Giving to the Ford School

Inspiring the next generation of leaders

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A bold vision. A lasting impact.

The Ford School is a top-ranked policy school at the world-class University of Michigan. Our mission is to inspire and prepare our graduates to take on our communities’ and the world’s most pressing challenges.

Giving Blueday

Record-setting day of giving

On March 15, the Ford School community raised the bar once again for the number of donors in a single day, garnering more than $43,000 for student support.

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The field of public policy involves difficult work that includes strong scientific inquiry and analysis, as well as leadership skills to navigate politics, advocacy and coalition building, communication across differences, and the ability to envision and make change. We have long been known and respected as the leading public policy school for rigorous, objective data and policy analysis, and effective communication.

Gifts provide scholarships that bring talented and diverse students to campus, support internship and applied learning experiences that shape career trajectories, and develop critical leadership skills to have a positive impact on individuals, organizations, and communities. They also underwrite game-changing faculty research that transform how we address society's most intractable challenges and arm policy communities around the world with first-rate academic insights and discoveries.

"The Ford School puts people together—especially in partnerships across the state—and they interact, and the outcome is the betterment of society, giving all people a voice and a path.”

Hal and Carol Kohn

With the Kohn Charitable Trust's gift, the Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy gives a voice to the disadvantaged in society.

Read about Hermann and Amalie Kohn

David Bohnett

The David Bohnett Foundation Leadership and Public Service Fellowships.

"Our foundation motto is 'improving society through social activism.' Both private and public sector leaders have an enormous responsibility to set an example in all ways to lead with honesty, accountability, empathy and a deep respect for differences of opinion."

Members of the Ford School community make data-driven discoveries to catalyze public policy change.

Ford School graduates go on to create a positive impact on people and communities across the globe.

Read about them here

Meet the problem-solvers, leaders, and advocates who benefit from your gifts.

“The history of UI, the politics of expansion and modernization, and even the sociology of poverty and work all affected how people experienced applying for benefits. I even had to talk to computer scientists to learn about how state systems were designed.” Kalena Thomhave (MPP '21)

2021 Eckstein prize winner

"I am gaining the analytical tools and policy foundations necessary for work in higher education policy research, analysis, and advocacy." Dana Fenster (MPP/MA '20)

Bentley gift bolsters MPP internships

Thanks to a generous gift from Ann Bentley and the Alvin M. Bentley Foundation in 2020 and in 2021, 10 MPP students were able to secure required...

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Headshots of Alex Baum, Bethany Haddad, Ben Levine, Rebecca Mendelsohn, and Cassidy Uchman

Meet our donors

U-M President Mark Schlissel on the Joan and Sanford Weill Youth Empowerment Fund, which will improve education and employment opportunities for disadvantaged youth from the Detroit area.

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Ambassador Ronald Weiser on the importance of international policy education. The Weiser Diplomacy Center is preparing the next generation of foreign affairs leaders.

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Susan Johnson

Chief Development Officer

Weill Hall

735 S. State St. #4238C

Ann Arbor, MI, 48109

(734) 615-4001

suejohn@umich.edu

Development

(734) 615-4001

fsppdevteam@umich.edu

Contact

Giving to the Ford School

A bold vision. A lasting impact.

Giving Blueday

Record-setting day of giving

"The Ford School puts people together—especially in partnerships across the state—and they interact, and the outcome is the betterment of society, giving all people a voice and a path.”

David Bohnett

Research & action

Our alumni

Meet the problem-solvers, leaders, and advocates who benefit from your gifts.

2021 Eckstein prize

Margaret E. Weston Endowment for Education Policy Intern

Riecker Michigan Delegation Fellowship

Bentley gift bolsters MPP internships

Meet our donors

“[Joan and Sanford Weill's] gift will advance U-M and our society by creating opportunities for Detroit high school students and supporting graduate students in the Ford School who seek to study diversity and make a difference in public policy.”

"Having young people from the University of Michigan and the Ford School—students who are interested in public service—go out and start to establish those relationships in whatever countries they go to is really important for the future of our nation."

"Pay it forward. Somebody did this for us. Somebody raised the money, built the school, and had the vision. You can't pay them back, but you can help make something better for the future."

“Through this professorship, the Ford School can leverage someone who will influence generations of students to make a difference by developing and defending better policies.”

"One vitally important aspect of the program is its emphasis on helping students and organizations learn practical ways to get things done—something too often overlooked by purely theoretical approaches to learning."

"Hank has written a beautiful biography of Vandenberg, focused on the role of bipartisan compromise essential to the creation of the post-war international order."

News

Ann Arbor to pilot guaranteed basic income program in partnership with University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions

Ford School expert shares thoughts on next steps after US report on social media's effects on youth

Stevenson: Debt ceiling nonsense has long-term costs

Have any questions?

Susan Johnson

Chief Development Officer

Development