Manor College Board of Trustees renewed President Jonathan Peri’s contract for another five years.
Dr. Peri came to Manor in late 2015 after serving as vice president and general counsel for Neumann University. He holds a degree from Villanova, a J.D. from Widener University School of Law, a Management and Leadership in Education certification from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership with an Education Concentration from Eastern University.
“Manor is one of life’s most wonderful blessings,” Peri said. “I love it here – the people, the campus, our caring synergy for our students, everyone and everything Manor.”
Among Peri’s most important accomplishments has been Manor’s involvement in supporting the humanitarian efforts for Ukraine in response to the invasion from Russia. At the outset of the attack, Peri led the college into various pathways for the delivery of aid to victims of the war.
Working with the Sisters of St. Basil the Great, who founded the college, and various nonprofit organizations, shipping containers of aid were transported. The institution also started Project Resilience, which acquires and digitizes materials of significant historical and cultural value to Ukraine, Ukrainians and Ukrainian-Americans. This is in tandem with the college’s completely renovated Ukrainian Cultural Museum, which Peri fundraised for, to honor Ukraine’s independence and history, and to engender interest in Ukraine’s cultural arts.
Peri believes his greatest accomplishment has been keeping students first on the list of priorities.
“It was (and is) crucial to keep students first through all of the challenges life presented, not the least of which was the pandemic, and now, the national FAFSA debacle,” Peri said. “The founders of Manor believed that, ‘Education was the key to success.’ That success is not only student career and income related, it’s related to values, contributions to society and helping our students to internalize and share compassion for others, particularly those in need.”
Peri said that, over the next five years, he hopes for the continued development of new programs, the further growth of the institution including the currently planned expansion of the physical campus, and the creation of new opportunities for benefactor investment. ••
