ANN ARBOR—The University of Michigan School of Public Policy will be renamed the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy in honor of the former president and U-M alumnus, whose presidential library is also located on campus. The name change will be submitted to the U-M Board of Regents for approval at its meeting Thursday (Nov. 18).

“To have a school named after you is among the greatest honors that can come to an American,” Ford says. “To have this school, set on a campus I have always loved and dedicated to the profession of public service,bear my name is both humbling and profoundly gratifying.”

Rebecca M. Blank, U-M dean of public policy, says that the name change is important for the School, which is working to expand its current programs and raise its visibility.

“It helps us honor Gerald Ford and affirm our commitment to training students who are as committed to public service as he has been,” Blank says. “It also raises the visibility of our School by associating it with one of the University’s most prominent alumni and one of the state’s most effective politicians.”

Ford, who graduated from the University in 1935 with a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science, served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. In Prior to occupying the White House, Ford was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1973, serving as House minority leader during the last eight years of his congressional tenure. While in Congress, he also was appointed to the Warren Commission investigating the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Before embarking on a career in public office, Ford?a collegiate football standout at Michigan?turned down offers to play professional football with the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions in order to attend Yale Law School. After earning a law degree in 1941, he practiced law in Grand Rapids, Mich., and served with the U.S. Navy for four years, including two-and-a-half years in the South Pacific on a combat aircraft carrier during World War II.

“For over half a century, President Ford has reflected honor on this University and every office he has filled,” says U-M President Lee C. Bollinger. “Whether carrying the banner for bipartisan foreign policy in the wake of World War II, seeking constructive solutions during his long and influential career in Congress, restoring faith in our nation’s highest office, or speaking out on issues of conscience as a much admired elder statesman, he has embodied the highest standards of individual integrity and public service.

“His life and example should serve as a great inspiration for students aspiring to careers in the public sphere.”

U-M Provost Nancy E. Cantor says, “As the School strives to build on its strong reputation of training public policy professionals for all levels of government, its renaming will serve as a constant reminder of the high ideals embodied in President Ford’s life and career.”

The U-M School of Public Policy traces its beginnings to 1914, when the University founded the Institute of Public Administration?one of the first programs of its kind in the nation. In 1968, the Institute was reorganized as the Institute of Public Policy Studies and was later re-established as the School of Public Policy in 1995.

It offers doctoral and master’s degrees in public policy, a master’s degree in public administration, and an accelerated bachelor’s/master’s in public policy degree program for undergraduates, as well as joint and dual graduate degree programs with the schools of business, law, information, natural resources and environment, public health, and social work.

The School’s programs are interdisciplinary and flexible, designed to prepare students to work in a complex world of policy analysis and public management. Students are trained in economic, political, organizational and quantitative analysis in both domestic and international policy. Faculty, most of whom have joint appointments with other academic departments, are nationally renowned for their research, teaching and the practice of public policy.

Many of the School’s graduates work in government at the national, state, and local levels, and on public policy concerns from the private or non-profit sectors. Within Michigan, alumni of the program serve as city manager of Grand Rapids, deputy treasurer of the state of Michigan, financial director of the city of Detroit, president of Public Sector Consultants in Lansing, and in staff positions throughout state and municipal government.

In addition to the newly named Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, the U-M campus is home to the Gerald R. Ford Library, which houses Ford’s presidential papers and other historical materials of his years in public life. The Library contains more than 20 million documents and hosts an ambitious series of conferences and other programs.

“I look forward to developing closer ties between the newly renamed Ford School of Public Policy and the Presidential Library,” says Richard Norton Smith, director of the Ford Library and Ford Museum, located in Grand Rapids.

A selection of 200 dpi .JPG black and white photos of Gerald Ford are available at http://www.umich.edu/~newsinfo/Photos/Ford/ford.html.

Lee C. BollingerNancy E. CantorGerald R. Ford LibraryFord Museumhttp://www.umich.edu/~newsinfo/Photos/Ford/ford.html