Google co-founder and U-M alum Larry Page (’95) will deliver the spring 2009 commencement address.

Chair of the University of Michigan’s Department of Neurosurgery, Dr. Karin Muraszko shines as both a brain surgeon and a person. In this moving video, originally produced by Michigan Television for the Big Ten Network, Dr. Muraszko describes the challenges of brain surgery, overcoming disability and sexism, and helping families face the possible loss of a child.

After years of effort, false starts, and faulty decisions, the U.S. auto industry is remaking itself. U-M, with its historic ties to the carmakers, continues to push Detroit’s technology and policy forward.

Related:

• U-M and GM open $5 million advanced battery research lab
• Video: U-M auto expert describes the latest gas-saving technologies

Your life was probably changed forever by the dorm you were assigned to. But in U-M’s early years, there were no dorms.

Bad news for a promising new idea about cancer. The cancer stem-cell model must be reassessed because it is based largely on evidence from a laboratory test that is surprisingly flawed when applied to some cancers, U-M researchers have concluded.

• Several alums considered for the Obama administration.
• The NY Times calls U-M a “Rust-Belt oasis.”
• Alum and former Regent Phil Power finds reasons to be optimistic about Michigan’s future.
• ESPN blogged about the transformation of men’s hoops.
• …And more

Is obesity all in your head? New research by an international team co-led by U-M suggests that genes that predispose people to obesity act in the brain — not on metabolic functions such as fat storage — and that perhaps some people are simply hardwired to overeat.

Going outside, even in the cold, improves memory and attention.

Hello, dear. How are we doing today?