Manning Plunges into “Deep Waters”

Bob Manning ’69 is an astute businessman as well as a community servant. Last fall, Bob’s firm, M2P Capital, acquired Deep Rock Water, a century-old Denver company.

With M2P partners Dirk Tyler ’80 and Abbott Lawrence ’86, Manning aims to “acquire private middle-market companies and help ’em grow.”

Manning serves as trustee of the Denver Boy Scout council and on the national board of Boy Scouts of America. He’s been a CC trustee since 1995, co-chairing the last capital campaign. Before opening M2P Capital two years ago, he worked in a banking firm, Green, Manning, and Bunch, and then with a Chicago-based private equity business for seven years.

Although Manning almost decided to major in economics, professors like Tim Fuller, Fred Sondermann, Glenn Brooks, and David Finley inspired him to major in political science instead, and he retains an interest in the field. “(Professor) Fred Sondermann was a colleague of Henry Kissinger’s, and we read a lot of his works,” Manning recalls.

Manning also draws on his off-campus experiences, where he worked under a grant as activity director and athletic director with the Boys Club in Colorado Springs. “I enjoyed those inner-city kids. In the Boy Scouts, we also do a lot with at-risk kids,” he says.

Manning and his wife, Janet Benson ’69, have developed the Manning Fund, which supports internships and brings outside speakers to the political science department. “Janet and I are proud we can help students in political science,” he says.