‘My interest has always been in building things’
Duderstadt also held the title of University Professor of Science and Engineering, and was a former provost and dean of the College of Engineering.
Known as ”The Dude” to students and alumni, Duderstadt was the university’s 11th president from 1988-96 before stepping down to lead the Millennium Project, a research center focusing on the impact of societal, economic and technological changes on universities.
The Millennium Project is located on North Campus in the James and Anne Duderstadt Center, which was named in the Duderstadts’ honor in 2003. He also co-founded and, in its early years, co-directed U-M’s program in Science, Technology and Public Policy, and chaired the Michigan Energy Research Council coordinating energy research on the Ann Arbor campus.
“My interest has always been in building things — theories, projects. If you’re interested in building things, you eventually get interested in building organizations,” Duderstadt told an Ann Arbor News reporter in 1985.
Midwestern roots
James J. Duderstadt, the 11th president of the University of Michigan, died Aug. 21 at age 81. (Image credit: Peter Mathews, Michigan Photography)
His skill in leading one of the world’s great research universities was rooted in a simple Midwestern upbringing. Duderstadt was born Dec. 5, 1942, in Fort Madison, Iowa, and was raised in the small, German farming community of Carrollton, Mo., where he was an all-A’s student, played varsity football, basketball, and baseball, and was a member of the track team.
Duderstadt, 6 feet 4 inches tall and trimly built, played football in his freshman and sophomore years at Yale University, from which he graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Engineering degree in electrical engineering in 1964. That same year, he married his high school sweetheart, Anne Marie Lock. Duderstadt always credited his wife as a strong partner during his tenure as president.
He earned two degrees from the California Institute of Technology: a Master of Science in engineering science in 1965 and PhD in engineering science and physics in 1967. He also was an Atomic Energy Commission Postdoctoral Fellow at Caltech before joining the U-M faculty in 1969.
“James Duderstadt was a visionary, but even more, a trained engineer with the inspiration and energy to shape those visions into realities for the transformation and elevation of this University,” President Santa J. Ono said.
“He leaves behind a profound and lasting legacy, and we will always be grateful for his vision, his commitment, and his transformative impact on the University of Michigan.”
Trailblazer
Duderstadt received the College of Engineering’s Nuclear Engineering Teacher of the Year Award in 1969 and the Outstanding Teacher Award in 1980. His teaching and research interests were vast, and included diverse applications of physics and mathematics, nuclear systems, science policy, information technology, higher education policy and engineering education.
As College of Engineering dean, he oversaw an investment of approximately $70 million in new construction for facilities that allowed the college to fully establish itself on North Campus. Appointed in 1981, he was the youngest dean in CoE history and served until 1986.
James J. Duderstadt addresses the audience at his inauguration as the University’s 11th president on Oct. 6, 1988. (Image courtesy of U-M’s Bentley Historical Library)
Duderstadt, who was named provost and vice president for academic affairs in 1986, was decisive and believed that educated people could build and control their own futures. He outlined a strategic planning process that challenged the University community to anticipate the needs for higher education in the 21st century and map a strategy for meeting those needs. He predicted the future would be dominated by three crucial elements: knowledge, globalization, and pluralism.
As president, he sought to strengthen U-M’s academic programs, diversify its student body and faculty, build strong private and federal support, rebuild facilities on U-M campuses, and strengthen its leadership role in higher education.
Duderstadt demonstrated an unwavering commitment to diversity and equality in higher education. In his first State of the University address, he declared, “If we do not create a nation that mobilizes the talents of all of our citizens, we are destined for a diminished role in the global community, increased social turbulence, and we will, most tragically, have failed to fulfill the promise of democracy on which this nation was founded.”
He launched the Michigan Mandate, a strategic plan to make U-M a leader in building a multicultural community. The University more than doubled its number of students of color, from 11% to 25%; increased retention of students of color; doubled the number of underrepresented assistant professors of color promoted to the rank of associate professor; and nearly doubled the number of faculty of color in academic leadership and administrative positions.
Duderstadt, the father of two daughters, also strengthened U-M’s commitment to gender equity with the Michigan Agenda for Women, a plan to promote the success of women students and employees of diverse backgrounds.
Record setter
President Emeritus James J. Duderstadt (right) talks with former U.S. president and U-M alumnus Gerald R. Ford (left) and Charles D. Moody Sr., vice provost emeritus for minority affairs and professor emeritus of education, at a March 11, 2005, event. (Image credit: Bob Kalmbach, Michigan Photography)
In 1996, U-M became the first public university to raise $1 billion in a fundraising campaign and the first to earn Wall Street’s Aa1 credit rating. Private giving nearly tripled during his administration, and the University’s endowment grew from $250 million to more than $1.6 billion, at the time the fourth-largest for a public university system.
A champion of technology and innovation, Duderstadt entertained visitors with real-time views of various campus construction projects from his second-floor office in the Fleming Administration Building at a time when webcams were a novelty. By the end of his presidency, U-M was close to completing a massive program to rebuild, renovate, and update all its campus buildings, a $1.5 billion effort.
During his career, Duderstadt received many awards and honorary degrees for his research, teaching, and service activities. They include the E. O. Lawrence Award for excellence in nuclear research, the Arthur Holly Compton Prize for outstanding teaching, the National Medal of Technology for exemplary service to the nation, and the Vannevar Bush Award for lifelong contributions to the welfare of the nation through public service activities in science, technology, and public policy.
He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Science, Phi Beta Kappa, and Tau Beta Pi.
He chaired or served on several national study commissions examining federal science policy, higher education, information technology, and energy sciences. These include the National Science Board; committees of the National Academies; the National Commission on the Future of Higher Education and the Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee of the Department of Energy.
He also served on the boards of the Big Ten Athletic Conference, U-M Hospitals, Unisys and CMS Energy; chaired the Policy and Global Affairs Division of the National Research Council; co-directed the Glion Colloquium; was a nonresident Senior Fellow of the Brookings Institution; and chaired the board of directors of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors Nuclear Energy Innovation Hub.
A man of letters
President Emeritus James J. Duderstadt and his wife, Anne, at the March 19, 2004, ceremony celebrating the naming of the James and Anne Duderstadt Center on North Campus. (Image credit: Paul Jaronski, Michigan Photography)
A prolific writer, Duderstadt authored 23 books, including Intercollegiate Athletics and the American University, A University President’s Perspective, which won the University Press Book Award in 2002.
Raising concerns about the dangers that college sports programs pose to higher education, he wrote: “Big-time college sports have threatened the integrity and reputation of our universities, exposing us to the hypocrisy, corruption, and scandal that all too frequently accompany activities driven primarily by commercial value and public visibility.”
Duderstadt offered controversial suggestions for reform, including eliminating athletic scholarships, reducing coaches’ salaries, and limiting the length of sports schedules.
Duderstadt is survived by his wife, Anne; daughters Susan Kay (John Iskander) of Atlanta, and Katherine Anne (Nathan Schwadron) of Newton, Massachusetts; and grandchildren Eleanor Aida Iskander, Jonas Luca Iskander, Marina Anne Schwadron and Jane Maria Schwadron.
(Lead image: President Emeritus James J. Duderstadt (center), President Emeritus Harold T. Shapiro (left), and former president Lee C. Bollinger (right) were part of an April 6, 2017, panel discussion marking the University’s bicentennial celebration. Image credit: Austin Thomason, Michigan Photography.)
Don Kenney - MSE 1972, PhD 1976
I knew Jim well as he served on my PhD thesis committee. I also knew him at St Mary’s Student Parish where we both served on the Parish Council. Jim was a man of the highest character, with unlimited energy. I never saw him after my PhD days, but I thought of him often as I saw him advancing in his roles at the University of MIchigan.
Reply
Angela Lindner - 1998, Environmental Engineering, Ph.D.
As a graduate student whose time overlapped with Dr. Duderstadt’s tenure as president, I felt a sense of belonging to the mostly male College of Engineering. He established expectations that to be a Wolverine means to welcome and support diversity in a manner consistent with his own demeanor—actions speaking more loudly than words. I still harbor an image of him in the pews at St. Mary’s on Sundays worshipping with students and faculty as one of us. His humility struck me deeply. Years later, I encountered him again at one of the first Art and Engineering conferences held in the Duderstadt Center. Whether it was on issues of DEI, technology and humanities, and more, he could see the big picture of things and where the parts must fit to make higher education whole. Oh that we could have more such leaders today. Prayers for Dr. Duderstadt’s family and friends.
Reply
Charles Gessner - 1961 BSE 1963 MBA
You said it just right. He was one of the best presidents that Michigan thrived under. His leadership was all encompassing.
Reply
John Engdahl - BSE 1974, MSE ‘75, PhD ‘78
Jim was a great teacher, a great intellectual, and simply one of the nicest guys. A sad loss. My deepest condolences to Anne.
Reply
Ken Phifer - NA
I met Jim Duderstadt on the track where each of us was a middle-aged jogger. We learned of our similar experiences in college, choosing the wider university over playing football, he at Yale and I at Harvard. I was impressed at the way he attempted to clean up and correct college sports, though it would appear that was not a successful venture. His talk at my church (First UU Congregation) was brilliant, laying out what he regarded as a sensible way of doing athletics at the collegiate level.
But what I most remember him for was his kindness to one of my daughters, a recent graduate of Washtenaw Community College and a new enrollee in the College of Engineering. She was frankly terrified that she would not be able to do the work. Jim met with us in his office and talked with us for over an hour and a half, spelling out what life as an engineering student was like and what the possibilities were upon graduation. My daughter left with a new sense of confidence.
This was justified as she graduated at the top of her undergraduate class, took a masters degree and then a doctorate in civil engineering. Jim and Anne sent her not just a congratulatory note, but a wonderful book about their years at UM. What a gracious and thoughtful man Jim Duderstadt was. Oh, yes, he was very smart and did many useful things, But I remember the man for being so nice.
The world is the richer for his having lived and the poorer now that he is no longer with us.
Rev. Dr. Kenneth W. Phifer
Reply
Cletus Bost - 1971, 1978
Jim Duderstadt was my Quantum Mechanics professor in 1970 at UofM. He was a pure genius in academic areas and instilled in me a desire to lead. We shall not see his likes again.
Reply
Don Spong - 1971, 1976
I enjoyed Jim Duderstadt’s introductory Quantum Mechanics/Nuclear Physics course as a graduate student in the early 1970s. Jim had a way of instilling enthusiasm and energy in his teaching. He also had a talent for reducing complex topics down to a few salient points. I feel very fortunate to have benefitted from this experience.
Reply
Guru Gurushankar - 1991, 1995
He was a giant in the field – technically and administratively. All of us will miss him.
I entered the Nuclear Engineering Department for my graduate studies in 1989. He was the University President by then. His textbook “Nuclear Reactor Theory” was the first course we took in the Fall & subsequent Spring. Usually, Prof Duderstadt would teach it, but with his administrative duties, Prof. Ed Larsen, fresh from Los Alamos, taught those two courses. I loved the book and the course – complex and challenging – yet enjoyed it!
A few years later, following my thesis defense in ’95, I walked up to his office on central campus, thanked him, and spent a few minutes with him to convey my regards and appreciation. I asked him to sign his textbook. he smiled and said, “It is just a course. I’m glad you liked it.. best wishes to you in the future…” I still have this book, and it will be a prized and cherished possession of mine. It was an enjoyable 20-30 minute meeting. In the next year or so, he stepped down and returned to the nuclear department to teach.
Giants like this are as rare as comets – and do leave a blazing trail.
Reply
Randal Salvatore - 1990
Sad to hear the news of Jim Duderstadt’s passing. He was a great university president.
As a lowly undergrad student, I once sent him a suggestion through email, thinking a guy like him would probably never have time to even read it. What do you know — a few days later I received back a thoughtful and personal response. I was always impressed that he took the time to listen and address questions and suggestions. He had a great sense of humor as well.
Great to see the other stories and comments of experiences with Jim Duderstadt on here. Thanks!
Reply