Patricia Bush-McManus

Patricia Bush-McManus is a dedicated higher education executive with more than 30 years of experience in partnerships and alliances, action initiatives that drive enrollment growth, student engagement and retention, and graduation outcomes. She also has developed tools and programs that align industry demands with workforce needs. 

Patricia has held a number of leadership roles, most recently as assistant vice president of strategic partnerships at Drexel University Online. In this position, she recruited, led, and managed a team that increased growth for online programs for more than 750 channel partners. In addition, she was instrumental in rebuilding and managing the sales ecosystem and procured partnerships with Fortune 500 companies, leading industries, the federal government, and municipalities. Bush-McManus also procured and managed grants from Department of Veterans Affairs, National Security Agency, K-12 systems, and healthcare organizations.  

Prior to Drexel, Bush-McManus served as a site director for Troy University’s Fayetteville and Fort Bragg locations for nearly ten years. In this position, she successfully designed and implemented growth strategies that doubled online and classroom enrollments. Her most instrumental role came in the form of securing licensure approval to offer additional online and classroom degree programs in the state.

She is a passionate advocate for higher education. As the first and only African American woman on the leadership team for the College of Professional Studies at George Washington University, she helped to establish the first and only college within the university for adult learners. She led the design and development of support systems, stackable degree programs, and learning pathways for corporate and industry partners. 

Bush-McManus holds an EdS in higher education administration, a MA in education and human development, a BA in human services, and a certificate in events management from George Washington University.