The dedication and generosity of thousands of alumni and friends made 2004–05 a banner year for The Michigan Difference. Below are the stories of some of these wonderful donors and the exciting initiatives at Michigan that their gifts are making possible.
Delores (Dee) and William Brehm (BS ‘50, MS ‘52) of McLean, Virginia made a contribution of $44 million to create the Brehm Center for Type 1 Diabetes Research—the largest gift ever for the U-M Health System, and the second-largest gift in U-M history.
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan residents Ann S. Aikens (BFA ‘02) and husband, Bob (JD ‘54), have pledged $500,000 to fund international travel for faculty in the School of Art and Design. Their gift will enable the School to build a dynamic international program, a critical component of new curricula for undergraduate and graduate students. A member of the School’s Dean’s Advisory Council and a painter with a love of landscapes, Ann Aikens earned her degree after raising four children and supporting her husband in his business. Bob Aikens serves on the Law School Committee of Visitors and the Dean’s Advisory Committee of UM-Dearborn’s School of Management.
To help fund and support craniofacial research, Dr. Richard and Nancy Christiansen of Ann Arbor have awarded $500,000
to the School of Dentistry to establish the Christiansen Collegiate Professorship. Dr. Christiansen served as the School’s dean from 1982–1987.
Campaign co-chair Robert (BS EIE ‘63) and Susan Crumpacker (AB ‘63) Brown and the Monroe-Brown Foundation of Kalamazoo have made donations totaling $1.2 million this year in support of scholarships, construction, and research throughout the University. Their generosity includes three gifts of $225,000 each—for the new C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital construction, for an addition and renovations to the Museum of Art, and for the establishment of the Monroe-Brown Foundation Fellowship Fund at the Ford School of Public Policy. Their contribution also includes $175,000 each to Intercollegiate Athletics for creation of the Academic Center and to the College of Engineering for construction of a new computer science building. In addition, the gift provides a $150,000 addition to the Monroe-Brown Foundation Scholarship Fund at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, and $25,000 to the Medical School to launch the Maria Reinhardt DeCesare Research Fund for bone marrow research.
The research and education initiatives of the Frederick A. and Barbara M. Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise, an innovative partnership between the Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE), will be dramatically enhanced with a $10 million gift from Frederick (BBA ‘47) and Barbara Erb of Birmingham, Michigan. The contribution builds upon two earlier Erb gifts of $5 million each to establish the Institute, representing the largest known commitment to a university for interdisciplinary teaching and research in the area of global sustainable enterprise. With 48 students, the Erb Institute’s MBA/MS program is already the largest of its kind. The new funds will make it possible to increase its capacity for as many as 75 students to earn master’s degrees simultaneously from the Ross School and SNRE.
Thomas C. Jones (BBA ‘68, MBA ‘71) of Ann Arbor and Northport, Michigan has given $10 million to the Stephen M. Ross School of Business to establish the Thomas C. Jones Center for BBA Education, providing students with opportunities to apply classroom theory to real business situations, incorporate liberal arts into the business curriculum, and develop leadership skills. Jones, retired president of CIGNA Retirement & Investment Services, was the Ross School’s first executive-in-residence, and director of the BBA program in 2003-04. Jones previously gave $1.5 million to the Ross School for the Jane M. and Chester R. Jones Undergraduate Scholarship in memory of his parents and for the Dean’s Innovation Fund, which supports cutting-edge faculty and student projects and programs.
Charles R. Walgreen III (BS Pharm ‘58) has given
$2 million to create the Charles R. Walgreen III Professorship in Pharmacy Administration at the College of Pharmacy. Walgreen endowed the professorship to focus greater academic research on the socioeconomics of health care, health care policy, and regulation, as well as professional ethics. Insights into the economic, social, and political forces that affect medication use will allow pharmacists to help shape health care policy and better manage the development of patients and insurers as partners in making healthcare decisions. The endowed chair is the College’s fifth, but is the first tied specifically to the social science and administrative aspects of the Pharmacy curriculum. A resident of Lake Forest, Illinois, Walgreen is one of two national co-chairs of the College of Pharmacy’s $24.5 million Campaign for International Leadership and Excellence, part of The Michigan Difference.
A former place kicker on the U-M football team and current vice chair of The Michigan Difference, Robert L. Wood (AB ‘76, CERTT ED ‘76) has further demonstrated his commitment to student-athletes at U-M with a $100,000 donation to support the construction and furnishing of the Intercollegiate Athletic Department’s new $12-million, 38,000-square-foot Academic Center. The facility will provide study space for graduate and undergraduate students, including the University’s more than 700 student-athletes. Wood lives in Roxbury, Connecticut, and is chairman, president, and chief executive officer of the Crompton Corporation.| Goal | Progress | % of goal | |
| Faculty Support | $425 | $182 | 43% |
| Student Support | $400 | $278 | 70% |
| Programmatic | $775 | $768 | 99% |
| Buildings | $500 | $320 | 64% |
| Total—Cash and Pledges | $2,100 | $1,548 | 74% |
| New Bequests | $400 | $282 | 71% |
| Total—All gifts | $2,500 | $1,830 | 73% |
| Goal | Progress | % of goal | |
| Endowment | $800 | $518 | 65% |
| Expendable | $800 | $710 | 89% |
| Buildings | $500 | $320 | 64% |
| Total—Cash and Pledges | $2,100 | $1,548 | 74% |
| New Bequests | $400 | $282 | 71% |
| Total—All gifts | $2,500 | $1,830 | 73% |
UM-Dearborn launched its campaign as part of The Michigan Difference campaign kickoff in 2004. During this campaign year, one of their outstanding gifts serving the UM-Dearborn and the community was a $200,000 award from the McGregor Fund, a Detroit-based private foundation.
This gift helped make the launch of the Urban Environmental Outreach Program possible this fall. UM-Dearborn will work with elementary school teachers and parents to develop a nature program for students in Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Inkster, Detroit, and other communities. The goal is to help youngsters discover the connections between nature and their lives in an urban environment while enhancing their academic skills and interest in science.
“Imagine: The UM-Flint Difference”—the largest-ever fundraising initiative for the Flint campus—has already generated half of its $30 million goal. The three-year capital campaign was launched April 16 as part of The Michigan Difference to raise money for scholarships, student research, the Honors Program, library resources, facility improvements, and University and community partnerships, as well as other priorities identified by campus leadership.
The University is grateful to the following individuals for serving as leaders of The Michigan Difference campaign:
Chair
Richard Rogel, Vail
Co-Chairs
Maxine Frankel, Detroit
Michael Jandernoa, Grand Rapids
William Pickard, Detroit
Sanford Robertson, San Francisco
Stephen Ross, New York
Penny Stamps, Miami
Honorary Chairs
President Gerald R. and Betty Ford, Palm Springs
Honorary Co-Chairs
William Davidson, Detroit
Allan Gilmour, Detroit
Ingrid and Donald Graham, York, Pennsylvania
Nicki and J. Ira Harris, Palm Beach
Ann Lurie, Chicago
Margaret Ann (Ranny) and John E. Riecker, Midland
Bo Schembechler, Ann Arbor
Joan and Preston R. Tisch, New York
Mike Wallace, New York
Helen and Sam Zell, Chicago
Vice Chairs
Robert M. Brown, Kalamazoo
Stanley Frankel, Detroit
David Frey, Grand Rapids
Doreen Hermelin, Detroit
Barrie Loeks, New York
Waltraud Prechter, Detroit
Joel Tauber, Detroit
Marshall M. Weinberg, New York
Robert Wood, Roxbury, Connecticut