Look to Michigan

A Campaign for Leadership and Innovation in Dentistry

The upcoming year marks an extraordinary chapter for the School of Dentistry, as we will celebrate our 150th anniversary – a milestone rich with pride and purpose. Alongside this historic celebration, we are thrilled to launch our piece of the larger university-wide Look to Michigan capital campaign. This is more than a fundraising endeavor; it’s an invitation to our alumni, faculty, students, friends and supporters to come together to champion the innovation, collaboration and impact that define the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. We want the world to “Look to Michigan for the future of oral health.”

Building on a foundation of excellence, the campaign will seek resources that will allow the school to continue to solve the biggest challenges in oral health, to shape the future of the profession, and to ensure healthier lives for patients around the world. Through extensive collaboration and generous contributions, the School of Dentistry will cement its position as a top-ranked university, providing worldclass education and care in modernized facilities, fostering interdisciplinary research that drives innovative solutions in state-of-the-art scientific environments, and ensuring that graduates entering the profession from the U-M School of Dentistry are the leaders for its future.

The campaign structure is focused on four areas that will catalyze conversations between alumni, faculty and the larger healthcare community as we work together to champion the future of the school and the dental practice:

• Aesthetic Environments in which to work and seek care.

• Innovation and Research to pioneer oral health breakthroughs.

• Community of Belonging that elevates diverse voices and reaches underserved populations.

• Empowered Next Generation of practitioners with the tools, guidance, and opportunities to thrive.

This campaign honors the School’s 150-year history and sets the stage for the next 150 years and beyond. Dean Jacques Nör said the entire dental school community – administrators, faculty, students, staff, alumni and corporate friends – can be immensely proud of the school’s history and its well-earned global reputation for excellence in dental education, clinical care and trailblazing research. However, an all-important responsibility of today’s leaders must be to look more often at the future than at the past.

“Our school has always been amazing,” Nör said. “Beginning in 1875, we have taught the world dentistry. We’ve always pushed boundaries and led with innovative thought for the profession. But we can’t rest on our laurels and just maintain the status quo. We have to keep moving and thinking ahead.”

This new campaign will involve an extensive array of alumni, current and former faculty, corporate partners, and friends of the school, united in their commitment to support our school, our students and our legacy. We are grateful to the donors who have enthusiastically and generously supported the school for generations, and look to strengthen and create meaningful relationships that allow us to achieve our goals.

As a public, nonprofit institution, U-M relies on philanthropic gifts to deliver world-class education and research that would not be attainable relying solely on government funding and tuition. State funding, in particular, has declined significantly over the last three decades. Financial gifts allow the school to attract qualified students from all backgrounds, recruit outstanding faculty, fund innovative research, improve teaching methods, add creative programming, modernize facilities and maintain the cutting-edge equipment required to keep up with technological and educational advances in the profession.

The School of Dentistry benefits from many types of gifts – individuals contributing regularly, foundations dedicated to public betterment, and corporate partners ready to bolster our ability to innovate in the field. Carrie Towns, Chief Development Officer and a leader of the campaign strategy, says the campaign, like previous ones (Victors for Michigan ran from 2013-2018), serves to keep the dental school community focused on the vital task of anticipating and preparing for the future. “Just like in our own personal financial health, we have to be diverse in how we plan for the future,” she said.

As our campaign ramps up in 2025, be on the lookout for ways to get more involved with the university and support its future. Our team is busy planning events, activities and opportunities to engage with you! Donors can specify how their gifts are used, including for:

• Scholarships that bring dreams within reach for aspiring dental students.

• Endowed chairs and professorships that attract and retain top ranked faculty.

• Research funding that supports innovation and the practical application of cutting-edge science.

• Capital investments for the modernization of facilities and creation of state-of-the-art clinical spaces.

• Outreach programs that extend care to those most in need, teaching the importance of oral health, and making a direct impact on community well-being, both locally and internationally.

“With ‘Look to Michigan,’ we are laying the foundation for a new era in dentistry – in addition to being an opportunity to build the legacy of the school together,” Towns said. “Every gift, every partnership and every idea brings us closer to a transformative impact in dentistry, closer to breakthroughs that will redefine what’s possible for generations to come.”