It Happened at U-M
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October 28, 2024
An historic public health degree
Paul B. Cornely graduated from U-M in 1934, making him the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in public health in the United States. Cornely then moved to Washington, D.C., where he taught at Howard University for 39 years, fighting for the desegregation of hospitals and equal health care opportunities for all.
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October 21, 2024
Long line of genetics
The U-M Department of Genetics officially opened in 1956, the first department in the U.S. dedicated to human genetics. James V. Neel served as its chair until his retirement in 1984. During his time leading the department, Neel propelled research surrounding the ways in which the environment can impact genetics.
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October 14, 2024
A forest of knowledge
Following a period in which Michigan’s logging industry cleared acres upon acres of densely packed forests, U-M became the first in the nation to offer courses in forestry in 1881. The School of Forestry and Conservation, now the School for Environment and Sustainability, opened in 1927 with Samuel T. Dana as dean.
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October 7, 2024
‘New era for dental students’
In 1875, Gov. John J. Bagley signed a bill enabling the Board of Regents to establish and maintain a dental school in connection with the Medical School. This marked the establishment of the nation’s first state university dental school, heralding a “new era for dental students.”
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September 30, 2024
Supporting a broad spectrum
When U-M created the Human Sexuality Office in 1971, it became the first university to establish an office dedicated to supporting gay and lesbian students. The Human Sexuality Office changed its name to the Lesbian Gay Male Programs Office in the 1980s, and in 2008, it became known as the Spectrum Center.
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September 23, 2024
An historic doctorate in botany
Edavelth Kakkat Janaki Ammal made history in 1931 when she became the first Indian woman to receive a Doctor of Science degree in botany in the United States. A recipient of U‑M’s Barbour Scholarship in 1924, she earned her master’s degree in 1925, and after going to India, she returned to U‑M to earn her doctorate.
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September 16, 2024
A lab for future chemists
After becoming U-M’s first president, Henry Tappan declared in December 1855 that there was a strong need “to erect a chemical laboratory for the analytical courses” on campus. U‑M’s Chemical Laboratory was the first building “designed, erected and equipped solely for instruction in chemistry” at a university.
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September 9, 2024
Dermatology dawns
More than two decades after U-M established the nation’s first university hospital, William Fleming Breakey approached the Medical School with a petition to start courses in dermatology and syphilology. By 1894, more than 200 patients each year were treated in the university’s hospital for dermatological concerns.
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September 3, 2024
The first practical holograms
The first breakthrough in practical holography came in 1964 — a 3D image that replicated a toy train courtesy of U-M researchers Emmett Leith and Juris Upatnieks. Leith and Upatnieks jointly patented holography under the title “Wavefront Reconstruction Using a Coherent Reference Beam.”
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August 26, 2024
The first university hospital
Shortly after U-M’s Medical School opened in 1850, students started clamoring for the hands-on clinical instruction they lacked in their lectures. The Board of Regents allocated $582.12 to establish what became the nation’s first university-owned-and-operated hospital in 1869 on North University Avenue.
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