Giving

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.

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

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.

“By engaging other disciplines, we were able to take theories from psychology and conflict studies and offer an explanation for violence and soldier behavior that hadn’t existed before." Ryan Van Wie (MPP ‘20) and Jacob Walden (PhD candidate in political science)

"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)

Jackson Voss asks a question of a visiting speaker

"Working on Capitol Hill was something I did not think I would have the opportunity to ever do: I could never afford to spend a summer as an unpaid intern, and had few connections to Congress to leverage into finding job opportunities. Working for Senator Peters was a truly life-changing professional experience." Jackson Voss (MPP '18)

Bohnett fellowship

Bohnett fellows experience a summer of change and resilience in Detroit

Managing the fight against homelessness, creating employment opportunities, and reforming law enforcement in Detroit are complex issues at any time....

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Safiya Merchant, Kevin Naud, and Alyshia Dyer

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.

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

James B. Hudak (MPP '71) on his gift to establish a health policy professorship.

Philip Power, former U-M Regent and longtime university donor, on his foundation's gift to support the Program in Practical Policy Engagement.

Hank Meijer and Dean Michael Barr in Petoskey, Michigan on Worldwide Ford School Spirit Day

Dean Michael S. Barr on Hank Meijer's book about U.S. Senator Arthur Vandenberg. The Meijer Family established the Vandenberg Lecture Series, which focuses on global issues and serves as an intellectual tribute. Their generous gifts also contributed to the Gerald R. Ford Fellowship and the Ford School Leadership Initiative.

Giving Success

The Ford School community is strong. We are deeply grateful to everyone who invests in our mission and in our students. As part of the University of Michigan’s Victors for Michigan campaign (which closed with great success in 2018), the Ford School raised more than $47 million from more than 1,700 donors, and saw significant growth in key areas. In fiscal year 2020, more than 500 gifts were made solely by Ford School alumni, many of whom elected to give twice or more to support Ford School students in tumultuous times.

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."

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Susan Johnson

Director of Development

Weill Hall

735 S. State St. #4238C

Ann Arbor, MI, 48109

(734) 615-4001

suejohn@umich.edu

Development

(734) 615-4001

imdia@umich.edu

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Giving to the Ford School

A bold vision. A lasting impact.

"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.”

Research & action

Our alumni

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

2020 Eckstein prize

Margaret E. Weston Endowment for Education Policy Intern

Riecker Michigan Delegation Fellow

Bohnett fellows experience a summer of change and resilience in Detroit

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."

“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."