A Message from the Progress & Promise:
150th Anniversary Campaign Committee

The end of the 1990s was the beginning of an ambitious journey. Our objective was to galvanize the extended College of Engineering community in support of a milestone resource-development effort, one that would build on core strengths and sink deep footings for the 21st century.  These were the origins of Progress & Promise: 150th Anniversary Campaign.

We were optimistic – and with good reasons.  After all, Michigan had long secured a place for itself among the world’s elite centers of engineering education. The College was well poised to build on its position by tackling new challenges. And alumni and friends had demonstrated their loyalty and generosity through four prior fundraising campaigns – all extraordinarily successful.

Appropriately enough, the campaign was formally launched in May of 2004 to coincide with Michigan Engineering’s 150th anniversary celebration.

That May, as we sat together under a tent on the North Campus Diag, none of us could have foreseen the dramatic economic events that would shake and shape our world in the intervening years. Yet, despite a severe economic recession, historic declines in the stock and housing markets, and four-dollar-a-gallon gasoline, the response from alumni and friends was nothing short of spectacular. And in tandem with the University-wide Michigan Difference Campaign, Progress & Promise: 150th Anniversary Campaign achieved unprecedented success. 

A Time for Celebration

In this issue of Michigan Engineer, we mark the completion of Progress & Promise – a record-breaking effort that generated more than $300 million in new resources for the College.

There is much to celebrate. Michigan Engineering has changed in profound ways. Indeed, the impact of this landmark fundraising effort is evident in departments, classrooms and laboratories.

Thanks to your generosity and vision, the College has new facilities and related programmatic support for the vital areas of biomedical engineering, integrated microsystems and nanotechnology, and information technology. Additions to the physical plant include a dazzling Computer Science and Engineering Building; the Carl A. Gerstacker Building, one of two advanced facilities dedicated to biomedical engineering; and the Robert H. Lurie Nanofabrication Facility, a magnificent collection of laboratories that will usher in a new era of discovery at Michigan.

Thanks to you, Michigan Engineering’s faculty and student body have been strengthened. New funds have established 17 endowed professorships, which will enhance, immeasurably, our ability to recruit, reward and retain the world’s best engineering researchers and teachers. They will provide numerous undergraduate scholarships, one of the best investments we can make in the future of the College and the future of engineering itself.

Thanks to you, the College’s interdisciplinary research programs, so crucial to future discoveries and technologies, are more vigorous and far-reaching than ever. New research alliances are already yielding breakthroughs in areas ranging from advanced sensor technology to alternative energy.

An Opportunity for Recommitment

Progress & Promise was  a momentous accomplishment. But it also represented a starting point to mobilize the College of Engineering in added service to our society and our world.

Today, the world looks with hope – and with expectation – to its engineers and scientists. As an international leader, Michigan Engineering has a responsibility not only to sustain its research and educational excellence, but also to seek challenges commensurate with its capabilities.

What does the global community need most from Michigan Engineering at this moment? Where are the greatest opportunities for impact? In response to those questions, the College has identified four key challenges. Each of them is a domain in which Michigan Engineering – in collaboration with other units of the University – is already making significant progress.

World-class Expertise for Worldwide Challenges

Energy

Worldwide dependence on fossil fuel poses one of the great threats to global stability and economic development. In facing down this crisis, Michigan Engineering has the advantage of vast experience in transportation, energy storage, and wind, solar and nuclear energy technology. Working through the University-wide Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute, our faculty will join forces with colleagues in economics, political science, sociology, public policy, law, business and environmental studies to create solutions that are both comprehensive and systematic.

Health Engineering

The U.S. healthcare system, as good as it might be, is inadequate to meet current demands. Through its new Health Engineering Research Initiative, and working in partnership with the U-M Health System, the College will focus on developing cost-effective and error-free delivery systems, improved diagnostics and treatments, and efficient and accurate computational technologies for medicine.

Global Access to Clean, Safe Water

Clean, reliable water is in scarce supply – and becoming more so with each passing day. In order to meet the need for worldwide access to clean water, Michigan Engineers will develop innovative technologies for water treatment, water monitoring and water recycling. And they will work closely with colleagues in social research, business, public health and natural resources management to craft and implement new public policy. 

Training a New Kind of Engineer

Modern engineers must be technical experts as well as multidisciplinary problem solvers, entrepreneurial thinkers as well as superb team players. In addition to generating new knowledge and new technology, they must be prepared to generate new ideas and to engage the most complex and urgent public-policy issues of our day. With that in mind, the College will focus on expanded international programs, new cross-disciplinary design opportunities, and activities that promote high-level creativity and innovation.

A Journey Ends, Another Begins

In closing, we cite Dean Munson’s remarks, made during the Progress & Promise Campaign Finale:

Words can never convey our full appreciation for your generosity. Please know that our greatest expression of gratitude will be demonstrated in the accomplishments seeded today and realized in final definition some time into the future.  While we cannot name that day, we can envision it. That is the reason we strive to solve the most difficult puzzles facing humanity.

At this moment, we recognize you. We salute your gifts to Michigan and your far-sighted commitment to the College. And we pledge that, together, we will move forward with pride in our legacy, with boldness of purpose and with confidence in our ability to make an enduring impact on the world.

The road to the future we all face is both steep and exhilarating. On behalf of the entire College of Engineering community, we thank you for bringing this phase of our shared journey to an outstanding conclusion.

Sincerely,

Ann Lurie
(LLD Hon. ’03)
Honorary Co-Chair

John L. Tishman
(BSE EE ’46, DEng Hon. ’00)
Honorary Co-Chair

Jerry W. Levin
(BSE EE ’66, BSE M ’67)
Co-Chair

Kevin O’Connor
(BSE EE ’83)
Co-Chair

Peter S. Fuss
(BSE EE ’56)

C. Robert Kidder
(BSE IE ’67)

Donald C. Graham
(BSE IE ’55, MSE ME ’56)

David E. Liddle, PhD
(BSE EE ’67)