You may know Manny Uribe as COE’s web and multimedia specialist — and all-around Swiss army knife. But did you know he’s also a San Diego-raised Trekkie who nearly became a teacher? Find out more about Manny in this edition of 7 Things You Didn’t Know About Faculty and Staff!
1. Manny is a huge SciFi geek.
You can call him a Trekkie or a Wookie, but don’t ask him to choose between “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” — he loves them both! He just finished re-watching ST:TNG (“Star Trek: The Next Generation” for the uninitiated) in preparation for the new “Picard” series.
2. Manny’s bachelor’s degree is in Liberal Studies.
He originally was going to become a kindergarten teacher, but decided instead to support education through technology.
3. Manny loves spending time with his nephew.
Oliver is now 2 ½ years old and he is a handful! However, Manny tries to make time at least once a week to take him out for some fun at the local park, SeaWorld or whatever is going on that is engaging for a toddler. One day he will take both him and his new baby sister, Ada, for a fun day with
tio (uncle).
4. Manny has practically memorized every episode of “Friends.”
He is a superfan and has watched every episode at least half a dozen times. He doesn’t think a week goes by without watching at least one or two episodes. Every Thanksgiving he does a "Friends" marathon and watches all the Thanksgiving episodes.
5. Manny loves thrill rides!
You can’t make a rollercoaster that is too fast or too high — he’ll go on any ride. One of his bucket list items is to take a world vacation to ride the most terrifying roller coasters on the planet.
6. Manny was born and raised in San Diego.
It seems that most people he meets come from somewhere else and they bring rich cultures and diversity to our city. Manny was born at UCSD hospital in Hillcrest and, though he was raised in the South Bay, he recently moved from just a few blocks away from that hospital.
7. Manny is the fifth of his name.
His full name is Manuel Uribe, no middle name. His great grandfather was a junior with the same name. His grandfather and father also had the name. That makes him Manuel Uribe V...the name goes back five generations!
How Manny is making a difference in the College of Education:
“I am currently the Web and Multimedia Specialist for the College of Education Dean’s Office. I am responsible for making sure that all of our academic programs have a web presence and that those websites are accessible. One might think that accessibility has to do with making a webpage easy to find, navigate or use. That's all part of it, but web accessibility is really about universal design, that is, making sure that all people, regardless of ability or disability, have equal access to information online. If a website has a photo of a professor advising a student, for example, I make sure that the photo has alternative text that is accessible to a blind person using a screen reader to read the content of the webpage. If I post a YouTube video, I make sure that the video has captioning for the hearing impaired. Making sure that our web content is accessible to all is one way I am making a difference in the College of Education.”
