University of Michigan Gift
12 Comments Published by Dr. Beyster February 17th, 2012 in Employee Ownership, Entrepreneurship, Technology.As you by know by now, the University of Michigan holds a very special place in my life and in my heart. My father — who was a graduate of the College of Engineering — would drive us out to Ann Arbor on weekends to visit my aunt Jessie. I was very impressed with the University of Michigan and I really wanted to go there. I was fortunate to be accepted; I believe it was because my grades were good. I studied hard, and I ultimately earned my undergraduate and all my graduate degrees at the University of Michigan. My favorite course was Physical Chemistry with Professor Case. Although I was a physics and math major, I enjoyed physical chemistry the most of any subject I took. I needed to be educated to make a living in this world, and I got all my education at the University of Michigan.
Anyway, I recently decided to make a $15 million gift to the University of Michigan College of Engineering. Of this total, $9 million will be dedicated to endowing a fellowship program designed to fund up to 10 engineering doctoral students each year, $5 million will go towards the renovation of the Ford Nuclear Reactor Building on the University of Michigan Campus, and $1 million will be allocated to the Center for Entrepreneurship and the development of a curriculum to teach students about employee ownership.
I personally give the University of Michigan and my professors there a great deal of credit for giving me the preparation I needed to become a successful scientist and researcher, and ultimately, the founder of SAIC. In return, I would like to help the University that is responsible for doing all these fine things for me. In addition, it is my sincere hope that the research my gift will support in the areas of bioinformatics, nuclear reactor safety, computer and network security, autonomous systems, and more will help to keep the United States globally competitive long into the future.
Of course, I could not have made this gift without the hard work of my many talented friends and colleagues at SAIC. Together we built this great company, and in the process we created significant and lasting value for our employee-owners, and for our nation. For that I thank you all.
I have included a couple of photos of me in my home office reviewing and signing the University of Michigan gift paperwork.
– Bob
Thank you. The gift is very much appreciated. Fellowships will make a huge difference to graduate education.
Bob,
Many congratulations and much gratitude for this generosity!
I was a beneficiary of financial support thru’out my college life and have consistently donated to my (3) alma maters, including Michigan (Rackham School, College of Engineering and Dept of Nuc Eng at U-M) always designating aid for students, especially foreign students!
I was particularly happy to see your gift for refurbishing the Ford Nuclear Reactor building because I spent many, many long hours there especially on the Beam Hole Floor where I was doing experiments.
You may already know the unhappy circumstances surrounding the decision to decommission the Ford Nuclear Reactor itself, without consulting the donor (Ford Motor Company) and in spite of DOE
‘s willingness to fund its costs. The Chairman of the NE Dept, Dr. Martin, might be wiling to tell you more if you’re interested.
Cheers, Hugh
PS For some reason, I no longer get email notification of your blog!
Dear Dr. Beyster,
This is a wonderful and most generous gift to U. Michigan Engineering, a great and very deserving institution (where I happen to have many friends, including Atul – we were in grad school together in the 80′s, and I have admired his research ever since, as well as the other excellent work going on in his dept). The gift will have a tremendously positive impact on the top students that attend Michigan, and the fine faculty that advise them. Congratulations to all, and thank you Dr. Beyster for continuing to be so supportive of education and research in the engineering disciplines.
Joe
Dr. Beyster,
Congratulations on such a wonderful gift. It is not often we see such generosity. As a development representative for a top private university in the Northwest, I have a keen appreciation for gifts of this significance!
We are in the second academic year of a new engineering program and have seen our enrollment numbers more than triple since inception. After 60 years of offering a physics engineering degree, it was time to expand and this was certainly confirmed by the increase in enrollment. I believe we would benefit significantly from your insight as we continue to build and grow this program. We would honored to share additional dialogue with you should you have an interest in continuing to shape our future. Thank you.
Best regards,
– Bryon Knight
bknight@nnu.edu
Dr. Beyster:
A very nice gift to a great school. I am encouraged to hear news regarding the entrepreneurial resurgence of Detroit specifically and Michigan in general and your gift will be instrumental in that process. I enjoyed the Biz Journal article about you, Michael Robertson, Mark Dankberg and others. Companies like these are very important to San Diego as they provide a healthy mix of industry and jobs.
Best wishes,
Bill
Working for a charity in Great Britain that aims to inspire and encourage more young people to consider a career in engineering whilst still at school, I only wish we had more generous philanthropists willing to invest in engineering talent over here. Good for you! If you ever wanted to consider funding young British engineers, we would welcome your support, especially reaching those from poorer backgrounds who lack the resources to make the most of their talent.
Kind regards
Georgina Hare
The Arkwright Scholarships Trust
ghare@arkwright.org.uk
Dear Bob,
Your contribution to the university is wonderful. Like you, I have benefited greatly from my education at Michigan, and I have many fond memories of my days in Ann Arbor. Your generosity and vision now makes this possible for many other students.
Thank You, and Go Blue!
John Kuhn
John: I don’t know if you’re still here in San Diego doing naval architecture with SAIC, but I think about you and the America’s Cup every time I go out on my boat. I would like to thank you and your team for doing such a great job for us. — Bob
Bill: Good to hear from you. Would you like to join me some Friday on the boat? If so, contact Ron Arnold. — Bob
Joe: Thank you for your note — I appreciate it. — Bob
Hugh: I would like to know what Dr. Martin thinks about the moves that have been made to decommission the Ford Nuclear Reactor building. There’s probably a story to be told, and I would like to hear it. — Bob
Atul: Thank you for your post. I am certain the Michigan students will accomplish great things with the help of these fellowships. — Bob