Faculty/Staff Spotlights

  1. October 7, 2024 Meg Millure
    “I’m very passionate about facilitating your own ability to still be excited by common birds.”

    — Meg Millure, annual giving and stewardship officer in the School of Information who has a deep and special affinity for birds, particularly peregrine falcons.

    Read more about Meg Millure
  2. September 30, 2024 Eda Bozkurt
    “Ballroom dancing keeps me motivated and helps me maintain a healthy balance with my work.”

    — Eda Bozkurt, who serves multiple roles across the university and has competed in dance competitions nationally and internationally for more than 10 years

    Read more about Eda Bozkurt
  3. September 16, 2024 Nick Tobier
    “The things I made that could be mistaken for everyday life were my ways of interjecting what I did, what I thought creatively, into the world.”

    — Nick Tobier, professor of art and design in the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design who aims to create art that brings about pleasant pauses in people’s otherwise methodical paths

    Read more about Nick Tobier
  4. September 9, 2024 Amy Blondin
    “Literally, if I spilled milk, it was worth crying over because it’s like liquid gold.”

    — Amy Blondin, study abroad scholarships and communications coordinator for LSA Scholarships who served as the artisan cheesemaker at White Lotus Farms for a decade

    Read more about Amy Blondin
  5. September 3, 2024 Puneet Manchanda
    “My view of wine is it should bring enjoyment. And I always say that bad wine with good company is better than good wine with bad company.”

    — Puneet Manchanda, the Isadore and Leon Winkelman Professor of Retail Marketing and professor of marketing in the Stephen M. Ross School of Business who makes his own wine out of grapes and pears

    Read more about Puneet Manchanda
  6. August 26, 2024 Irene Hochgraf-Cameron
    “I’ve always been drawn to fire. … It’s always been something that’s intrigued me and sparks some passion in me.”

    — Irene Hochgraf-Cameron, an osteology inventory specialist with the LSA Museum of Anthropological Archaeology who practices fire spinning in her free time

    Read more about Irene Hochgraf-Cameron
  7. August 12, 2024 Amanda Stricklen
    “I wanted to meet people who were driven like me who were in some sort of leadership role to give me new ideas outside of health care.”

    — Amanda Stricklen, lead senior project manager for two statewide collaboratives at Michigan Medicine who was one of 60 members of the 2024 Presidential Leadership Scholar program

    Read more about Amanda Stricklen
  8. July 22, 2024 Sarah Kucemba
    “It’s crazy, the insane amount of dogs that end up as strays and end up in the shelter. You can find some of the most amazing dogs straight out of shelters.”

    — Sarah Kucemba, an academic adviser in the College of Engineering who with three friends co-founded Underdog Rescue Ranch, a nonprofit dedicated to finding dogs loving homes

    Read more about Sarah Kucemba
  9. June 24, 2024
    “I wanted to pick things that were of historical significance but also things that were inside jokes or favorite haunts of people as well.”

    — Bettina Senga, communications manager for the Center for Global Health Equity who is using relief printmaking to illustrate an alphabet book highlighting Ann Arbor’s gems in honor of the city’s 200th birthday this year

    Read more about Bettina Senga
  10. June 10, 2024 Samir Rawashdeh
    “It’s just plastic and a bunch of motors. But somehow it becomes more than the sum of its parts.”

    — Samir Rawashdeh, a UM-Dearborn associate professor of electrical and computer engineering who 3D printed replicas of the “Star Wars” droids and engineered them into robotic toys for his kids

    Read more about Samir Rawashdeh