Launched by President Coleman
last year, U–M’s Sustainability
Initiative is a campus–wide
collaboration involving academics,
research, and operations that is yielding
impressive results and reinforcing
the university’s leadership position on
this important global issue.
The Planet Blue Operations Team continues to reduce energy consumption in buildings by upgrading mechanical systems and educating building occupants. Their first 35 projects decreased overall energy use by about 11 percent and resulted in over $3 million in avoided utility costs.
The Office of Campus Sustainability
and the Graham Environmental Sustainability
Institute are co–leading an
Integrated Assessment (IA) involving
faculty, staff, and students to develop
recommendations for improving operational
sustainability on campus. With
a focus on buildings, energy, transportation,
land and water use, food, purchasing
and recycling, and culture, the
IA is harnessing the collective power
of some of the university’s best minds
to help U–M meet the environmental
challenges of tomorrow.
U–M offers students over 400 courses
related to sustainability and more than
400 faculty are engaged in sustainability
research and instruction. U–M is also
making sustainability science a cornerstone
of its research mission. Recent
awards include $3 million for renewable
energy, $4.4 million for climate
adaptation science, and $5 million for
research on the water–climate nexus.
Going forward, U–M’s collaborative
research in sustainability will focus
on three key areas—fresh water,
climate, and livable communities.
Effectively tackling complex sustainability challenges requires innovation and broad–based collaboration. To that end, U–M will rely on the considerable talents of its students, faculty, staff, alumni, and external partners to make a "sustainable difference" in the world.
To learn more about U–M’s Sustainability Initiative, visit www.sustainability.umich.edu.
Highlights
- U–M remains near the top in the U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings of the nation’s best colleges and universities. Michigan was 27th on the 2010 undergraduate list. Among graduate programs, U–M maintained top–14 rankings in the magazine’s 2010 edition of America’s Best Graduate Schools.
Chinese dignitaries and U–M leaders
came together at the Museum of Art
on November 5 for the official opening
of U–M’s Confucius Institute. The
institute aims to develop educational
cooperation between the two countries
and to promote Chinese arts
and culture.- U–M Photo Services photographer Martin Vloet was named 2009 Photographer of the Year by the University Photographers’ Association of America.
- Electromagnetics researcher Anthony Grbic, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science, was one of 100 recipients this year of a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.
- In November the 20,000–square–foot William E. Upjohn Exhibit Wing of the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology opened to the public. The project was funded by an $8.5 million gift from the late Ed and Mary Meader of Kalamazoo.
- As of June 30, U–M received 495 grants totaling $221 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding, making U–M one of the largest beneficiaries of the $787 billion federal economic stimulus package.
In athletics, men’s gymnastics captured
the NCAA championship while
women’s gymnastics won its fourth
straight Big Ten title. Ice hockey took
the CCHA Championship; softball
clinched its seventh consecutive
NCAA Regional and third straight
Big Ten title; the Big Ten champion
women’s tennis team won its NCAA
Regional; and the water polo team
won the CWPA Eastern championships
for the third straight season.
Two varsity club teams—men’s
lacrosse and men’s rowing—each
claimed their third consecutive
national titles.- For the second year, U–M made the Chronicle of Higher Education’s list of Great Colleges to Work For.
Enrollment on the Ann Arbor campus
hit an all–time high in fall 2009 with
41,674 students, including a freshman
class of 6,079 students, a 5.1 percent
increase from the previous year.- Seven U–M scholars and 28 students won Fulbright Fellowships for 2009– 10. The Ann Arbor campus led the country in faculty winners along with Michigan State University and the University of Oregon. UM–Flint also produced a Fulbright Scholar.
- UM–Dearborn’s accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools was expanded to include the campus’s new doctorate in education degree program. The program began in fall 2009 with 18 students.
- Two faculty members were elected to the Institute of Medicine. They are: Arul Chinnaiyan, professor of pathology at the Medical School; and Ana Diez–Roux, professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health.
- U–M topped all other U.S. universities for the amount of public interest measured by media coverage, internet traffic, and social media mentions, according to an independent national analysis released by the Global Language Monitor’s newest Predictive Qualities Indicator survey.
- Time magazine named President Mary Sue Coleman one of the nation’s 10 Best College Presidents, citing her leadership of the six–year $3.2 billion Michigan Difference campaign and her efforts to build a strong relationship with the city of Detroit.
- Brian Coppola, professor of chemistry, was selected as a 2009 U.S. Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
- In June, U–M earned 10 more years of accreditation from The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
- The U–M Board of Regents named four 2010 recipients of Distinguished University Professorships. They are: David Halperin, English language and literature; Yoram Koren, mechanical engineering; David Meyer, psychology; and Fawwaz Ulaby, electrical engineering and computer science.
- The UM–Flint Chamber Singers performed at a Black History Month observance at the Pentagon in Washington, DC on February 11 at a ceremony honoring the "Triple Nickel" 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, an all–black unit that served during WWII.
For the 16th year in a row, U.S. News & World Report named U–M Hospitals
and Health Centers one of "America’s
Best Hospitals." U–M placed 14th
overall for the second consecutive
year and was the only hospital in
Michigan to make the national honor
roll. The magazine also named C.S.
Mott Children’s Hospital as one of
"America’s Best Children’s Hospitals."- Five faculty members were honored with Arthur F. Thurnau Professorships for their outstanding contributions to undergraduate education. They are: Joel Blum, geological sciences, and ecology and evolutionary biology, LSA; Anne Ruggles Gere, education, School of Education, and English language and literature, LSA; Louis Loeb, philosophy, LSA; Robin Queen, linguistics, and Germanic languages and literatures, LSA; and Edward West, art, School of Art & Design.
- In addition to 14 Broadcast Excellence Awards, Michigan Public Radio won Broadcaster of the Year for the eighth time in nine years from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters.
- Perry Samson, professor of atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences, was chosen as a Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year by the President’s Council of State Universities.
- Valerie Lee, professor of education and faculty associate at the Institute for Social Research, was elected to the National Academy of Education; and Barry Rabe, professor of public policy in the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, was inducted as a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.
- Six U–M professors were among 180 winners of Guggenheim Fellowships. They are: David Caron, French and women’s studies; Holly Hughes, art and design, theatre and drama, and women’s studies; Shinobu Kitayama, psychology; Tomoko Masuzawa, history and comparative literature; Elizabeth Sears, history of art; and Richard Tillinghast, a professor emeritus of English.
Finishing more than two hours ahead
of its nearest competitor, the U–M
Solar Car Team won the American
Solar Challenge for a third consecutive
North American title.- U–M survey expert Robert Groves, Institute for Social Research Director James S. Jackson, and School of Public Health biostatistics Professor Roderick Little were named to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.