U-M brings in $27 million in new grants, scholarships

The University of Michigan is bringing in a little money for research and a little more for scholarships this week, however, it’s all going to add up to a lot of studying.The Judy and Fred Wilpon Family Foundation (Fred Wilpon is the CEO of the New York Mets) donated half of the $10 million received for scholarships at the university’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. U-M President Mary Sue Coleman’s Donor Challenge donated the other half.The Irene and Morris B. Kessler Presidential Scholarship Fund inducted its first class of 15 students at the university this year. The fund hopes to grow the sizes of those classes to as many as 75 people. The need-based scholarships are expected to create the largest scholarship cohort in LSA.That’s for the undergraduates. U-M has won a $17 million new contract from the National Institutes of Health. That money will expand U-M’s part of the National Children’s Study, the largest and longest study conducted of the health and development of more than 100,000 children across the U.S. U-M’s portion now exceeds $21 of the $75 million study.U-M’s focus in the study is to follow 5,000 women from pre-conception until their child reaches the age of two, considering a wide range of environmental, health and developmental assessments. The idea is to create a better understanding of early childhood issues that may influence infant mortality, obesity, autism, asthma and behavior problems.U-M is working on the Michigan portion of the study with Michigan State University, Wayne State University, Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Henry Ford Health System and the Michigan Department of Community Health. The study will take place over the next few years.Source: University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke