David P. Manuel, Ph.D., has been appointed vice president for Academic
Affairs at
St. Mary’s University, John W. Dewey, chairman of the Board of Trustees,
announced April 12.

Manuel, who had served as acting academic vice president since June 2000,
succeeds Charles L. Cotrell, Ph.D., now St. Mary’s president, as the
University’s chief academic officer. Cotrell held the position for 14
years. Manuel, whose appointment was made at St. Mary’s annual board
meeting April 12, will serve a three-year term ending May 31, 2005. He was
dean of the
School of Business and Administration from 1990 to 2000.

“Dr. Manuel has proven leadership skills and an outstanding record of
accomplishment in higher education,” Cotrell said. “His intellectual
prowess, administrative ability, the continuity he brings to the position
and his contributions to and support of our Strategic Plan, Vision 2006: A
21st Century Education at St. Mary’s University, are key factors for St.
Mary’s,” said Cotrell, who became St. Mary’s first lay president in 2000.
This year, St. Mary’s is celebrating the Sesquicentennial anniversary of
when French brothers and priests of the Society of Mary brought Catholic
education to San Antonio, in 1852, when they opened St. Mary’s Institute
downtown.

As academic vice president, Manuel will be a catalyst for the University’s
long term success in implementing Vision 2006, Cotrell said. In addition,
Manuel has been in the forefront
of faculty development efforts and has been a strong advocate of
international education.

When he was dean and professor of international business, Manuel led the
faculty in the process to attain accreditation
in 1997 of the graduate and undergraduate business programs of the School
of Business and Administration by the
AACSB-International, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of
Business, the premier accrediting organization for university business
schools. St. Mary’s is the only Catholic university in Texas and the
Southwest to be AACSB-accredited. Currently, Manuel is chair of the
candidacy committee of the AACSB.

Manuel earned doctoral and master’s degrees, both in economics, from the
University of Mississippi in 1975 and 1972, respectively, in addition to
his bachelor’s in economics from Nicholls State University in 1970. Prior
to joining St. Mary’s, Manuel served on the faculty as dean of the College
of Business Administration at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.
His research interests include energy economics, international business and
corporate strategy.

St. Mary’s is the oldest and largest Catholic institution of higher
education in the Southwest with 4,100 students and
home to the only Catholic law school in the region, now saluting its 75th
anniversary.

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