April 16, 2025
Ann Manchester-Molak ’75
Executive Vice President, Retired, Providence College
Honorary Doctor of Communication
Ann Manchester Molak ’75, a member of Providence College’s first coeducational graduating class, made history in 2020 when she became the first woman and the first lay person to be appointed executive vice president. She retired in December 2024 after a nearly 45-year career during which she faithfully championed the college’s mission, vision, and commitment to its Catholic and Dominican identity.
Ms. Manchester-Molak majored in humanities at PC and studied abroad at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. After graduation, she received a master’s degree in communications and journalism from Purdue University. She worked in television news before returning to the college in 1980 to become director of public information. She was the founding director of the Publications Center, then was named executive director of College Events, overseeing all major events and conferences. In 2006, she was appointed assistant vice president for college relations and planning, a position she held until 2010, when she joined the President’s Office as special assistant to Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P. ’80, college president, and Rev. Kenneth R. Sicard, O.P. ’78, ’82G, executive vice president. With Father Sicard, she co-chaired the committee responsible for the celebration of the college’s 100th anniversary in 2016.
Ms. Manchester-Molak became a member of the President’s Cabinet in January 2019 when she was named vice president for external affairs, marketing, and board relations. In July 2020, the college’s new president, Father Sicard, named her executive vice president. Her leadership and dedication to the health and safety of students and colleagues helped the college navigate and manage the COVID-19 pandemic and successfully reopen in September 2020.
During her four years as executive vice president, Ms. Manchester-Molak co-chaired the college’s refreshed PC200 strategic plan, served on the Board of Trustees, oversaw multiple divisions across campus, and kept her pulse on the daily operations of the President’s Office.
When the college installed its Gamma chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in April 2022, Ms. Manchester-Molak was elected a Foundation Member. She was a special lecturer in the School of Continuing Education from 2002-2012. For most of her career, she was an accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America. She received the Very Rev. Vincent C. Dore, O.P. Award from the Greater Providence Area Alumni Club, also known as the Mal Brown Club, which recognizes a member of the community “whose contributions to the college through the years have been manifold, but who yet remains unpretentious in their service.”
She and her husband, Andrew J. Molak, DMD ’75, are the parents of three children and five grandchildren. They reside in Barrington, Rhode Island.
