Letter from the President
A unique and historic event took place on the University of Michigan’s Central Campus last April. Thousands of graduating students, celebrating the successful completion of their bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees, converged for the first-ever commencement program to be held on the Diag. More than 165 years after the first Michigan students walked through the open pasture that would become the heart of our campus, the Class of 2008 secured its place in U-M history. It was indeed a remarkable year.
Advancing teaching and research
Recognizing that great universities like Michigan must transcend academic disciplines to be truly effective in addressing societal needs, Provost Teresa A. Sullivan and I launched an innovative hiring program for faculty specifically dedicated to interdisciplinary collaboration.
Over the next five years, we are committing $30 million in salaries and start-up costs to create 100 tenure-track faculty positions that will expand interdisciplinary work and increase faculty connections with undergraduates. These positions are being centrally funded and will complement the regular faculty hiring in the schools and colleges. In particular, we are encouraging cluster hiring, with groups of faculty focused on emerging areas of scholarship and creativity.
Our first round of competition attracted 39 proposals from across the University, resulting in the funding of 25 new positions. As an example of this program’s potential, five proposed positions will be for a group of faculty who will enhance our work in developing new and more effective systems for storing renewable energy sources such as wind and sunlight. The College of Engineering, the School of Natural Resources and Environment, and the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts will collaborate on this venture to elevate U-M’s impact in this field.
The University continued to expand its rich agenda of research activities, and in FY 2008 research expenditures totaled a record $876 million. While the federal government continues to be the largest supporter of our research, we were encouraged by an increase in funding from industry. We believe strongly that by partnering with industry, we can help transform the economy of our state and of the Midwest.
Supporting the economy
An exciting development that has important ramifications for area business and industry is the establishment of the University’s Business Engagement Center. The center will act as a front door to our vast resources in technology, research, faculty expertise, and student talent—all tools that can support both new and established businesses.
Sharing space with the U-M Office of Technology Transfer, the Business Engagement Center is yet another facet of the University’s commitment to helping diversify our state’s economy.
That work includes the efforts of the University Research Corridor (URC), our collaboration with Michigan State University and Wayne State University. We are particularly excited about the URC’s research and development work in alternative energy.
Beyond Ann Arbor
Of course, we are not limiting our work by geographic boundaries. As other nations emerge as economic powers, our society is growing more international, and so, too, must a student’s education. There is so much to be learned from observing, from interacting, and from listening to people who live and work in cultures different than ours.
That is why I led a U-M delegation to Ghana and South Africa in February, when we met with university leaders in Accra, Capetown, and elsewhere to discuss stronger partnerships between their institutions and U-M faculty and students. With more than 120 U-M faculty already engaged in nations throughout the continent, the trip was an opportunity to strengthen our work in the areas of health sciences, open Internet access to educational resources, heritage studies, and social science research.
The trip also complemented the establishment of our African Studies Center, an academic home for faculty and students engaged in studies in and about Africa. The center is now one of 17 such centers in the U-M International Institute.
We also furthered our partnerships with educational leaders in China, where the University has been engaged for more than a century. In May we hosted the Michigan China Leadership Forum that attracted administrators from 18 Chinese universities. These officials spent two weeks at U-M, Michigan State, and Wayne State, learning about the principles and practices of higher education in a democratic society.
The changing campus
As one of the leading research universities in the nation, we are continually expanding and upgrading our facilities to ensure the best possible environment for faculty, students, and staff. This past year has been no exception.
We dedicated the Undergraduate Science Building, the final piece of our life sciences complex. In addition to housing state-of-the-art classrooms, the building brings together the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program; Women in Science and Engineering; the Life Sciences, Values, and Society Program; and undergraduate and graduate neuroscience programs to create an exciting synergy in the sciences.
We also unveiled the College of Engineering’s Lurie Nanofabrication Facility, designed to be used by both U-M students and faculty and researchers from around the country.
And we opened the doors of a beautifully renovated Observatory Lodge, the new home of the Division of Kinesiology, as well as Stamps Auditorium, which serves as a focal point for the disciplines that call North Campus home.
Guaranteeing the future
Key to so many U-M achievements has been philanthropy and the stability provided by our endowment. We are deeply grateful for the generosity and foresight of the many alumni and friends who have chosen to invest in the future of U-M over the years, and during The Michigan Difference campaign, which is now drawing to a close.
The University endowment is our fiscal foundation. It ensures educational access for thousands of students by providing scholarships and fellowships; last year, 80 percent of undergraduates from the state of Michigan received financial aid from the University.
The endowment also funds research activities in all 19 schools and colleges, as well as the important work of the U-M Health System, UM-Flint, and UM-Dearborn. And it supports faculty positions for hundreds of our scholars, allowing us to compete with other leading institutions for the brightest minds in the world.
Simply put, without our endowment, the University of Michigan would not be an institution known worldwide for extraordinary teaching, research, public service, and health care.
A strong and growing endowment such as ours guarantees—in perpetuity—our ability to carry out our mission, adapt to change, and grow to meet the needs of a society that has come to expect the best from our University.
Mary Sue Coleman
President