University of Michigan President Emeritus James J. Duderstadt, who devoted his academic career to an institution he shaped with his zeal for technology, innovation and equality, died Aug. 21 at age 81.

Duderstadt also held the title of University Professor of Science and Engineering and was a former provost and dean of the College of Engineering.

Known as “The Dude” to students and alumni, Duderstadt was the university’s 11th president from 1988-96 before stepping down to lead the Millennium Project, a research center focusing on the impact of societal, economic and technological changes on universities.

The Millennium Project is located on North Campus in the James and Anne Duderstadt Center, which was named in the Duderstadts’ honor in 2003. He also directed U-M’s program in Science, Technology and Public Policy, and chaired the Michigan Energy Research Council coordinating energy research on the Ann Arbor campus.

“My interest has always been in building things—theories, projects. If you’re interested in building things, you eventually get interested in building organizations,” Duderstadt told an Ann Arbor News reporter in 1985.

His skill in leading one of the world’s great research universities was rooted in a simple Midwestern upbringing. Duderstadt was born Dec. 5, 1942, in Iowa and was raised in the small, German farming community of Carrollton, Missouri, where he was an all-A’s student, played varsity football, basketball and baseball, and was a member of the track team.

Duderstadt, 6 feet 4 inches tall and trimly built, played football in his freshman and sophomore years at Yale University, from which he graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Engineering degree in electrical engineering in 1964. That same year, he married his high school sweetheart, Anne Marie Lock. Duderstadt always credited his wife as a strong partner during his tenure as president.

He earned two degrees from the California Institute of Technology: a Master of Science in engineering science in 1965 and Ph.D. in engineering science and physics in 1967. He also was an Atomic Energy Commission Postdoctoral Fellow at Caltech before joining the U-M faculty in 1969.

“James Duderstadt was a visionary, but even more, a trained engineer with the inspiration and energy to shape those visions into realities for the transformation and elevation of this university,” President Santa J. Ono said.

“He leaves behind a profound and lasting legacy, and we will always be grateful for his vision, his commitment and his transformative impact on the University of Michigan.”

As College of Engineering dean, he oversaw an investment of approximately $70 million in new construction for facilities that allowed the college to fully establish itself on North Campus. Appointed in 1981, he was the youngest dean in CoE history and served until 1986.

Duderstadt, who was named provost and vice president for academic affairs in 1986, was decisive and believed that educated people could build and control their own futures. He outlined a strategic planning process that challenged the university community to anticipate the needs for higher education in the 21st century and map a strategy for meeting those needs.

Duderstadt demonstrated an unwavering commitment to diversity and equality in higher education. In his first State of the University address, he declared, “If we do not create a nation that mobilizes the talents of all of our citizens, we are destined for a diminished role in the global community, increased social turbulence, and we will, most tragically, have failed to fulfill the promise of democracy on which this nation was founded.”

He launched the Michigan Mandate, a strategic plan to make U-M a leader in building a multicultural community. The university more than doubled its number of students of color, from 11% to 25%; increased retention of students of color; doubled the number of underrepresented assistant professors of color promoted to the rank of associate professor; and nearly doubled the number of faculty of color in academic leadership and administrative positions.

Duderstadt, the father of two daughters, also strengthened U-M’s commitment to gender equity with the Michigan Agenda for Women, a plan to promote the success of women students and employees of diverse backgrounds.

In 1996, U-M became the first public university to raise $1 billion in a fundraising campaign and the first to earn Wall Street’s Aa1 credit rating. Private giving nearly tripled during his administration, and the university’s endowment grew from $250 million to more than $1.6 billion, at the time the fourth-largest for a public university system.

A champion of technology and innovation, Duderstadt entertained visitors with real-time views of various campus construction projects from his second-floor office in the Fleming Administration Building at a time when webcams were a novelty. By the end of his presidency, U-M was close to completing a massive program to rebuild, renovate and update all its campus buildings, a $1.5-billion effort.

A prolific writer, Duderstadt authored 23 books, including “Intercollegiate Athletics and the American University, A University President’s Perspective,” which won the University Press Book Award in 2002.

Raising concerns about the dangers that college sports programs pose to higher education, he wrote: “Big-time college sports have threatened the integrity and reputation of our universities, exposing us to the hypocrisy, corruption, and scandal that all too frequently accompany activities driven primarily by commercial value and public visibility.”

Duderstadt offered controversial suggestions for reform, including eliminating athletic scholarships, reducing coaches’ salaries and limiting the length of sports schedules.

Duderstadt is survived by his wife, Anne; daughters Susan Kay (John Iskander) of Atlanta and Katherine Anne (Nathan Schwadron) of Newton, Massachusetts; and grandchildren Eleanor Aida Iskander, Jonas Luca Iskander, Marina Anne Schwadron and Jane Maria Schwadron.