Letter | from the President
When the Class of 2007 gathered in Michigan Stadium for Spring Commencement, including an address by former President Bill Clinton, graduates and their families were treated to a spectacular speech by graduating senior Abdulrahman El-Sayed.
“I love Michigan,” he told the crowd, “because the person who’s leaving here today is better than the one who came.”
Abdul’s message stands as a metaphor for the myriad activities of the University of Michigan: we are a more exceptional institution today than a year ago. Our students, faculty, and staff have stepped forward with new research, engaging ideas, and thoughtful actions that continue to set U-M apart from other universities.
It is a privilege to lead such an extraordinary institution, and I am grateful for the support and enthusiasm of students like Abdul, as well as our dedicated faculty and staff. As I prepare to begin my second five-year term as president, it is rewarding to reflect on the University’s accomplishments of the past fiscal year.
Harnessing Research Energy
Among the University’s research strengths is the interdisciplinary approach our faculty and research scientists take in exploring complex problems. This philosophy—and practice—of collaborative science is behind our new Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute (MMPEI).
Finding renewable sources of energy is one of our most urgent global problems, and the University is in a unique position to make an immense contribution to finding solutions. This is a natural fit for us—one that will pull together faculty from the sciences, technology, engineering, public policy, and economics.
We have tremendous expertise in automotive and nuclear energy research, and growing strengths in hydrogen research. Physically, MMPEI will be housed in the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Laboratory, which was built on North Campus in the wake of World War II to study the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and which we are renovating to meet today’s research needs. Intellectually, MMPEI will be an open laboratory, drawing on the expertise of all our schools and colleges, because the creation, use, and distribution of energy are issues that cut many ways.
Growing the Economy
The University has long felt a special obligation to the great state of Michigan because of the decades-long support of the state’s citizens. These are difficult days for our state, as leaders work to convert an economy deeply rooted in the manufacturing industry to one that capitalizes on the technologies and discoveries of the 21st century.
The University is eager to accelerate this transformation, and is taking numerous approaches to bolstering and expanding the state’s economy. We played a key role in attracting Google to Ann Arbor, where the technology giant is creating some 1,000 jobs. A key factor in the company’s decision to locate next door to the University was the availability of research talent and qualified graduates.
We are also working diligently to help the region address the unexpected departure of Pfizer’s research and development headquarters from Ann Arbor. For example, we are committing $3 million over three years to attract and hire Pfizer employees into U-M research-track positions. Also, in response to Pfizer workers who want to stay in the community and become teachers, the School of Education has been working to help these workers make that transition and become certified to teach at either the elementary or secondary levels.
On a broader scale, the University—in partnership with Michigan State University and Wayne State University—launched the University Research Corridor (URC) in late 2006. This alliance intends to stimulate and strengthen the changing Michigan economy. We want to work with the state to leverage its remarkable R&D assets, and maximize the return on its significant investment in these research universities. At the URC, we are working to create a knowledge-based economy and a high quality of life for all Michigan residents.
Widening the Doors
Last fall, the state’s voters approved Proposal 2, which bans the use of some forms of affirmative action, including its use in admissions and public hiring. In response, Provost Teresa Sullivan and I announced the formation of Diversity Blueprints, a campus-wide task force charged with identifying the best ideas for maintaining and expanding diversity at the University.
We are a great research institution because of the tremendous diversity of our faculty, students, and staff. The Diversity Blueprints report is vital to the future academic strength of U-M, and sets the foundation for a wide-ranging campus plan that builds upon this academic excellence and finds new ways to attract and retain individuals of all backgrounds.
Diversity Blueprints is a start, and we have a lot of hard work ahead of us. All of us must be vigilant about making the University an accessible and welcoming campus for all.
The Evolving Campus
It has been a robust year for opening new facilities and breaking ground for new structures. We dedicated the Junge Family Champions Center on the Athletic Campus; opened the doors of the School of Public Health’s Crossroads Building; and moved into Joan and Sanford Weill Hall, the new home of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. We welcomed patrons to the Arthur Miller Theatre, a jewel in the Charles R. Walgreen, Jr. Drama Center, and began treating patients in the new Cardiovascular Center.
We broke ground for a stunning addition to the U-M Museum of Art, as well as new research and clinical space for the Kellogg Eye Center. We also began work on three complexes that are among the most significant in the University’s history: the spectacular new C.S. Mott Children’s and Women’s Hospitals; a new learning complex for the Stephen M. Ross School of Business; and North Quad, the first new residence hall in more than 40 years and one that will feature unique living-learning space.
The Michigan Difference
Advancing our institution would not be possible without the dedication and foresight of the University’s loyal donors. In 2004, we publicly launched The Michigan Difference campaign and its historic goal of $2.5 billion. That goal was achieved in May 2007, and the entire University community is grateful to our supporters.
The campaign continues through December 2008 as planned, as we continue to have unmet needs, particularly in the areas of student financial aid and endowed professorships. In the fall of 2006, I announced the President’s Donor Challenge to support our students and faculty, and the response was outstanding. In just eight months, more than 4,500 donors contributed almost $15 million in need-based student aid. Because the President’s Office is matching those gifts, we now have an additional $29 million available for our students.
The President’s Donor Challenge also included matching dollars for donor gifts that establish endowed professorships, which are vital for recruiting and retaining faculty. Again, our donors responded in great force, and we have added 20 new endowed professorships in engineering, medicine, law, chemistry, history, kinesiology, mathematics, public policy, business, and public health.
Leaders & Best
Every day brings headlines of accomplishment and achievement by members of the University community. A sampling of this good work includes:
William Bolcom, the Ross Lee Finney Distinguished University Professor of Compositionwhose accolades include the Pulitzer Prize, several Grammy awards, and investiture in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, was honored at the White House with the National Medal of Arts for his “significant and enduring contributions to the nation’s cultural life.”
Lyric Ingrid Chen, a 2006 graduate of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, received a prestigious Marshall Scholarship to study comparative politics at Oxford University.
NanoBio Corporation, a U-M spin-off company that develops therapies and vaccines against infections using a nanoemulsion technology developed at the University, received $30 million in venture capital funding from a Boston investor. NanoBio is the creation of James R. Baker, Jr., the Ruth Dow Doan Professor of Biologic Nanotechnology, and the capital infusion is one of the largest institutional investments in a biotech company in our state.
Grace York, librarian and coordinator of the University’s pathbreaking Documents Center at the Hatcher Graduate Library, was the recipient of the James Bennett Childs Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Library Association for her “distinguished and sustained contributions to government documents librarianship.”
The American Institute of Architects recognized the University and its partner, Polshek Partnership Architects, with its 2007 Institute Honor Award for Architecture for the Biomedical Science Research Building.
We cannot reflect on the past year without recalling the heroic work of six individuals who lost their lives while serving others. Members of Survival Flight and the U-M Transplant Team—David Ashburn, Richard Chenault II, Dennis Hoyes, Ricky Lapensee, Bill Serra, and Martin Spoor—perished June 4 on an emergency medical flight to transport organs to a desperately ill patient.
Their sacrifice is a somber reminder of the life-changing work carried out by members of the University community. We will honor them by working with enthusiasm, integrity, and a dedication to continually make the University of Michigan a stronger institution.
Mary Sue Coleman
President