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 December 1973, President Richard Nixon
appointed Ford to the vice presidency following the
resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew. Ford then
became president when Nixon resigned in August 1974.
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.