Faculty Spotlight

  1. February 2, 2015

    Foundations, grants librarian promotes learning across differences

    Darlene Nichols is working at the grassroots level to encourage productive conversations about a vitally important topic: race.

  2. January 19, 2015

    Health and human services professor tackles climate change in Detroit

    How can we shape society in a way that makes it easier to be healthy? This is the question that drives Michigan alumna Natalie Sampson’s passion for public health.

  3. December 15, 2014

    Engineering professor makes small-scale tech that does big things

    Prabal Dutta picks up a tiny sensor, no wider than a fingernail and about an inch long, then holds it next to a light until its embedded LED starts blinking blue. His sensor, a small circuit board overlaid with a tiny solar panel, harvests the light and stores that energy in a tiny capacitor.

  4. November 24, 2014

    History professor studies political activism, stays involved

    As a freshman reporter at U-M, Howard Brick was in the press section at a 1971 rally to free leftist poet John Sinclair. Now the Louis Evans Professor of History, Brick says he remains “interested in helping to document the history and heritage of political movements, and the idea that the radical left might yet have a future in the United States.”

  5. November 10, 2014

    Policy professor stresses teamwork to improve decision-making

    Elisabeth Gerber has learned that applying teamwork is good for everything from fixing potholes to determining international, federal, health, environmental or economic policy.

  6. October 27, 2014

    Pediatrician promotes patient-centered healthcare design

    For pediatrician Dr. Joyce Lee, “doctor” also means “designer.” This idea became reality for Lee in 2012, as she worked on managing her two children’s life-threatening food allergies.

  7. October 13, 2014

    Music professor explores history of national anthem

    Normally, when Mark Clague writes an article, he’s happy to have a few hundred readers. On a recent Saturday, his words were heard by more than 100,000 people. Clague, associate professor of musicology at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, wrote and narrated the “Proudly, We Hail!” halftime show for the football game against Miami University that celebrated the 200th anniversary of the national anthem.

  8. September 22, 2014

    Public policy professor pursues social justice at Supreme Court

    In 1991, a young graduate student named Ann Chih Lin had a rare opportunity to become involved in the landmark Supreme Court desegregation case Freeman vs. Pitts, as a consultant for the American Civil Liberties Union. She’s now an associate professor of public policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and associate professor of political science at LSA.

  9. September 8, 2014

    Business professor puts leadership skills to use on Everest

    Next to Scott DeRue’s desk hangs a whiteboard covered in multicolor outlines, parabolas and lists. Written with green marker in neat, unassuming handwriting near the middle of the board is one question: “How do we change people’s lives?”

  10. August 11, 2014

    Art & Design professor promotes community engagement

    In seventh grade, Anne Mondro asked her teacher if she should pursue art or science in college. Although years later Mondro ended up choosing art school, the teacher told her, “Here you are doing both!”