Originally from Shaker Heights, Ohio, he says he was attracted to the university because of its strong program in radio and television broadcasting. In fact, the University of Miami was the only school the young Mann considered.

As a student, he was one of the original co-founders of student-run WVUM, along with fellow communication graduates Jim Fleming and Peter Berlin, and served as the radio station’s first general manager. Created in 1967 to inform the university community of campus events and to provide an educational tool for students in the university’s broadcast program, the station continues to provide South Florida with an alternative to commercial radio. (And with its presence on the World Wide Web, WVUM’s message is today heard by listeners around the globe.)

While an undergraduate, Bob’s academic and extracurricular achievements were readily acknowledged. He was a member of Alpha Epsilon Rho, the honor society of the National Broadcasting Society, and the Order of Omega, an honorary fraternity; in 1968 he was tapped for Iron Arrow, the university’s highest honor and oldest tradition.

After graduating in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications, he embarked on numerous and varied professional ventures, including an art gallery in Coconut Grove, which dealt primarily in nineteenth and early twentieth century American art.

Following in his father’s footsteps, he and his brother Thomas started a pharmaceutical company, U.S. Biochemical Corporation, in 1973 based in Boulder, Colorado. Before it was sold in 1993 to Amersham PLC, a world leader in medical diagnostics, the biotechnology company developed the world’s leading system for sequencing DNA—Sequenase—as well as numerous products for genetic engineering, the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease, and anti-retroviral drugs such as AZT. As testimony to the company’s impact in the

field, one of U.S. Biochemical’s scientists, Dr. Thomas Cech, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discoveries about the catalytic properties of RNA.

However, mass communications—and indeed the School of Communication—he claims, remain his true love. Since moving back to South Florida in 1997, he returns to campus often. Most recently, he attended the filming of MSNBC’s Hardball: The College Tour at the School of Communication’s Frances L. Wolfson Building. “That was a terrific experience,” Mann said. “It provided great exposure for the university and for the school’s new building.”

The $10 million, state-of-the-art Wolfson Building was dedicated on March 26, 2001 to provide students with a competitive edge in the rapidly expanding communications industries. The new building marks the first time the school has housed all of its programs under one roof; however, a major need for space remains unmet. A 25,000-square foot addition to the Wolfson Building is currently being planned, which will create a Center for Student Activities at the school. Mann recently made a $500,000 commitment to this new student center, an appropriate area of support for a man who believes in the strengths, imagination and talents of the school’s student body as well as its administration.

“The school has a wonderful staff, starting with its two deans—Dean Edward Pfister and Associate Dean Bob Hosmon,” Mann states. “With dramatic changes in information technology, the School of Communication represents the future. It’s important that the University of Miami is one of the predominant institutions in this field, and my goal is to help ensure that the School of Communication is the best in the country.”

As a member of the university’s Board of Trustees, Mann’s valued guidance and support speak volumes. But once again, he says that he’s the fortunate one to be involved with his alma mater at this exciting point in its history. “The university has great leadership, starting at the top with President Shalala,” said Mann. “She is a dynamic, imaginative leader who interacts well with the students and brings prestige and creditability to the institution.”

More than thirty-five years after first setting foot on the university’s campus, the same can be said of Mann himself.

- D'Ann Tollett