Tact, foresight, perseverance, energy and a focus on good management have driven Brad Canale during the 26 years he’s worked in development at the College of Engineering (CoE), colleagues say.
Canale, executive director of college relations, was honored May 2 with the inaugural Judith A. Pitney Staff Service Career Award during the college’s annual Excellence in Staff Service Awards program.
“While presented to an individual, this award is a really a testament to the quality of staff at Michigan Engineering,” Canale said. “It is a pleasure to work each day among such a dedicated group.”
Canale, a U-M alumnus, started in 1982 as director of development at CoE. Gifts to the college then averaged around $2 million a year. Today, they average $27 million a year. Over the same period the endowment has grown from $9 million to $370 million. Colleagues say these gains are thanks to Canale’s leadership.
During his tenure over the past quarter century, significant private funding has been secured for a long list of buildings and labs including the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Building, the Lurie Engineering Center and Tower, the Gerstacker Building, the Lurie Biomedical Engineering Building, the Computer Science and Engineering Building and the Lurie Nanofabrication Facility.
“Brad’s creativity, careful planning and foresight perfectly exemplify the qualities this award was meant to recognize.Everywhere you look in the College of Engineering you see the impact of his efforts,” said Virginia Wait, executive director of resource planning and management at CoE.
Pitney served as executive director of resource planning and management at the CoE from 1992-2006.
Additional staff members receiving service awards include Mechy Barcia, Bruce Block, Stacie Edington, Eric Kirk, Lorelle Meadows and Yan Wang.
