Classes will begin this fall at MSU Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Classes will be taught by MSU faculty, MSU’s academic standards and program quality will apply, and the same diploma will be awarded at graduation. Undergraduate programs include child and youth development, computer engineering, construction project management, early childhood education, and media management and research. Graduate programs include educational technology, human resources and labor relations, packaging, and retailing.
Construction of the Secchia Center, the West Michigan home of the College of Human Medicine (CHM) in downtown Grand Rapids, began in April. The $90 million, seven-story, 180,000-square-foot facility will include teaching laboratories, classrooms, offices, and student areas. CHM plans to enroll its inaugural class of 100 first-year students in Grand Rapids in 2010. In addition to education, activity in Grand Rapids will focus on biomedical research in cancer, obesity, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, and neurobiology.
The proposed Rare Isotope Accelerator project has evolved into the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), and the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) is a major contender for this federal project, which is essential to maintaining U.S. competitiveness in basic physical sciences research. FRIB will be a center for the study of nuclear structure, reactions, and astrophysics. Theoretical research at FRIB will establish the scientific foundation for innovative applications of nuclear science to society, such as medical advances, breakthroughs in materials science, and improved national security. As the leading program in rare isotope research in the United States, NSCL is the ideal location to build this facility, which also will bolster the nation’s capacity to train the next generation of nuclear scientists.
A new Public Humanities Collaborative Web site was created to facilitate communication involving faculty, staff, students, and community partners to promote civic engagement, educational opportunity and equity, social responsibility, and scholarship. The Web site facilitates town–gown collaborations to enhance understanding of the liberal arts and cultural work both on and off campus.
MSU sponsored its first Arts Marathon Weekend this spring—a compressed version of the university’s Year of Arts and Culture—with 48 hours of uninterrupted performances, exhibitions, films, and readings.
Nearly every kind of creative endeavor, from live theater and digital filmmaking to poetry slams and jazz, was available. More than 90 separate events were held, including a rally in support of the arts at the Michigan Capitol.
Two internationally recognized leaders working to keep the world and its inhabitants healthy spoke at MSU’s spring commencement ceremonies. Gro Harlem Brundtland, former director general of the World Health Organization and former prime minister of Norway, and botanist Peter Raven, president of the Missouri Botanical Garden, addressed students, families, and guests.
Eleven MSU programs were ranked in the top eight nationally in their disciplines in the 2009 edition of America’s Best Graduate Schools from U.S. News & World Report in March; half of these rankings were first or second. The programs are in the College of Education, the College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Eli Broad College of Business and Eli Broad Graduate School of Management, the College of Social Science, and the College of Natural Science.
As part of national Earth Day activities in April, MSU debaters argued the pros and cons of water scarcity and security policy issues at EPA headquarters. Garrett Abelkop, of Alpharetta, Georgia, and Carly
Wunderlich, of Brookfield, Wisconsin, both from James Madison College, debated students from Wake Forest University on whether downstream states should control discharges and sources of pollutants from upstream states and impose fines for violations.
Students from James Madison College launched the first Inventors Day in April to explore Michigan’s biofuel economy. From examining corn genetics to analyzing fungus and enzymes, students showcased their ideas and research to business leaders, government officials, and university faculty and administrators. The five winning proposals addressed biogas, marginal lands, corn genetics, carbon sequestration, and fungus and enzymes.
Supported by $7.5 million in Homeland Security grants, MSU, under David Carter, director of MSU’s Intelligence Program, has been the sole provider of intelligence training to 2,000 officers from 1,200 law enforcement agencies since 2005 on how to stop terrorism. Newly established “fusion centers” throughout the nation are increasing the need for cross-department training on intelligence gathering and sharing among local, state, and federal agencies and the private sector—and MSU is playing a pivotal role. Carter expects MSU training to continue for up to three more years with current funding.
Three MSU students received the Sudler Prize for their achievements in the arts: John McLain Pray, of Charlotte; Robert Parks, of Grand Rapids; and Margaret McCall, of Detroit. The Sudler Prize is awarded annually to top college seniors from across the country who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in an area of the performing or creative arts.
MSU sophomore Autumn Mitchell, of Blanchard, received one of 80 scholarships given annually by the Morris K. Udall Foundation to sophomores and juniors nationally who demonstrate commitment to careers in the environment or to Native American and Alaska Native students committed to tribal public policy or health care issues. MSU has had eight Udall scholars since 2000.
Catherine Nezich, of Marquette, is one of 321 sophomores and juniors throughout the country to be awarded a Goldwater Scholarship for 2008–09, which provides up to $7,500 annually for tuition and university expenses. The scholarship is the premier undergraduate award in the mathematics, science, and engineering fields. MSU has had 24 Goldwater scholars since the program’s inception in 1986.
MSU student Fedor Amosov, of Moscow, was awarded first prize in the 52nd annual WAMSO Young Artist Competition in Minneapolis from an original field of 58 competitors, first place for strings at the 38th Corpus Christi International Competition for Piano and Strings, and the Vincent R. Bastien Memorial Cello Award. The WAMSO award allows him to debut with the Minnesota Orchestra, a first among MSU students.
Of national note
More than 13,800 students engaged in service-learning activities during the 2006-07 academic year, working with 375 community service organizations and agencies. MSU offers 300 courses that include a service-learning component.
The College of Education’s elementary and secondary education graduate programs have been ranked No. 1 for 12 consecutive years by U.S. News & World Report.
MSU continues its outstanding record of students earning prestigious scholarships with the naming of 3 Goldwater, 2 Udall, 1 Truman, and 1 Hollings scholars in 2006-07. The overall scholarship count now stands at: Goldwater, 23; Rhodes, 16; Churchill, 15; Truman, 15; Marshall, 11; Udall, 8; Gates, 2; and Mitchell 1.
Current and planned gifts to MSU totaled $146.4 million in fiscal 2005-2006.
MSU consistently ranks as one of the three largest undergraduate study abroad programs in the nation, with 2,247 students participating in study abroad in 2005-06.
MSU is the only university in the country with three on-campus medical schools, graduating allopathic (M.D.) and osteopathic (D.O.) physicians, and veterinarians.
MSU’s extensive research collection of approximately 4.8 million volumes is housed in the main library and several branch libraries across campus. The collection includes more than 28,000 print and electronic journal titles, 200,000 maps, and 40,000 sound recordings.
MSU has the leading and largest faculty of African Studies in the nation, producing more Ph.D. dissertations and conducting more development work in Africa than any other university. The faculty of the center, with the third largest U.S. library on Africa and offering 30 African languages, conducts almost two-thirds of all MSU research and development work abroad in Africa, addressing issues of hunger, malaria, HIV, education, communication, and environment.
MSU’s College of Music faculty and student ensembles present more than 275 concerts per year on campus and throughout the nation.
MSU is one of only four universities across the country asked by the Carnegie Annenberg, Rockefeller and Ford foundations to take part in the "Teachers for a New Era" initiative, which is designed to strengthen K-12 teaching by developing state-of-the-art programs in teacher education.
MSU is the only non-military institution that uses the U.S. Department of Defense’s “Dynamic Distributed Decision-making Simulation” (DDD) for both teaching and research. The DDD command-and-control “video game” is used to learn about and teach leadership and teamwork skills in conjunction with The Eli Broad College of Business.
Research of note
Research expenditures for academic year 2005-06 totaled more than $379 million.
MSU is the leader in a research project funded by a $10 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Homeland Security to create the Center for Advancing Microbial Risk Assessment, a consortium of scientists from seven universities with expertise in quantitative microbial risk assessment methods, biosecurity, and infectious disease transmission through environmental exposure.
MSU has joined with the University of Notre Dame and the University of Chicago to establish a Physics Frontier Center for Nuclear Astrophysics funded by a five-year $10 million National Science Foundation grant.
The SOuthern Astrophysical Research Telescope, a 4.1-meter telescope located on the western edge of the Andes Mountains in Chile, made the first observations in September 2005 of the glowing remains of a star, marking the most distant explosion ever seen in the universe. MSU is part of an international consortium that built and will use the instrument to study everything from how galaxies form to the origins of the Milky Way Galaxy.
MSU Hearing Research Center faculty discovered a set of gene mutations that causes progressive hearing loss, a discovery that should provide significant clues in the hunt to solve the puzzle of acquired hearing loss. The research was published in the American Journal of Human Genetics in November 2003.
MSU is home to a world-class atom-smasher, the National Superconducting Cyclotron.
As the state’s land-grant institution, MSU is home to the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, which funds the research of more than 300 scientists on campus and at a network of 14 field research stations across the state.
MSU has one of the top nutritional immunology programs in the country, a cutting-edge discipline studying how the food eaten affects a person’s immune system.
MSU’s Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health, which was established in 1973, has become one of the country’s premier and busiest veterinary diagnostic laboratories. From just over 9,700 submissions when it first opened, it has grown to about 170,000 submissions and more than 1.2 million diagnostic tests per year.
The Mary Anne McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine at the College of Veterinary Medicine is the only chair of its kind in the world. Research supported by the chair is devoted to the health needs of high-caliber performance horses.
Faculty of note
James Tiedje, university distinguished professor of crop and soil sciences and director of the Center for Microbial Ecology, and Michael Thomashow, professor of crop and soil sciences and of microbiology and a member of the MSU-Department of Energy Plant Research Laboratory, were named to the National Academy of Sciences in 2003. Tiedje was also awarded the Pasteur Award in November 2005 for his outstanding contribution to the science of microbiology.
Yong Zhao, MSU university distinguished professor and director of the US-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence at MSU’s College of Education, led efforts in September 2005 to open a Beijing preschool in which pupils are taught in both Chinese and English with the best teaching practices from China and the United States.
Douglas Schemske, Hannah distinguished professor of plant biology, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2003.
Mercouri Kanatzidis, professor of chemistry, was named a fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in 2002.
William S. Penn, professor of English, was awarded the 2001 American Book Award for fiction for his novel Killing Time With Strangers.
Bruce R. Harte, professor and director, School of Packaging, received the Institute of Food Technologists’ Food Packaging Division Riester-Davis Award, which honors lifetime achievement and accomplishment in food packaging.
Alumni of note
MSU has a network of more than 389,500 living alumni worldwide.
Spencer Abraham, class of 1974, is the former U.S. secretary of energy.
James Blanchard, class of 1964 and master’s degree, 1965, served two terms as governor of Michigan (1983-1991). He also served as U.S. ambassador to Canada from 1993 to 1996.
Eli Broad, class of 1954, is chairman of SunAmerica Inc. and founder of the Broad Foundation. In 1991, Broad pledged $20 million to the MSU College of Business, which now carries his name.
Michael Budman, class of 1968, is the co-founder and president of Roots, an international clothing company based in Canada.
Clark Bunting, class of 1977, is president of Discovery Networks Productions.
John Engler, class of 1971, served three terms as governor of Michigan (1991-2003).
Clare Fischer, class of 1951 and master's degree, 1955, has recorded more than 45 albums as leader and has arranged, composed and/or played on more than 100 albums for other recording artists. He won Grammy awards for "Salsa Picante plus 2 + 2" and "Free Fall."
Richard Ford, class of 1966, won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his novel "Independence Day." Ford is considered to be one of America’s great novelists, and his works have been translated into 21 languages.
Jim Harrison, class of 1960 and master’s degree, 1966, wrote "Legends of the Fall," which was made into a film starring Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt.
Walter Hill, class of 1962, directed “48 Hours,” “Another 48 Hours,” “Last Man Standing,” “Geronimo: An American Legend” and many other action movies.
Donna Hrinak, class of 1972, is the U.S. ambassador to Brazil. She is the first female career civil servant to be named to the post.
James Hoffa Jr., class of 1963, is the general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and son of the legendary Teamsters president.
Rick Inatome, class of 1976, is chairman of Inacom Corp., a venture capital firm and Fortune 500 company, and founder of Computer City, one of the country’s leading computer superstore chains.
Kay Koplovitz, class of 1968, founded the USA Network.
MSU President Emeritus Peter McPherson, class of 1963, is president of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.
Bill Mechanic, class of 1973, is one of Hollywood’s most successful film producers. He was the top executive responsible for the production of such hits as “Titanic” and “Independence Day.”
R. Drayton McLane Jr., master’s degree, 1959, is owner of the Houston Astros baseball team and vice chairman and director of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Douglas D. Randall, doctoral degree, 1970, serves on the National Science Board, the governing body for the National Science Foundation.
Debbie Stabenow, class of 1972 and master’s degree, 1975, is the first woman elected to represent Michigan in the U.S. Senate.
John Walters, class of 1974, is the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy and is known as the “U.S. drug czar.”
Of historic note
MSU’s record of Rhodes scholars has led the Big Ten since the 1970s.
MSU researchers developed the platinum-based compounds Cisplatin and Carboplatin, which have saved tens of thousands of lives in the treatment of certain cancers.
Founded in 1855 as the nation’s first land-grant university, MSU was the prototype for the 69 land-grant institutions established under the Morrill Act.
MSU was the first institution of higher learning in the United States dedicated to the teaching of scientific agriculture.
Historic discoveries at MSU include the research that led to the development of hybrid corn and the process still used for the homogenization of milk.
In 1956, MSU was the first major university in the United States with a dean of international programs. More than 1,000 faculty members are involved in international research, teaching, and service projects and programs.
MSU’s criminal justice program is the largest such program in the nation. Established in 1935 as a school of police administration, it is a world leader in cyber security, forensic science, and the study of youth violence.
MSU’s Music Therapy Program, established in 1944, was the first of its kind in the world designed specifically to train music therapists.
