David Manyan retires from UNE College of Osteopathic Medicine

Every doctor who has graduated from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine has had David Manyan, Ph.D., as a professor. Manyan began teaching at St. Francis College in 1975, and helped establish the College of Osteopathic Medicine that would become UNE COM. Now, after 42 years of educating future physicians and scientists, Manyan is retiring.

In his time at UNE, Manyan has been chair of biochemistry, associate dean of basic sciences and associate dean of research and scholarship. He has also represented UNE COM at the national level for many years, promoting the institution among osteopathic physicians from around the country.

UNE COM Dean Jane Carreiro, D.O., is among several faculty and members of the UNE Board of Trustees who had Manyan has a professor. She says Manyan has seen the trajectory of UNE COM from the beginning. He knows what has been successful and what has failed, and he has embraced the changes that came as a college transitioned from a fledgling institution to the top provider of physicians for the State of Maine.

“It is rare to find a faculty member as dedicated to an institution as Dr. Manyan has been to UNE COM,” said Carreiro. “For four decades, he has been committed to the students and faculty here and has supported the evolution of the college while bringing a historical perspective that few possess. His wisdom has informed the progression of UNE COM, and his contributions will be sorely missed.”

Like many of her colleagues, Barbara Winterson, Ph.D., professor of physiology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, looks to Manyan as a valuable mentor who always puts students first and tries to understand medical education from their perspective. Winterson says it was that attitude toward educating that led Manyan to become a champion for innovation in medical education. 

“He was reading the medical education literature long before any of us,” Winterson said. “I credit him with being a strong supporter of the changes we made in the curriculum that made it more student-centered. This college would not have survived without the strength and continuity of people like David Manyan.”

To learn more about the University of New England’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, visit www.une.edu/com

To apply, visit www.une.edu/admissions