It Happened at U-M
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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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August 12, 2024
Exploring Islamic art in the Midwest
Professor Mehmet Aga-Oglu was at the heart of two landmark events at the university: In 1933, he became the first professor of Islamic art at an American university, and less than a year later he founded Ars Islamica, the first academic journal to focus on art and architecture from Islamic nations.
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July 22, 2024
Digitizing the University Library
The University Library already had a strong track record of digitizing materials when Google co-founder Larry Page proposed to digitize books by the millions in 2004. Page and the University Library did just that, and U-M became the first public university to participate in Google’s massive book digitization initiative.
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June 24, 2024
The winning ways of ‘Hutch’
When the final pitch was delivered in a Michigan softball spring break game against Northern Kentucky in 2022, the Wolverines did far more than record a win in the young season. The 3-0 victory on Feb. 25 against the Norse made coach Carol Hutchins the winningest softball coach in NCAA history with 1,674 wins.
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June 10, 2024
The roots of U-M’s peony garden
In 1922, as he neared his 70th birthday, William E. Upjohn approached the U-M Board of Regents with an offer of “a very valuable collection of peonies.” More than a century later, the W.E. Upjohn Peony Garden is home to one of the world’s most impressive collections of peonies.
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May 20, 2024
LBJ’s ‘Great Society’ speech at U-M
When President Lyndon B. Johnson stood before the Class of 1964 at Michigan Stadium, it was the first time a sitting president had stepped foot on the U-M campus. His Great Society speech would be one of the most significant in Johnson’s presidency, and note cards from the speech are at the Bentley Historical Library.
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