Sylvia Manning

As chancellor of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Sylvia Manning heads the Chicago area's largest university, with 25,000 students; one of the nation's leading academic research enterprises, with external grants and contracts funding of over $300 million; and one of Chicago's largest employers, with 12,000 faculty and staff and a $1.54 billion budget.

Manning was named interim chancellor of UIC in September 1999 and appointed permanent chancellor in July 2000. Under her leadership, UIC has sustained the upward trajectory that has made it one of the nation's most dynamic metropolitan university campuses. UIC continues to attract renowned scholars to its strong faculty. UIC faculty and students consistently win major awards and honors. The campus is among the top 50 universities in the nation in total federal research funding. Patient volume at the Medical Center has risen substantially. Major new academic, research, residential and recreational facilities are transforming the campus environment.

Manning also has concentrated on the myriad external relationships of a major research university that has embraced its urban surroundings. Through its hallmark Great Cities Commitment, UIC operates hundreds of programs that engage with civic, community, corporate, government and foundation partners to enhance the quality of urban life in Chicago and metropolitan areas worldwide.

Prior to becoming chancellor, Manning served for five years as vice president for academic affairs for the University of Illinois system. As vice president, she oversaw development of the state-appropriated budget and coordination of academic affairs university-wide; led the creation of the University of Illinois Online, the university's program for Web-based teaching and learning; and co-chaired the state task force creating the Illinois Century Network, a high-speed communications grid linking Illinois educational institutions from kindergarten to university. She also represented the academic side of the university to the Board of Trustees, the state coordinating board, and the state legislature. When Sangamon State University became the University of Illinois at Springfield in 1995, Manning was charged with leadership in all aspects of the merger, including student services, academic programs, faculty and academic policy.

After earning her Ph.D. in English language and literature from Yale University, she joined California State University, Hayward, in 1968 as assistant professor of English. Over the next seven years she was promoted to associate professor and held administrative positions as interim chair of the Art and English departments as well as associate dean for Arts, Letters, and Social Sciences. In 1975, she moved to the University of Southern California as associate professor of English and associate director of the Center for the Humanities. She later was promoted to full professor and served in administrative roles including chair of the English department, vice provost for undergraduate studies, and executive vice provost in 1988 before coming to the University of Illinois in 1994.

A native of Montreal, Canada and a naturalized U.S. citizen, Manning received her undergraduate degree with honors from McGill University. A former Woodrow Wilson Fellow and Danforth Teaching Fellow, she has written numerous books and articles on Charles Dickens and other Victorian writers. She has continued to teach and write throughout her administrative career.

She serves on the executive committee of the Commercial Club and on the boards of Chicago Technology Park Corporation, the Noble Street Network of Charter Schools, The Chicago Metro History Education Committee, and the Chicago Central Area Committee. She is a member of the Union League Club, and the Economic Club of Chicago.