Leon Pryor, a University of Michigan alum and a senior game producer at Meta, got involved in robotics competitions when his son competed in a FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition in 2018. Since then, he’s led two youth robotics teams to success.

On a Sunday morning in the fall of 1818, young people in the village of Detroit made their way into the new academy built by the fledgling University of Michigania. Eight teachers awaited them. It was the inaugural class of the first Sunday school held in the Territory of Michigan

“University of Michigan has been an amazing partner – they have been able to connect us with tons of resources and tons of knowledge. They are a partner we can count on. Partnerships with U-M are invaluable. They take your work to places may not have imagined. Being able to work with brilliant minds and with folks who look at things differently will push you in your own work.”

~ Camille Johnson, director of development and communications for Eastside Community Network

Scott Shireman, an experienced higher education administrator with deep expertise in global and online education, will become the inaugural director of the University of Michigan Center for Innovation in Detroit. 

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning recognized June Manning Thomas, Centennial Professor Emerita of urban and regional planning and Mary Frances Berry Distinguished University Professor of urban planning, with a Distinguished Educator Award. The award recognizes significant contributions to the planning field.

Hunter’s work in progress, Paradise: The Myth of a Liberal North, layers Detroit’s history, geography, and social relations through art. Hunter uncovered two Detroit neighborhoods and archived images. The project involves digitally woven images using a jacquard loom and physically removing ​“signs of life” from the piece. 

David Merritt, a U-M alum is the co-founder of Give Merit. It invests in the youth to help them excel in their schools and bring the dream of college into reality. He started this work 12 years ago and has supported nearly 200 students through Merit’s FATE Program. It promises each qualifying FATE student up to $8,000 in college scholarships.

“Coming to the Detroit Center, it’s natural for me to try to take a similar type of approach. What’s the Detroit Center already doing? Every time I hear about something new, I try to ask more because now I have the license to be nosy. That’s a characteristic of sociologists anyway. We want to ask questions. We want to know, what are you doing in that community? What are the results of that study going to be? Who is going to benefit from that? How can we help you with that at the Detroit Center?”

~ Paul Draus, U-M Detroit Center faculty director

“UMCI is essential to our future, and that’s why I’m so excited about today’s decision by the Board of Regents,” President Santa J. Ono said. “I’m also incredibly grateful to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the state of Michigan for its $100 million grant, to Stephen Ross for his generous gift and vision, to Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who has championed this project from the start, and to our many other supporters and friends and partners who are making this future possible.

~ President Santa J. Ono