Jim and Julie Manley

NAU's proud heritage of equipping teachers reaches all of the way back to our founding in 1899. There is perhaps no one that better epitomizes the modern day embodiment of that heritage than Jim and Julie Manley.

Jim taught elementary school for 22 years before joining NAU's College of Education. Over the next 15 years, students loved him for his creative teaching styles and his wealth of practical knowledge.

Julie earned her undergraduate degree from NAU, and both Jim and Julie earned master's degrees at the College of Education while they were teaching. They afforded summer classes by camping in the National Forest close to campus.

Jim was recognized as Arizona Teacher of the Year by the Arizona Educational Foundation. He was also recognized as a Milken Educator by the Arizona Department of Education and received the Presidential Recognition for Math and Science through the White House and National Science Foundation. NAU joined in the recognition and appreciation of Jim by awarding him an Honorary Doctorate. Their colleagues recognized Jim and Julie with an education scholarship in their names.

Jim says that to this day, he runs into his former students almost weekly, and they thank him for his influence as a teacher and for the impact he had on their life.

Jim and Julie are so passionate about teaching that they provided for a gift to NAU in their estate plans.

We join all of the others thanking Jim and Julie for the impact they have had on teachers and students. We honor them for the gift that they are making in their estate plans to build on the foundation of educational excellence to which they have dedicated their lives.

"We worked with Nancy Serenbetz and Mark Matthews to make a gift through our will to NAU that will continue the work we started- even after our lifetimes. We were amazed at how simple it was, and what an impact we could make through an endowment that will keep helping students and future teachers long after we are gone."