The estate of a former elected state official and WVU employee has distributed a gift to the West Virginia University Foundation to establish an endowment in his name that will fund an annual program hosted by the Department of Political Science in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.

The Lewis McManus Public Affairs Colloquium Fund will cover speakersexpenses and related costs for an annual colloquium on public affairs.

A native of Raleigh County, Lewis N. McManus graduated with an associates degree from Beckley College (now Mountain State University) in 1949 and earned a B.A. from Morris Harvey College (now the University of Charleston) in 1956.

Following college, McManus explored a variety of employment. He began working for the West Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles in 1956 and for Travelers Insurance in 1959. In 1961 he became vice president of Songer Insurance Agency, where he worked for 16 years. He served as executive secretary for the Public Employees Retirement System from 1977 to 1983, as a program officer for the Local Initiatives Support Corporation from 1983-1984, and then as a special assistant to the president of West Virginia University from 1984 to 1988.

He was named the 24th president of the University of Charleston in 1988 and then became an associate vice president for the public relations firm of Charles Ryan Associates in 1990.

In addition he was elected to six terms in the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1964 to 1976, during which he served as chairman of the Committee on Finance from 1969 to 1971 and as speaker of the house from 1971 to 1976. He also served as chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Platform Committee in 1976, 1980, and 1984.

He was president of the West Virginia Education Fund Board of Trustees from 1995 to 1996 and was a member of the West Virginia Historical Education Foundation Inc. from 1991 to 2001. In 1996 he was the co-chairman of Governor-elect Underwoods Transition Committee on Education.

Lew McManus was enormously respected by all who came in touch with him,said Allan S. Hammock, chair of the WVU Department of Political Science.His knowledge of state government was unsurpassed. We hope to capture and build on that knowledge by providing a forum through which government practitioners, academics, and students may engage in discussions of the major issues of the day.

The gift was made to the WVU Foundation in conjunction with the $250 million Building Greatness Campaign, which has generated more than $262 million and concludes December 31. The WVU Foundation is a private non-profit corporation that generates and provides support for West Virginia University.