It Happened at Michigan

  1. October 28, 2024

    It Happened at Michigan — 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.

  2. October 14, 2024

    It Happened at Michigan — 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 university in the nation to offer courses in forestry in 1881.

  3. September 23, 2024

    It Happened at Michigan — 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.

  4. September 16, 2024

    It Happened at Michigan — A lab for future chemists

    Shortly 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.

  5. September 9, 2024

    It Happened at Michigan — 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.

  6. September 3, 2024

    It Happened at Michigan — 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.

  7. August 26, 2024

    It Happened at Michigan — 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.

  8. August 12, 2024

    It Happened at Michigan — Exploring Islamic art in the Midwest

    Mehmet Aga-Oglu was the first professor of Islamic art at an American university and founded the first academic journal to focus on art and architecture from Islamic nations.

  9. June 24, 2024

    It Happened at Michigan — The winning ways of ‘Hutch’

    Carol Hutchins’ final coaching record stood at 1,707-551-5 and a career winning percentage of .755. She is the winningest coach in U-M history.

  10. June 10, 2024

    It Happened at Michigan — 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.”