U of M and DOW

Unfortunately, the University of Michigan is closely associated with Dow Chemical. Our research has uncovered a number of connections; some of the more important are listed below.

“Strong Partnership”

In a Sept. 19, 2000 press release, the University's News and Information Services spoke of the “strong partnership the University and Dow Chemical have enjoyed over the years not only in financial support but also in research initiatives.” The same press release spoke of the “Exceptional support and partnership over the years” between the University and Dow.

The Dow Chemical Company has been one of our most committed corporate partners,” Business School Dean B. Joseph White said. “We are grateful to Dow—for their generosity, for their support, and for their trust.”

Financial Ties

More than $10 million in direct contributions as of Sept. 2000, placing Dow among the 26 largest all-time donors to the University.

A $2.5 million gift from the Dow Chemical Company Foundation, used to fund an endowed professorship: The Dow Chemical Company Professor of Sustainable Science, Technology, and Commerce. The professorship is a joint appointment between the UM Business School and SNRE, created with the Sept. 2000 gift. The other $500,000 will support the creation of the Dow Chemical Company Sustainable Research Facility in the Dana Building.

Dow awarded $1.2 million to the UM School of Public Heath in 1996. These funds created a Dow Professorship, focusing on “the health effects, risks and benefits of chemicals in the environment.”

In June 2001, James Baker Jr, MD, was named as the first Ruth Dow Doan Professor of Biological Nanotechnology. The professorship was established in memory of the daughter of the founder of Dow Chemical Company. The professorship was funded, in part, by the Herbert and Junia Doan Foundation and the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation.

Michael Solomon is the Dow Corning Assistant Professor, an assistant professor of Chemical Engineering and Macro.

Dow is a member of the Dean's Circle for cumulative giving of over $2 million to the UM Business school.

A 2001 gift of $5 million by the Gerstacker Foundation is helping to fund a new College of Engineering laboratory facility. The new building will be named after Carl Gerstacker, former chairman of Dow Chemical Company. “The gift increases to over $8 million the total amount awarded by the Foundation to U-M's College of Engineering. Past contributions have supported endowments for graduate fellowships and faculty development.”

The Herbert H. Dow Building (1983), home of the Departments of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, was a gift of the Herbert H. Dow Foundation and the Harry and Margaret Towsley Foundation. Margaret Towsley was a daughter of Herbert Henry Dow, the founder of the Dow Chemical Company. She founded the Foundation in 1959 with an initial gift of $4 million in Dow Chemical stock.

The Margaret Dow Towsley wing in the Earl V. Moore School of Music on North Campus houses the Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments.

Dow supports the Center for Advanced Polymer Engineering Research (CAPER), the Minority Engineering Program Office, the Macromolecular Science and Engineering Center, the Kanicki Group at the University of Michigan Organic and Molecular Electronics Laboratory, the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM), the Center for Sustainable Systems, some Chemical Engineering Scholarships, and provides partial funding for third-year Corporate Environmental Management Program students.

Alumni Ties

Approximately 600 alumni are employed by Dow (as of Sept. 2000)

Dow Chemical Company Business President Bob Wood is a UM alumnus.

Administrative Ties

Scott Noesen of Dow Chemical is President of the Corporate Environmental Management Program (CEMP) Advisory Board at UM. CEMP is a dual degree program between the Business School and the School of Natural Resources and the Environment; one of its largest funders is Dow Chemical.

Harold T. Shapiro was the 10th president of the University of Michigan, serving from 1980 to 1987. He has served on the Board of Directors of Dow Chemical since 1985. The Shapiro Undergraduate
Library at UM is named after him.

The UM Department of Chemical Engineering taught an extension course in Midland in cooperation with Dow Chemical, 1995.

Sponsorship Ties

Dow Chemical co-sponsored the 16th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education (2000), the 2002 ASEE Summer School for Chemical Engineering Faculty in Boulder, Colorado, and the “Sustainable Human Development” lecture series in the 1999-2000 school year.

Research and Advisory Ties

The William Davidson Institute of the University of Michigan has recommended growth ideas for Dow in Latin America and developed a credit risk for Dow in SE Asia, among other research and advice. Three UM students were sent to Sao Paulo in the summer of 2000 to conduct research and analysis for Dow, under the auspices of the Davidson Institute.

There is a lot of evidence of heavy collaboration between the University and Dow in research initiatives and funding, but this is still being tabulated.