Alumni Association Home > Past Issues > 2006 > November-December 2006	Print View

Nearly 50,000 alumni gave $83 million to the University, up 51 percent from last year’s $56 million. The $181 million raised includes cash gifts and pledges, as well as other future commitments such as bequests and trusts, and gifts made to all University campuses, colleges, and departments.

A new Institute on the Environment will coordinate the University’s 300-plus experts who work on a variety of environmental issues across all of its campuses and from its outreach and research locations. The purpose of the institute, located within the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, is twofold: “First is to create a world-class research institute—a think tank on the environment,” said interim director Deborah Swackhamer. “We want to find solutions to global environmental problems. Second, it will be a portal for all things environmental at the University.” As part of its mission to foster research, the institute will form small, interdisciplinary research teams to tackle real-world problems of global and regional significance.

The University’s new Equine Center will serve as a meeting ground for horse owners around the region. The $14 million center, located on the Twin Cities campus in St. Paul and due for completion in fall 2007, will have special facilities to cover every aspect of equine health. Perhaps the most spectacular will be an indoor arena in which owners can ride their horses, allowing vets to observe and spot any signs of lameness. There will be areas for imaging by ultrasound, CT, and MRI, a surgery suite specially adapted for arthroscopic surgery, a high-speed treadmill, and an underwater treadmill for exercise and rehabilitation.

The University Institute of Technology received an anonymous $10 million bequest that will be used to set up a permanent endowment to fund graduate student fellowships. The endowment will fund an estimated 15 to 25 fellowships each year. Steven Crouch, dean of the institute, said the gift was significant because faculty and staff research depends upon working with top graduate students. The Institute of Technology currently enrolls about 2,500 graduate students.

To make good writing an essential element of every student’s education, the University has launched a Baccalaureate Writing Initiative. Its centerpiece is a planned new department in the College of Liberal Arts on the Twin Cities campus that will consolidate writing expertise and instruction. Under the initiative, to be rolled out during the 2007–08 academic year, writing will be woven into all areas of study in a coherent manner that gives students a feel for how to write in a variety of contexts. The system-wide initiative also aims to turn the University into a national model for the study and practice of writing.

The University of Minnesota Law School’s class of 2009 is the most diverse in school history. Forty-three percent are women, exceeding last year’s percentage by 4 percent, and 20 percent are minorities. The entering class of 258 members is also the strongest academically. Their median GPA is 3.55 and median LSAT score is 165, putting these U law students close to the 95th percentile of law school applicants nationwide.

—Pauline Oo and Cynthia Scott