From Japan, to Australia, to South America, Bob Manion is a well-traveled man.

Now he has one less reason to visit Charleston.

Manion resigned from the Board of Trustees, the university’s governing body, for personal reasons according to a press release Thursday.

“I thought it would be best to step aside and allow someone who hopefully has more time to sit on the board,” Manion, a 1966 graduate of Eastern, said.

Manion, the BOT vice president last year, was appointed to the university’s governing body in April 2001 by former Gov. George H. Ryan.

A replacement for Manion will be selected by Gov. Rod Blagojevich at a future date.

“If I were to give a governor some advice,” Manion says, “I would find someone that has two characteristics. Number one – someone who has a deep care and caring feeling about the university. You really need to love the university because that leads to the second one because it does take a lot of time.”

His 28-month stint included roles as chairman of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee and as a member of the BOT Financial Committee. His term as the presidential search chair logged about “five to six hundred hours” over a 12-month span, he estimated.

The BOT will miss Manion most for his expertise in the business and financing world, those who know him say.

“(He) was a nice way to get insight into our business and financial practice,” said Jill Nilsen, vice president for external relations.

Manion will continue his membership on Eastern’s Alumni Association’s Board of Directors. The 31-year employee at the global business, Accenture LLP, served as president from July 2001 to June of this year.

“Bob’s considerable expertise in business and finance matters provided the board and university administration great insight into various business and financial practices,” interim President Lou Hencken said in the press release Thursday.

Manion, who has lived in Panama, Germany, Canada and various cities in the United States, said his term as a BOT member will be remembered as the time when he knew “the inner workings of the university.”

“You find out what makes (the university) tick and who makes it tick, who does what,” Manion said. “You really do feel like you have an inside view what goes on at university, and that’s really nice.”

“As a student, I never had it. As an alumni, I never had it. Even alumni or Board of Directors, I never had that. So it was pretty neat, pretty interesting and fun. It felt like I was making a contribution on long term basis.”