Samuel and Jean Frankel’s foundation made an anonymous gift of $25 million in 2007 to support the Cardiovascular Center at the University of Michigan. This year, the former U-M students’ foundation gave another $25 million to the Cardiovascular Center, making the late couple among the most generous philanthropists to advance health care at the University.

The University of Michigan Medical School has risen to 8th in the nation among research-based medical schools, tied with Columbia University, Duke University, and the University of Chicago. This is up two spots from last year. Medical School specialties that rank in the top 15 in the country include Internal Medicine at No. 6, Women’s Health and Geriatrics at No. 7, Family Medicine at No. 8, and Pediatrics at No. 13.

The University of Michigan broke ground on a $50 million School of Nursing in Ann Arbor that officials say will help better train students for jobs in a variety of health care fields. “The students are incredibly excited,” says Dean Kathleen Potempa. “This is the first time in our 125-year history that we will occupy a building specifically designed for education.” The 78,000-square-foot facility at Kingsley and Cornwell streets on the north side of Ann Arbor will open in 2015.

A team of engineers from the University of Michigan is currently finishing the Generation, their latest solar car. U-M is a regular favorite to win the biggest solar car competitions: the North American Solar Challenge (from Tulsa, OK to Naperville, IL) and the World Solar Challenge (from Darwin, Australia, to Adelaide). The Generation is the team’s entry into the 2013 World Solar Challenge, which begins this October, and the competition in 2013 has more strict requirements than in years past. The goal of the new regs is to get the slew of entrants to create cars that resemble something—anything—that could finds its way onto a showroom floor. Among the criteria: The cars must have four wheels, a full field-of-vision for the driver, and a seat that’s higher than the driver’s feet.

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo will speak at the University of Michigan’s spring commencement ceremony on May 4 at Michigan Stadium. U-M alumnus Costolo will give the keynote address and receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University. Costolo last visited campus in November, when he gave a talk about his experience as the top executive of one of the most popular social media companies in the world.

A radar-based concept originally developed to detect suicide bombs abroad could be used to find people carrying concealed weapons in a crowd here at home, U-M researcher Kamal Sarabandi says. The Defense Department funded Sarabandi’s research for years, because his technology can detect bombs under clothes. But now, after the Newtown school shooting, Sarabandi wants to see if his research could be used to find concealed guns in crowded places, including malls, airports, stadiums, and schools.

Audio: What if the old “apple-a-day” approach to health is wrong? Normally, we’re completely focused on the details of a prescription for a healthy life—an apple a day, eight hours of sleep, 30 minutes of exercise, no cigarettes, no saturated fats, limited sodium, and so on. But what if you started with the big picture instead—like, your purpose in life? It sounds a little ambitious, but Vic Strecher, director for innovation and social entrepreneurship at the U-M School of Public Health, says that’s the kind of approach we should take to see meaningful, healthy behavior change.