Leaders Best Spring 2006 PHILANTHROPY AT MICHIGAN & Advancing Health and Society’s Well-Being Michigan develop and deliver other advances in CHRISTOPHER BRIDGE CHRISTOPHER medicine and technology, care for the environment and the social sciences. In this issue of Leaders & Best, we explore a sample of the wonderful campaign gifts to the University that are helping us do what we do best, namely explore, discover and instruct. Each of these contri- butions represents a critical partnership with the U-M to find unique solutions to meet society’s challenges head-on. By supporting pancreatic cancer research or provid- ing our School of Education students with the tools they need to teach English as a second language, you are helping our talented faculty make people health- ier, nurture a cleaner environment and improve the communities we share. Partnerships with the U-M can also play a role in Dear Friends, diversifying our state’s manufacturing economy by In March, I delivered a speech before the providing the seeds for new, high-tech endeavors National Press Club in Washington, D.C., where that will attract the brightest minds and create I spoke of the urgent need for collaboration in important new jobs. Consider the impact of our the cultivation of new technologies to improve life sciences initiative. Over the last six years, the our society’s health and well-being. U-M has invested $1 billion and added nearly one million square feet of new facilities devoted I shared a few examples of the University’s to life sciences research and education. That latest initiatives, including a genomics research investment includes stem cell research, an area partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University of revolutionary promise for the treatments of to better understand the properties of Chinese Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and a variety of other herbal medicines and their pharmaceutical devastating illnesses. potential. I told of our work with Google to digitize 7 million books from our library in an Experts in genetics, cancer research and biomedical effort to open our store of knowledge to anyone engineering, including acclaimed stem cell biologist with an Internet connection. I also reported on Sean Morrison, who you will read about on page the success of U-M engineers, in partnership 10, lead our efforts. These exceptional scientists are with colleagues from other state universities working to make our University a hub of break- and the National Science Foundation, in through developments in the life sciences. Your creating a remarkable cochlear implant for support will play a critical role in their success. the profoundly deaf. Through the decades, Michigan has set the pace As a scientist with more than two decades of for innovation in the classroom, the laboratory and laboratory experience, a resident of a large in the communities we serve. Sustaining this rich manufacturing state, and president of a world- legacy demands continued collaboration with class public research university, I have a deep valued partners like you. appreciation for the power of such partnerships Sincerely, to cure illnesses, bind our social fabric and energize economies. I continue to marvel at the role private supporters like you play in helping Mary Sue Coleman Leaders&Best Philanthropy at the University of Michigan Spring 2006 ContentsWWW.THEMICHIGANDIFFERENCE.ORG Sound Bodies. Sound Minds. Donor support for research, fellowships and 2 facilities fosters improvements in human health. Sound Environment Philanthropy provides the U-M with critical 12 resources to cultivate and promote an environmentally sustainable future. Sound Society 16 Campaign generosity advances society’s well-being through teacher training, social service scholarships, and grass-roots community engagement. 22 Making a Difference Letter from Jerry May Inside Back Cover 28 Your gifts give Michigan the tools to Faculty and Staff: The Heart of help make our world a better place. the Michigan Difference COVER ILLUSTRATION / JOSE ORTEGA / GETTY IMAGES Sound hether supporting research Bodies on a debilitating disease or providing aspiring scholars with the financial resources to complete their scientific studies, donors to the University of Sound Michigan give from their hearts and make a difference in the Minds health and well-being of our Prechter Fund seeks genetic society. The following stories answers to bipolar disorder Prominent entrepreneur Heinz C. Prechter suffered provide a sample of the ways in intermittent bouts of manic depression most of his adulthood. In 2001, at the age of 59, he took his own life. which philanthropy keeps the In the aftermath of the stunning tragedy, Waltraud (Wally) Prechter (ABED ’79) intensified her campaign to beat this perplexing and U-M Health System and related tragic disorder. Within months, the Grosse Ile, Mich., resident had established The academic programs among the Heinz C. Prechter Fund for Manic Depression. She became a power- ful fundraiser on its behalf and an inspirational speaker with groups across the country. She has testified before the Labor, Health and world’s leaders and best. Human Services subcommittee of the U.S. Congress, urging support for bipolar research, and has served as a presidential and gubernato- rial appointee on federal and state mental health commissions. 2 Leaders&Best Spring 2006 U-M PHOTO SERVICES:U-M PHOTO LIN JONES In 2004, Wally Prechter transferred the $2.7 million fund to the Univer- sity of Michigan Health System. Now known as the Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Fund, it recently provided $1 million to establish a genetic research initiative at the U-M to study the link between genes, stress and bipolar disorder. “Heinz’s passing was a tragedy that changed our lives forever,”she said. “However, we can do something to support research to find cures for this illness that robbed us of Heinz. We are determined to make a difference in the fight against manic depression.” Under the direction of Dr. Melvin McInnis, the Thomas B. and Nancy Upjohn Woodworth Professor of Bipolar Disorder and Depression, The Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Genes Project has emerged as a major research enterprise, featuring a DNA repository that will study 1,000 bipolar patients, including adolescents with early onset of the disease, and 1,000 matched, control patients. The Prechter Genetic Repository’s collection of confidential, coded DNA samples will enable scientists from around the world to conduct studies critical to better understanding bipolar disorder, which causes brain chemical imbalances that can lead to deep depressions, manic episodes and suicidal impulses in the 2.7 million Americans who have the disease The Genes Project, based at the U-M Depression Center, will encompass the research of investigators from Stanford University, Cornell University and Johns Hopkins University. Wally and Heinz Prechter were early advocates of the Depression Center, providing key funding to support its creation. Dr. John F. Greden, the Center’s executive director, said the Prechter genes project and DNA repository place Michigan at the fore- front of the fight against bipolar disease. “Unraveling bipolar’s genetic vulnerabilities and linking them with Dr. Melvin McInnis, left, and donor Wally Prechter, a Michigan stresses and life experiences will open the door to earlier diagnosis, Difference campaign vice chair, are committed to unraveling the mysteries of bipolar disorder and depression. better treatments and eventual prevention,”he said.“Stopping this terrible disease from ever occurring is our true goal.” — Paul Gargaro For more information on the University of Michigan Depression Center, visit www.depressioncenter.org. Schreiber paints a hopeful picture for cancer research Lyn Schreiber stands in her art gallery in Holland, The 98-year-old artist is president of the Schreiber Foundation for Mich., amid a thicket of witty collages and bright paintings of shells, Cancer Research, founded in 1992 by Schreiber and her late husband butterflies, geese and abstract forms. in memory of their younger son, Tom, who died of pancreatic cancer. Tragically, despite a lack of family history, Schreiber’s elder son Paul Jr. All are Schreiber’s creations. All are for sale, and 100 percent of the died in 2004 of the same disease. proceeds will benefit cancer research, including the work of Dr. David Garabrant, professor of both environmental health sciences and epi- “Since Paul died, I feel that research is more important than ever,” demiology in the School of Public Health and director of the Center says Schreiber. for Risk Science and Communication. Acting on a longtime dream, Schreiber began her artistic career at 50 and opened the Holland gallery in 1996 after owning a similar Leaders&Best Spring 2006 3 Von Voigtlander generosity ROB KURTYCZ: VELOCITY IMAGES VELOCITY KURTYCZ: ROB helps new C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Women’s Hospital get rolling The word “helpmate” describes in a warmly precise way the wonderful relationship that Ted and Jane Von Voigtlander enjoyed Lyn Schreiber’s art and passion fund research into pancreatic through more than 23 years of married life. cancer, which took the lives of her two sons. A single mother raising her 8-year-old daughter when she first met Ted—she was a waitress boutique in Stuart, Fla. In addition to the work sold in Lyn’s Gallery, at Weber’s Restaurant and he was a patron the foundation receives support from donations, memorial gifts and (“I remember thinking how handsome he was”) proceeds from special events. Because its operating expenses are pri- —Jane soon became as indispensable a part of vately endowed, all foundation income supports research and early Ted’s life as he became of hers. detection of pancreatic cancer. At the time they met, Ted, a co-founder of Dis- Just after Tom’s death, the Schreibers gave to support the creation of count Tire Co., was in the early stages of building the University of Chicago Cancer Risk Clinic, which has evaluated the company.