EDITORS: Photo available on request.

ANN ARBOR—Each morning as he looks out his window, Stephen Director, dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan, gazes at a life-size bronze wolverine, a gift from the College of Engineering Class of 2001. “Each time I look out my window and see the wolverine I’m reminded of those bright and enthusiastic students,” says Director.

Bronze wolverineThe statue is three feet long and a foot and a half high. The fierce looking member of the weasel family, resting on a boulder, mouth open, sharp teeth bared, attracts much attention.

“I understand that many alumni and guests who visited our campus during alumni weekend posed for pictures by the wolverine, which is certainly a testimony of their appreciation,” Director comments.

Surprisingly, before installation of the U-M icon in October, nowhere did the University’s mascot appear outside.

“I was always kinda sad about that,” recalls Mike Miller, president of Engineering Class of 2001, who spearheaded the fund-raising efforts.

Miller and class officers Jason Emeott and Sarah Seidmann ran their class gift proposal past Dean Director. Director loved the idea of donating a bronze wolverine. “I was impressed with their enthusiasm and their good work in preparing their proposal and agreed to have their gifts go towards the sculpture,” he says.

Looking for a local artist to produce the statue, class officers found Dan Heikkinen working in Ypsilanti. Heikkinen graduated from U-M’s School of Art and Design in 1981, and saw the project as a way to give back to the University, using the skills he learned while a student there.

With a stuffed wolverine as his model, Heikkinen carved a petroleum based wax mold, then passed it on to the Pappas Art Foundry, also in Ypsilanti. Rubber molds encased in plaster were produced after cutting the wax wolverine into seven pieces. These pieces were cast in bronze and welded back together. After restoring the original look of the wolverine, a patina was added giving it a light brown appearance.

Next the statue traveled to Dixie Cut Stone & Marble in Bridgeport, Mich., to be mounted on a granite boulder.

The finished wolverine came to the University and was placed behind the Robert H. Lurie Engineering Center on North Campus, a site Miller and his group selected in conjunction with the University’s planner and college administrators.

“We knew that since it was an engineering class gift we really wanted it in the engineering campus,” Miller says, and the Lurie Center provided the most exposure.

Miller is especially fond of the site because “you can get a picture of the wolverine with the bell tower in the background.”

To date, 21.5 percent of the class has pledged support for the wolverine; Miller, now working in the state of Washington, emphasizes that donations are still welcome. They can be sent to: U-M College of Engineering, Robert H. Lurie Engineering Center, 1221 Beal Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2102 (2001 Wolverine should be written on the memo of the check).

Stephen DirectorSchool of Art and DesignRobert H. Lurie Engineering Centerwith the bell tower in the background