The Wege Foundation, based in Grand Rapids, pledged to fund a new graduate student fellowship and a professorship in the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE) as part of its ongoing support of the school and U-M.
Both gifts acknowledge the decades-long relationship between Peter M. Wege, the foundation’s founder, and Jonathan W. Bulkley, who retired in June as a U-M professor after 43 years of service. The announcements were made Sept. 13 as part of a special academic panel discussion, organized to reflect upon the career and celebrate Bulkley’s research, teaching and mentoring accomplishments.
“We are grateful to The Wege Foundation for its ongoing support of SNRE students and faculty,” says David Allan, SNRE interim dean and professor. “We are fortunate to have such a strong partner as we pursue sustainability research and education.”
The first gift of $500,000 creates the Jonathan W. Bulkley Collegiate Professorship in Sustainable Systems. At U-M, collegiate professorships traditionally bear the name and honor a former university faculty member (in this case, Bulkley) who made substantial scholarly and other contributions while at the university. Bestowing the title upon a current faculty member is one of the highest academic honors at SNRE. No date has been set for when the first Bulkley Collegiate Professor will be named, but the professorship will be for five years and either renewed or awarded to a different faculty member thereafter.
The second gift of $1 million creates the Peter M. Wege and Jonathan W. Bulkley Fellowship in Sustainable Systems. This fellowship recognizes the best graduate students pursing interdisciplinary training in the Engineering Sustainable Systems program dually managed by SNRE and the College of Engineering. The Engineering Sustainable Systems program focuses on three critical areas of importance to Wege and Bulkley: sustainable design and manufacturing, sustainable energy systems, and sustainable water systems.
