiter whose hirings have included that of Turner Gill as head football coach; has effectively balanced a budget that has grown by nearly $4 million while increasing corporate sponsorships by 40 percent; and has provided leadership that resulted in the department securing two of its five largest financial gifts. They are the $500,000 gift from Robert G. and Carol L. Morris that allowed UB to double its current weight-room space with the addition of a sports performance center adjacent to UB Stadium and a $640,000 gift from Harold Ortman that will benefit the men’s and women’s tennis programs.