The University is grateful to the following individuals for serving as leaders of The Michigan Difference campaign:
Richard Rogel, Vail
Maxine Frankel, Detroit
Michael Jandernoa, Grand Rapids
William Pickard, Detroit
Sanford Robertson, San Francisco
Stephen M. Ross, New York
Penny Stamps, Miami
President Gerald R. and Betty Ford, Palm Springs
William Davidson, Detroit
Allan Gilmour, Detroit
Ingrid and Donald Graham, York, PA
Nicki and J. Ira Harris, Palm Beach
Ann Lurie, Chicago
Margaret Ann (Ranny) and John E. Riecker, Midland
Bo Schembechler, Ann Arbor
Joan and the late Preston R. Tisch, New York
Mike Wallace, New York
Helen and Sam Zell, Chicago
Bert Askwith, Harrison, NY
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, Middlebury, CT
| Goal | Progress | % of goal | |
| Faculty Support | $425 | $215 | 51% |
| Student Support | $400 | $336 | 84% |
| Programmatic | $775 | $924 | 119% |
| Buildings | $500 | $369 | 74% |
| Total—Cash and Pledges | $2,100 | $1,844 | 88% |
| New Bequests | $400 | $338 | 85% |
| Total—All Gifts | $2,500 | $2,182 | 87% |
| Goal | Progress | % of goal | |
| Endowment | $800 | $613 | 77% |
| Expendable | $800 | $862 | 108% |
| Buildings | $500 | $369 | 74% |
| Total—Cash and Pledges | $2,100 | $1,844 | 88% |
| New Bequests | $400 | $338 | 85% |
| Total—All Gifts | $2,500 | $2,182 | 87% |
Thousands of donors have stepped forward to support the Michigan Difference campaign. Below are the stories of a few of these extraordinary people and the difference they are making in the life of the University of Michigan.
On November 18, 2005 the Stephen M. Ross Academic Center was dedicated. Stephen Ross and his wife, Kara, of New York City, provided leadership support with a gift of $5 million. The Harry A. and Margaret D.Towsley Foundation made a $2 million commitment; Honorary Campaign Co-Chairs Donald (BSE IE ’55, MSE ’56) and Ingrid (BSDES ’57) Graham of York, PA made a gift of $1 million; Campaign Co-Chair Penny (BSDES ’66, CERTT ED ’66) and Roe Stamps of Miami committed $500,000 as did Randall and Mary Pittman of La Jolla, CA.
Reaching the Museum of Art campaign goal and Kresge Challenge goal was made possible by a number of lead gifts from donors this year whose gifts built on the tremendous $10 million lead gift provided by The Maxine (AB ’66) and Stuart (BBA ’61) Frankel Foundation. Gifts include: $1.2 million from Robert and Lillian Montalto Bohlen of Brighton, MI; $4 million from A. Alfred Taubman (HLLD ’91) of Bloomfield Hills, MI; $1 million from Irving Stenn, Jr. (AB ’52, JD ’55) of Chicago; $500,000 from Woon-Hyung Lee (MBA ’74) of Seoul, S. Korea, matching a $500,000 pledge from the Korea Foundation; $150,000 from Lisa Applebaum Haddad (AB ’84) of New York City; $100,000 from Dede (CERT ED’51) and Oscar (AB’43, MBA ’47) Feldman of Bloomfield Hills, MI; Campaign Vice-Chair Robert (BSEIE ’63) and Susan Crumpacker (AB’63) Brown of Kalamazoo and the Monroe-Brown Foundation have made campaign gifts totaling $450,000; and $100,000 from Dr. Amnon and Prudence L.Rosenthal of Ann Arbor.
Bob Lane (MHSA ’76) has made the lead gift of $2.1 million for the School of Public Health building initiative, as part of his overall campaign gift to the school of $5.3 million. Lane is founder and chairman of Specialty Health Services Management. The remainder of his gift will help fund: the Robert F. Lane Conference Center, named for his father, a former vice president of Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn; the Center for Managing Chronic Disease headed by former Dean Noreen Clark, the Marshall H. Becker Professor of Public Health; and the John R. Griffith Leadership Center for Health Management and Policy.
Dr. Ernest J. and Kelly Sorini of Ann Arbor, have made a $7 million commitment to support medical care at Michigan. Their gift includes $5 million to create a children’s emergency medicine center at the C. S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Women’s Hospital. In recognition, the Center will be named for the Sorini Family; Dr. Sorini is an emergency medicine practitioner. It will open as one of only two dedicated pediatric emergency medicine and urgent care centers in the state. The remaining $2 million will establish the Ernest John Sorini, M.D. Professorship in Emergency Medicine, the U-M’s first endowed professorship in emergency medicine.
Joan and Sanford Weill of New York City have made a generous commitment to endow the deanship of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy in honor of their longtime friendship with President Gerald R. Ford. Rebecca Blank, the Ford School’s dean and the Henry Carter Adams Collegiate Professor of Public Policy, will hold the title of Joan and Sanford Weill Dean of Public Policy.
Jeff Blau (BBA ’90) of New York City has made a $4 million gift to the project that will be recognized in the naming of the Jeff T. Blau Auditorium. Blau, president of Related Companies, was inspired to make his gift by Stephen Ross, chairman, chief executive officer and founder of the company who made a gift of $100 million resulting in the Business School being named for him.
With a commitment of $5.25 million, Donald (BSE IE ’55, MSE ’56) and Ingrid (BSDES ’57) Graham of York, PA, Honorary Co-Chairs of the campaign, have launched the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute, advancing the University’s position as a global leader in this critical area of teaching and research. The Grahams determined that the U-M had the infrastructure already in place to make such an undertaking successful. The University’s current work in sustainability comprises more than 300 faculty spread across 25 centers and initiatives and seven schools. The Graham Institute will take this leadership to an even higher level by creating a coordinated effort that inspires new collaborations and programs.
This gift for sustainability from the Grahams builds on the tremendous foundation created earlier in the campaign by Barbara and Frederick (BBA ’47) Erb of Birmingham, MI whose gifts have created and sustained the Frederick A. and Barbara M. Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise. To date the Erbs have provided $20 million to the Institute for scholarships, research and faculty support.
The U-M was the sole North American recipient of an $844,000 grant from the Alcoa Foundation, through its new Conservation and Sustainability Fellowship Program. The grant will support six two-year postdoctoral fellows doing research on sustainable energy technology. Michigan is one of five academic partners in the Foundation’s $8.6 million global research program. The program will draw on the U-M’s interdisciplinary approach to address scientific, technological and social issues in sustainable energy development.
U-M Flint Chancellor Juan Mestas, a longtime scholarship donor, boosted his giving with a bequest intention of $500,000 and a commitment of $50,000 to UM-Flint for the Juan E. Mestas Scholarship Fund.
Emeritus Professor and former Dean James (BSPHA ’55, MBA ’57) Richards and his wife,Helen (AB ’55, AMLS ’56) have made a $55,000 commitment through two charitable gift annuities to support the James W. Richards Scholarship Endowment Fund. The scholarship has been awarded annually since 2003 to a third or fourth year student in the PharmD Program.
The estate of Joseph M. Geisinger (BSE ME ’36) made a $6.7 million gift to the College of Engineering to provide scholarships for undergraduate study. This is the largest scholarship gift ever made to the College and the third largest in the University’s history.
Will (AB ’48, MBA ’49) and Jeanne Caldwell of Bloomfield Hills, MI have made a gift of $4 million to equally benefit four areas of the University. At the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, funds will support undergraduate business education. At the Comprehensive Cancer Center, their gift will help research and patient support. The Caldwells established endowments at the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and the Ross School honoring the memory of Richard Dennis Teall Hollister, former professor of speech and drama whom Will Caldwell credits with teaching him communication skills he used as chief financial officer of Ford Motor Company. Funding for the School of Music, Theatre & Dance will go towards construction of the Walgreen Drama Center and Arthur Miller Theatre, career development, and discretionary support for the dean.
Campaign Co-Chairs Penny (BS DES ’66, CERTT ED ’66) and Roe Stamps of Miami have made a $4.4 million gift designating $1.4 million for the North Campus Auditorium currently under construction and $3 million to establish the new Stamps Scholars Program. The gift will provide $10,000 scholarships to high-achieving undergraduates for up to four years in the School of Nursing; the School of Art & Design; the Division of Kinesiology; the College of Engineering; the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts; and the School of Music, Theatre & Dance. In recognition for their longtime philanthropic work at the University, the auditorium will be named Stamps Auditorium.
Latricia (Trish) Turner (AB ’77) and Thomas McConnell of Atherton, CA made a $200,000 gift to endow a scholarship in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. The Latricia Turner Fund will benefit transfer students from community and junior colleges in Michigan. Turner was just such a student who entered the U-M as a junior. She explained that she felt a responsibility to give back because the University had not only admitted her, but had also provided assistance to make her education possible.
Vivian Carpenter (BSE IE ENG ’75, MBA ’75, PhD ’85) of Birmingham, MI has made a gift of $500,000 for the College of Engineering’s Minority Engineering Program. The discretionary funding can be used for a variety of needs including need-based financial aid for undergraduates; the Summer Engineering Academy, a program for middle school, high school and early college students; and recruitment.
Two devoted friends of the School of Music, Theatre and Dance have remembered the school in their bequests. Professor Emerita Rosemary Russell (MMUS ’67), who taught voice, left the School nearly $889,000 to establish the Rosemary Russell Endowed Scholarship Fund to support talented voice majors. Mary Virginia Stevenson (AM EDUC ’48), left the School just over $1.37 million to establish the M. Virginia Stevenson Friends of Opera Scholarship Fund for promising students in the voice/opera program.
The Eli Lilly Foundation of Indianapolis, IN has pledged $1 million annually for three years to benefit the Depression Center, the Cardiovascular Center and the Great Lakes Research in Practice Network. In part the gift will work to remove the stigma from depression, with a program aimed particularly at students, men, athletes, and the workplace. The gift will also support a program to link the information technology of the Depression Center, the Cardiovascular Center, and the Great Lakes Research in Practice Network, a primary care, practice-based research network in Michigan. The Depression Center is committed to forming a large network of depression care programs, similar to the Comprehensive Cancer Centers’ nationwide network.
Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation of Midland, MI has made a $1.5 million commitment to establish the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation Fellows, a Law School scholarship program supporting students with scientific training who plan to combine science and law. The Foundation is also contributing $600,000 to the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy to support postdoctoral fellows within the School’s Science, Technology and Public Policy program.
The Skillman Foundation of Detroit is partnering with the School of Social Work in a Good Neighborhoods Initiative. Skillman has provided the School with a $900,000 grant to work closely with city residents to cultivate child-friendly communities. Skillman chose six Detroit neighborhoods as participants based on their large numbers of children, needs and community readiness to address problems.
The Henry B. and Jessie W.Keiser Foundation of Washington, D.C. is made up of true blue family members. Its founder, Henry (AB ’44), was an alum, son Matthew (AB ’84, MBA ’86) is married to Lee Rucker (AB ’80). Daughter Betsy Keiser (BGS ’84) married Dr. Patrick Smith (DDS ’84) whose siblings are Michigan grads. This amazing Michigan family, through their foundation, has created the Henry B. and Jessie W. Keiser Scholarship Endowment in the Office of Financial Aid. The fund benefits out-of-state students for whom financial aid makes a significant difference. Most recently, they have added to the original fund bringing their campaign total to $350,000.
The Ruth Mott Foundation of Flint has made its biggest gift to the U-M to date with a pledge of $570,000 reaffirming its commitment to service to people in the Flint area. The funds will benefit the Ann Arbor Campus School of Public Health’s construction project, Community Crossroads, by purchasing artwork by Flint artists to be displayed in the new building. In addition, funds will support the School’s Explorer Program, a youth outreach program that encourages Flint youth to pursue public health careers. At the UM-Flint, funding will help future nurses and support other outreach activities.
The Dr. Roy and Natalie Roberts Family Foundation of Grosse Pointe, MI has made a gift of $800,000 to be divided evenly between the School of Dentistry and the Medical School. At the Dental School the gift will support scholarships and the James Harris Collegiate Professorship. The Medical School portion will provide endowed and expendable financial aid for students. The late Dr. Roy Roberts (DDS ’32) is the Dental School’s largest individual donor.
The School of Information has received a portion of a $100,000 gift from John Deere, to support student projects at the annual ExpoSItion. At this event, students present projects from areas throughout the school including topics on library information, human-computer interaction and internship reports. The funding will include support for the projects as well as for an annual award. The gift was also directed toward student support at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the College of Engineering.
Backed by $500,000 in donor support, the Richard E. Czarnecki Collegiate Professorship was created in the School of Management at the University of Michigan-Dearborn in honor of Czarnecki’s 30-year service as a professor of accounting and finance. The fundraising initiative began with the highly-regarded educator’s retirement in 1997 and included commitments from alumni, corporations and foundations. Approved by the Regents on January 20, 2006, the professorship is the UM-Dearborn’s firstever endowed chair. In addition to his teaching and service on campus, Czarnecki has been enormously influential in the accounting profession in Michigan and at the national level. He received the Educator of the Year Award from the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants an unprecedented four times, and received the Lifetime Achievement in Accounting Education Award from the group in 1997.
Pasqualina Miller (AM EDUC ’54), of Bloomfield Hills, MI, who taught everything from kindergarten to high school social studies for 40 years in metropolitan Detroit schools, has provided the School of Education with a $100,000 charitable gift annuity to support scholarships at her alma mater. In addition, she has made a multi-million dollar bequest intention that will deepen her commitment to students by creating an endowed scholarship fund and professorship for the School.