Dean Alice Manicur

“The Dean”, as she was affectionately known by students during much of her career at Frostburg State University, was born in McDowell County, West Virginia, one of six children in the Manicur family. A coal miner’s daughter, Alice developed a lifelong respect for learning. To her immigrant father and her first-generation Italian mother, education was the finest opportunity in this country, and they recognized it as the way to improve the lives of their children. Dr. Manicur’s humble background is both a tribute to her indelible belief in the power of human persistence and the enduring benefits which are derived from those who provide consistent encouragement and support. In Alice’s case, she internalized the value of supporting others in the same way she had been supported during her formative years. The end result is that she made an enormous and lasting impact on the lives of generations of students.

Alice R. Manicur earned her B.A. degree in business administration from Berea College in 1954, her M.S. degree in student personnel administration from Indiana University in 1955, and her EdD in student personnel administration from Indiana University in 1960. After earning her doctorate, Alice became the first dean of students at Frostburg State University (then College) and this position was later changed to vice president for student and educational services. Her innovative approach to student services remains evident on the campus of Frostburg State University today and includes the development of the Summer Planning Conference, the Honors Convocation, numerous substance abuse education and prevention programs, the GOLD (Generating Opportunities for Leadership Development) program and the Cultural Events Series. She retired from Frostburg State University in 2007.

Alice Manicur was an accomplished professional, a selfless individual and a tireless advocate of the product of education—students. She was also a spirited example of the extraordinary accomplishments performed by women. Dr. Manicur was the first female president of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA); additional honors would follow this historic recognition, including NASPA’s naming of the “Alice Manicur Symposium for Women” and its “Pillar of the Profession” award. Closer to home, Frostburg State University named its largest assembly hall, the “Alice R. Manicur Assembly Hall” and in 2012, she was inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame. None of these honors were sought by Dr. Manicur; in fact, she bristled at the idea of public recognition, favoring an understated, yet powerfully effective, demeanor. Deliberate, decisive and private, Alice Manicur took her work seriously, but never herself. She was a classic “hands-on” leader who spent as much time at campus events, student meetings and community functions in support of students as she did tending to the administrative details of her position. In an age of rapidly evolving technology, providing endless new tools for communication on a daily basis, Alice persisted in using personal conversation and offering proof that dialogue is the only real tool proven to work in a world starved for the kind of communication that leads to understanding.

A pioneer in her profession, Alice Manicur was an adventurer in life, traversing the globe and extending her passion for lifelong learning in an unquenchable thirst to understand the world’s many cultures. There was little left of the Earth’s terrain that Alice didn’t visit, including a trip to Israel in her 90’s. While material possessions meant very little to her, Alice Manicur took thousands of photos of her travels. A number of her photo albums are available for review in the Lewis J. Ort Library, Frostburg State University.

Dr. Catherine R. Gira, President of Frostburg State University from 1991-2006 commented: “Alice Manicur probably had more influence on the development of Frostburg State University than any other single individual. Fine presidents and senior academic officers have come and gone and left their marks on the institution, but none had been more visionary and responsive in developing programs to meet the needs of students. She remains a paradigm of the caring professional. To those of us who were her colleagues, she was a veritable icon.”