Jennifer Niggemeier, who has served and led at the Ford School since 1997, will retire from the University of Michigan this spring.
Jennifer was hired by Ned Gramlich shortly after the program had been elevated from an ‘institute’ to a school. Ned asked her to professionalize and grow the new school’s fledgling approach to career services. Over the decades, in partnership with Ned and four dean successors along with many faculty and staff colleagues, Jennifer built and led one of the best career development functions in the field–preparing, launching, and supporting thousands of professional lives dedicated to public service.
In 2012, Jennifer was asked to integrate the school’s alumni relations function into Career Services, and the result was a strategic and collaborative approach that grew the school’s alumni engagement and, importantly, alumni support for current students’ career development. In spring of 2022, Jennifer transitioned into a new role as associate director of the Leadership Initiative–an important area of public service education that she had previously helped to develop at the school (she earned certification as a leadership coach in 2019).
Jennifer has been a supportive coach and cheerleader to so many individual students and alumni. At the same time, her strategic thinking, creativity, and inherent knack for institution-building contributed to major Ford School structural and programmatic growth over the years. The school’s partnership with the State Department, several named fellowships, annual alumni touchpoints, internship partnerships and funding, professional leadership coaching for students, key staff hires, staff recognition award, and dozens of other great ideas got a start or a boost in a brainstorming session with Jennifer. Colleagues who have worked with Jennifer will remember with great fondness, too, the many laughs, tears, and yes, songs along the way!
Look for more information to come on a retirement celebration for Jennifer.
