Sunlight streams through the floor-to-ceiling windows as Manohar Singh sits comfortably on a cushy chair at the Culver Family Welcome Center. His demeanor is calm and he listens intently before answering each question. He’s wearing a well-fitted heather grey suit and a slim yellow tie – a simple showcase of commitment to his new university.
Singh was unanimously selected by the Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents to become the next chancellor of UW Oshkosh, and now it’s his first official visit to campus post interviews on April 15.
“I’ve fallen in love with the place,” Singh said. “Oshkosh is actually a special place because of the people and the river and the lake. The confluence of the natural beauty and the warmth of the people is something that really attracts me.”
Even as a boy Singh knew he wanted to be a professor. At the time, he didn’t exactly know what the profession entailed. He said he thought it looked cool, and that was as good of a reason as any to pursue an education.
“Slowly, as I went through my graduate degree in India, my honors in economics, the rigor, the curiosity about the next question, the love for discovery, the joy of asking the right question and then finding an answer was my driver to enter academia,” Singh said.
Academia was Singh’s key to living a privileged life. His parents, Pakistani refugees, fled to India where they raised their children in poverty.
“I [have] seen the hardship, I [have] seen the hopelessness [from] poverty,” Singh said. “But, I [have] also seen my brothers rising through education, and I knew that I became privileged because of education, and I can help them have that privilege by helping them get their education.”
Singh is a first-generation college graduate – much like a majority of the campus community at UWO.
His journey began when he received a Master of Arts degree in economics with honors from Panjab University. Shortly after, he received a second Master of Arts in economics from the University of Waterloo in Canada.
“What brought me from India was I just wanted to drive a Mercedes,” Singh said with a laugh. “Seriously. And I was willing to give whatever – young man, material dreams are inspirations.”
Singh’s American dream started in the Midwest when he attended the University of Southern Illinois, Carbondale, where he received his Ph.D. in Finance. He spent a few years going from university to university working as an assistant professor of finance and gaining accolades for his work. Through that entire journey, becoming a member of the administration was never his intention.
“I was invited by one of my chancellors [at Pennsylvania State University, Great Valley] to lead their division of humanities and liberal arts,” Singh said. “As a [member] of faculty, I was given an opportunity to become first the vice chair and then chair of the senate.”
He thought he would be returning to research in a year or two. That was 12 years ago.
In 2016, Singh participated in a management development program for higher education administration at Harvard University, and a year later he applied for a business dean position at UWO.
During his visit eight years ago, Singh had met a few people from the area that impressed him with their warmth and dedication to the university.
“As an administrator, there’s no better place to go than a place that is roaring to go, and where the people are about themselves,” Singh said. “They’re selfless, they’re focused on the mission and they see their students as human beings.”
Singh said UWO was emotionally enriching for him to see, and the connections he built here at a human level were his inspiration for applying to the chancellorship position.
UWO isn’t all that different from where he’s coming from. When Singh took over as the interim president at Western Connecticut University, the latter stepped down after a vote of no confidence when the university announced it was in $12.5 million of debt. He marked the third president in a year and a half.
As he contemplated the difficult situation he stepped into, Singh paused to gaze out of the large windows at the sun shimmering on the Fox River.
“I really reflect on it quite often,” he said quietly. “It was a very challenging time.”
Singh was riding the high of raising the enrollment 39% in three years as the dean of the graduate school at Southern Connecticut State University when he was asked to take over WestConn.
“Many of my mentors told me this is a very fraught situation,” Singh said. “Fraught with danger because this could be your last job if you cannot turn it around.”
He knew the odds of success were low. He was given a two-year timeframe to get the university out of the red and raise the rapidly declining enrollment.
“I’m not unfamiliar with the odds being against me,” Singh said. “[And] there [was] a spirit of survival, and then a spirit of resurgence.”
WestConn’s faculty, students, staff and alumni had the tenacity and the grit needed to pull through, and that gave him the confidence to lead. That tenacity is something he saw in UWO, too.
“I was able to turn around Western, so I’m confident in my abilities,” Singh said. “I see that there is an appetite, there is a drive, there is pride in the community [at UWO].”
It’s been a year since UWO announced its $18 million budget deficit – an event that shook up the campus community for many months. Despite the challenges, Singh said he feels like he’s joining a family.
“During my interview process, I met around 200 people, including the external community to campus,” Singh said. “What I felt there was [that] the challenges have not destroyed the bonds that have formed over the years. The stress in the relationship is visible, but it is not a broken relationship.”
His plan is to help bring back a shared sense of purpose and passion to do what’s best for the next generation – bettering humanity as he called it. It’s an incredibly tumultuous time to become a chancellor, but Singh loves it.
“I believe by having this opportunity, I can contribute to keeping the good in this world alive,” Singh said with a small smile. He laughed and said, “this may sound too dramatic, a Hollywood movie scene, but seriously, if it takes me down this is perfectly fine. Because we all stand tall and alive today based upon someone making sacrifices.”
Singh never returned to teaching, but working in administration has allowed him to give back to humanity what he was given – a chance to change his life through access to higher education. It gave him the ability to make a direct contribution to improving each student’s life.
“I realized doing one simple [thing] can help 10 students find scholarship money and they can really be graduates rather than be burdened with debt,” Singh said. “That’s my fuel.”
He has fully dedicated his life to sustaining what he called “the discovery of truth” and “the essence of human beings.”
“I’m of a firm belief that only education can do that,” Singh said. “It opens your minds, hearts, brains and arms, and the world becomes so much more.”
