Professor Emeritus John Manning died on Sept 6, 2010. He was a world-renowned expert on reading education in the college for more than three decades, retiring in 2005. A popular personality on campus, he was also a visiting professor and lecturer at more than 300 major colleges and universities and served as consultant to more than 500 national agencies, state departments of education, and major urban and local community school districts. He was well known for his commitment to working with students and teachers in the Minneapolis Public Schools and for his efforts in some of the poorest communities in the United States, including his work for the Mississippi State Literacy Initiative.

In 1985 John was elected president of the International Reading Association (IRA) and was recognized as the association’s outstanding teacher educator in reading in 1987. He received the association’s lifetime achievement award in April 2010 and was a benefactor to IRA through a fund that supports the annual IRA John Chorlton Manning Public School Service Award.
A mass and burial will be held for John in Fall River, Massachusetts, on Saturday, Sept. 11. A memorial service will take place in Minneapolis (Dinkytown) at St. Lawrence Catholic Church, 1203 5th Street S.E., on Friday, Sept. 17 at 3:30 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to: The John Chorlton Manning Memorial Educational Fund, U.S. Bank – Apache, Attn: Sara Fellegy, 3928 Silver Lake Road, St. Anthony, MN 55421.
For more information, see John’s obituary in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.