Kenneth R. Manning (born December 11, 1947) is an American academic professor and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

. He is currently the Thomas Meloy Professor of Rhetoric and of the History of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Early life and education

Born in

Dillon, South Carolina Dillon is a city in Dillon County in eastern South Carolina, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Dillon County. It was established on December 22, 1888. Both the name of the city and county comes from James W. Dillon, an ear ...

and educated in local schools, Manning eventually moved to

North Haven, Connecticut North Haven is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States on the outskirts of New Haven. The town is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 24,253. North Haven is home ...

, soon afterwards. Manning entered

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1966 and completed his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in 1970, his Master of Arts (M.A.) in 1971, and his Ph.D. in 1974. His dissertation, ''The Emergence of the Weierstrassian Approach To Complex Analysis'', was supervised by

I. Bernard Cohen I. Bernard Cohen (1 March 1914 – 20 June 2003) was an American historian of science. He taught at Harvard University for 60 years, 1942–2002, becoming the first chair of its Department of the History of Science when it was established in 19 ...

. While he was doing his graduate studies, Manning helped guide fellow Dillon native

Ben Bernanke Ben Shalom Bernanke ( ; born December 13, 1953) is an American economist who served as the 14th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 2006 to 2014. After leaving the Federal Reserve, he was appointed a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Insti ...

, who would eventually become the Chairman of the

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

, to apply to Harvard. He helped assuage the Bernanke family, who were concerned that Ben would "lose his Jewish identity" if he went to Harvard, that "there were Jews in Boston."David Wessel, ''In Fed We Trust: Ben Bernanke's War on the Great Panic'' (New York: Crown Business, 2009), p. 70.

Career

Manning has been on the faculty at MIT since 1974. Manning's 1983 book, '' Black Apollo of Science: The Life of Ernest Everett Just'', depicts the life and career of Ernest Everett Just, who was born in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

and went on to become a world-famous biologist. Manning won several awards for the book and was a finalist for the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

in Biography. Manning was also inducted into the

Order of the Palmetto The Order of the Palmetto is the highest civilian honor awarded by the governor of South Carolina. It is awarded to South Carolinians who demonstrate extraordinary lifetime achievement, service and contributions of national or statewide significan ...

by former South Carolina governor,

Richard Riley Richard Wilson Riley (born January 2, 1933) is an American politician who served as the sixth United States secretary of education from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton and as the 111th governor of South Carolina from 1979 to 1987. He ...

. Manning's other writings have appeared in numerous scholarly publications. He is currently working on a book manuscript that examines health care for African Americans and the role and experience of blacks in the American medical profession from 1860 until 1980.

Bibliography

*Kenneth R. Manning (September 1983) ''Black Apollo of Science: The Life of Ernest Everett Just''. Oxford University Press. *Kenneth R. Manning (September 1991) ''MIT: Shaping the Future''. The MIT Press. *Kenneth R. Manning, Bayla Singer Asa J. Davis (1995) ''Blueprint for Change: The Life and Times of Lewis H. Latimer''. Queens Borough Public Library.

References

External links

Kenneth Manning's home page at M.I.T.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manning, Kenneth 1947 births Living people People from Dillon, South Carolina People from North Haven, Connecticut Harvard University alumni MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences faculty