After 28 years of service to Northern Arizona University that includes extensive involvement in the Flagstaff community, Molly Munger is retiring in October.
As NAU’s director of community relations for most of the past decade, Munger has essentially served dual roles by using her participation on community boards and committees to foster closer ties between Flagstaff and the university.
“I like to say that my role has helped increase the university’s visibility and importance in the community, and to show how much the university appreciates the community,” Munger said.
Munger announced her retirement Thursday at a community breakfast hosted by NAU at the High Country Conference Center. She started at NAU in 1983 as an office supervisor in Undergraduate Admissions. She eventually became director of Admissions, a post she held until shortly after the arrival of President John Haeger, when the community relations role was launched with the “One Community” slogan.
“It was fun and exciting to do something that hadn’t been done before,” said Munger, who points with pride to the overall progress of NAU since the 1980s.
“When I first started, the university was looked at as ‘the little school on the hill.’ Now we’re being recognized for the innovative things we’ve done to advance research, sustainability, increases in enrollment, diversity and an emphasis on global learning.”
Munger was recognized by the Arizona Daily Sun as its 2007 Citizen of the Year and has been active in the United Way of northern Arizona annual campaign, serving as co-chair with her husband, Gene Munger, for the 2009 campaign. She is currently on the boards of the Flagstaff Medical Center, Capstone Health Plan and Flagstaff Festival of Science.
“NAU is fortunate to have benefited from Molly’s dedicated service,” Haeger said. “We’ll miss her sincere commitment to building strong ties with the community, and we wish her well as she enters this new phase of her life.”