ANN ARBOR—Susan Smith graduated from the University of Michigan in 1963 with a degree in actuarial science and $75 to her name. Now, she is giving $1.5 million to U-M to establish the Susan Meredith Smith Professorship in Actuarial Science in the Department of Mathematics to help other students achieve the financial success that she has attained.

“I wanted to give something back to the college that prepared me for the career that enabled me to parlay my $75 into the financial assets to make this gift possible,” Smith, an Ann Arbor resident, said.

Although she had originally planned to fund the professorship through a bequest gift, when Smith learned that the U-M President’s Donor Challenge would match her $1.5 million gift with an additional $500,000, she decided the opportunity was too good to miss. “I decided if I was going to do it, I should do it now,” she said. “I come from a long line of U-M graduates, and I wanted to do something good for Michigan.”

“Susan Smith’s gift to create this professorship will add additional strength to an already nationally prominent program,” said Terrence J. McDonald, dean of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. “We are tremendously grateful for her willingness to provide the funding today that will keep Michigan at the forefront of this important field.”

The actuarial science program in U-M’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts is the oldest in the nation and prepares students to enter a field that the Wall Street Journal ranks as one of today’s best career choices in terms of job security and lucrative salaries.

LSA has raised more than $270 million to date from alumni and friends for scholarships and faculty and program support to continue the outstanding teaching and research that makes a powerful and positive difference in the world. The Smith gift moves LSA nearer to its fund-raising goal of raising $300 million during the University-wide $2.5 billion The Michigan Difference campaign.