History of the University of Michigan

The history of the University of Michigan traces back to the colonial era of New France, beginning as a system of Christian schools located at or near Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit.^[1] By the turn of the 19th century, the students and teachers at these schools had formed a corporation under the leadership of parish minister Gabriel Richard.^[2] The corporation's rights and legal status were later formally defined under the new constitution of the Territory of Michigan, which officially established it in 1817 as the Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania, by the territorial government.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

The entity formed in 1817 is the direct legal antecedent to today's University of Michigan, thereby making it the oldest institution of higher education in the State of Michigan. At its foundation, the Catholepistemiad oversaw all cultural establishments within the territory^[8][9] and only relinquished its control over the territory's preparatory schools after the passage of the first public school law on April 12, 1827.^[10][11] Michigan was the second U.S. institution to issue the Bachelor of Science degree in 1855, following Harvard's Lawrence Scientific School.^[12] Its university hospital, which opened in 1869, is the oldest in the country.^[13]

The university was one of the early doctoral-granting U.S. institutions in the late 19th century, awarding its first Doctor of Philosophy degrees in 1876.^[14][15]

The proposal for establishing an institution of higher education in Michigan dates back to 1703, during the colonial period of New France.^[1][16] Just three years after founding Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit on the strait between Lakes Saint Clair and Erie in 1700, the French explorer and later colonial governor of Louisiana, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, wrote to King Louis XIV's minister, Louis Phélypeaux de Pontchartrain, in the royal government in Paris from the settlement under the date of August 31, 1703.^[16] He urged the establishment of a seminary in the newly formed parish of Sainte-Anne-de-Détroit:^[16][1][17]

Permit me to insist upon the great necessity there is for the establishment of a seminary at this place, for the instruction of the children of the savages with those of the French—instructing them in piety, and, at the same time, teaching them our language.

Cadillac had promised to build the colony into what he described as "Paris de la Nouvelle-France."^[18] An institution of instruction, akin to those in Montréal and Québec, would fulfill his vision. At the time, the Jesuits had established the Séminaire de Québec in Quebec City, and the Sulpicians had the Saint-Sulpice in Montréal. Cadillac suggested that this should be the duty of the superiors in Quebec and pledged his future support for the seminary:^[16]

This expense would not be very great; I believe if His Majesty [Louis XIV] would grant a thousand crowns to the seminary at Quebec, that institution would commence this pious and holy work.

However, surviving registres make no mention of a seminary ever being established from the proposal. Jesuit superiors in Quebec likely opposed the idea of creating a seminary in the Pays d'en Haut, due to disputes with Cadillac and fears of rivalry with their own institutions.^[19] Parish records from 1755 identified, nevertheless, a "director of Christian schools", suggesting the influence of the gentle St. John Baptist de La Salle and his famous Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools.^[1] Mentions are made of a seminary at the fort that trained young men for the ministry,^[20] which was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1805,^[20][21] and of a French subscription school that stood near the fort in 1775.^[1] An old account book preserved from 1780 contains charges for tuition dated as early as 1760.^[1]

The colony was surrendered to the British monarchy in 1762 following the French and Indian War. However, the British viewed the colony merely as a trading post and did practically nothing for education, leading to stagnation during their rule from 1763 to 1796.^[22] During this period, the schools became bilingual. In an account by Father François-Xavier Dufaux, he noted:^[23]

In the fort there are four or five schools containing both boys and girls, the most of them English, for they alone are desirous of educating their children, and can afford to do so.

When the Americans took control of the colony with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, the judges of the territorial government were supposed to be called in to formally define the rights and legal status of the Christian schools under the new constitution.

The schools, now under the ministry of Father Gabriel Richard, were scattered throughout the colony.^[24][25] In a memorial addressed to the territorial governor and judges in 1808, Richard mentioned, in addition to the schools in the town of Detroit, “four schools for boys and two for our young ladies, either in town or at Spring Hill, at Grand Marais, or even at River Hurons.” Richard established additional schools for both Indigenous and European children, a library for the church and a printing press.^[25][2] Following the Great Fire of 1805,^[26] he petitioned the Territorial government for land to start a new college^[26] and suggested that a lottery might be used to support the academies he headed.^[27][28][29]

Subsequently, in 1817, the Territorial government, at the instigation of Fr. Richard^[30][22] and Judge Augustus B. Woodward^[30][31] and with the support of President Thomas Jefferson,^[30] passed "an Act to establish the Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania" within the Territory of Michigan. Enacted on August 26, 1817,^[4][5] the Act effectively consolidated the schools into one institution, with Rev. John Monteith, a Presbyterian minister who had arrived in Detroit a year earlier, serving as its president^[32] and Fr. Richard as vice president.^[26] Its didactors had authority not only over the university itself but also over education in the territory in general.^[20][33] The legislative act was signed into law by Acting Governor and Secretary William Woodbridge, Chief Judge Augustus B. Woodward, and Judge John Griffin.^[7][34]

The term "Catholepistemiad," a neologism derived from a blend of Greek and Latin roots, can be loosely translated as "School of Universal Knowledge".^[35][36][37]

The corporation was modeled after an institution established in France a decade earlier, known as the Université imperial, under Emperor Napoleon.^[38][9] Under the act, the Catholepistimiad, or University of Michigania, was to be established with professorships, or didaxiim in thirteen fields of knowledge:^[3] Anthropoglossica (Literature), Mathematica (Mathematics), Physiognostica (Natural History), Physiosophica (Natural Philosophy), Astronomia (Astronomy), Chymia (Chemistry), Iatrica (Medicine), Œconomica (Economical Sciences), Ethica (Ethics), Polemitactica (Military Science), Diëgetica (Historical Sciences), Ennœica (Intellectual Sciences), and Catholepistemia (Universal Science). Initially, Richard was granted six didaxiim, and John Monteith, was granted the other seven. In addition, Monteith was to serve as the university's president and Richard would be its vice president.

The university's didactors had authority over not only the university itself, but education in the territory in general,^[8][9] with the authority to "establish colleges, academies, schools, libraries, museums, atheneums, botanical gardens, laboratories, and other useful literary and scientific institutions consonant to the laws of the United States and of Michigan, and provide for and appoint Directors, Visitors, Curators, Librarians, Instructors and Instructrixes among and throughout the various counties, cities, towns, townships, or other geographical divisions of Michigan."^[8] It was not until the legislative council passed the territory's first public school law on April 12, 1827, which made basic education a municipal duty,^[11] that the corporation focused solely on higher education.^[38]

In September 1817, the university received a subscription from the Zion Masonic Lodge. Of the total amount subscribed to start the university two-thirds came from Zion Lodge and its members.^[39][40][41]

The cornerstone for the first schoolhouse, situated near the intersection of Bates Street and Congress Street in Detroit, was laid on September 24, 1817, and by the following year, a Lancasterian school, taught by Lemuel Shattuck, and a classical academy were operational.^[42] Additional schools were established in Monroe and Mackinaw by the end of September 1817.^[42][34]

In 1821, by a new enactment, the university itself was created as a "body politic and corporate",^[43] maintaining its corporate status through various modifications to its charter.^[34] The new act placed the corporation under the control of a board of trustees.^[44] Rev. Monteith, his office of President abolished, was appointed to the Board of Trustees, but left that summer. Father Richard was also appointed to the board and remained on it until his death in 1832.^[45] The trustees continued to manage the schools and classical academy, but established no new schools.^[10]

In 1817, the Treaty of Fort Meigs was signed between the United States and various Native American tribes. Among its provisions was the ceding of 1,920 acres (7.8 km2) of land by the Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi tribes to the "college at Detroit" for either use or sale, and an equal amount to St. Anne's Church in Detroit, where Father Richard was rector.^[35]

The land granted to the college and the church was of two parts, one consisting of three sections near Macon, Michigan and one consisting of three sections to be selected later, with the college and church each having one-half interest in each section. These latter sections were not selected until 1821, and the university received legal title to them in 1824.^[46] In 1826, the university swapped its interest in the land at Macon for the church's interest in the others.^[47] Though evidence is scant, one historian believes that the land was later sold and the proceeds used in the running of the operation in Detroit.^[48]

In 1971, the university was sued by descendants of the tribes who claimed that the land grant should have been held in trust, with the proceeds used to provide for their education. The court ruled in favor of the university, saying the lands were given as an outright gift (due in part to the tribes' affection for Richard), and the Michigan Court of Appeals upheld the ruling in 1981.^[47]

The Land Ordinance of 1785 specified that each township should set aside land to be rented out to support public schools. The assumption by the territory of responsibility for education is expressed in Section 1, Article XI of the Northwest Ordinance, which was enacted two years later:^[49][50][51]

Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.

By 1827, the territory's first public school law mandated that local governments organize school districts within a township, with township officials responsible for drawing district boundaries and requiring any township with 50 or more families to provide a schoolmaster.^[11] Thereafter, the university ceased its oversight of the territory's preparatory schools and leased the Detroit schoolhouse to private teachers.^[10] The following year, the territory's first public school, the Bridge School in Raisinville Township, was created under local governance.^[11]

Following Michigan's admission to the Union in 1837, an organic act was passed on March 18, 1837, to reorganize the university under a twelve-member board of regents.^[38] The regents met in Ann Arbor and accepted the town's proposal for the university to relocate,^[52][53] based on a 40 acres (16 ha) grant from the Treaty of Fort Meigs^[54][55] on Judge Henry Rumsey's farmland.^[56][57]

The approved campus plans for the university were drawn up by the architect Alexander Davis. Davis designed an elaborate Gothic main building with a large lawn in front, wide avenues, and botanical gardens, all arranged to evoke the French château aesthetic.^[59] He also provided possible sites for future buildings; however, the plans were never executed.^[60] Instead, four houses for professors were authorized. Historians attribute the abandonment of the original plan to the financial constraints the university faced as a result of the Panic of 1837.^[61][62] Construction began in 1839, and in 1841, Mason Hall, the first campus building, was completed, followed by the construction of South College, a nearly identical building to the south, in 1849, leaving a gap for a future grand centerpiece.^[60]

The first classes in Ann Arbor were held in 1841, with six freshmen and one sophomore taught by two professors, Joseph Whiting and George Palmer Williams.^[63][64] Asa Gray was the first professor appointed following the university's move to Ann Arbor in 1837.^{[65][66][67][68]} He and the regents were both involved in stocking the university library.^[69][70] In 1846, Louis Fasquelle, a native of France, was appointed as the first professor of modern languages, primarily teaching French and writing textbooks.^[69] French became the first modern language taught at the university. During the first commencement in 1845, eleven graduates, including Judson Collins, were awarded Bachelor of Arts degrees.^[71]

In subsequent years, the regents established branches throughout the state to function as preparatory schools for the university.^[72] They began with a branch in Pontiac, soon expanding to Kalamazoo, Detroit, Niles, Tecumseh, White Pigeon, and Romeo.^[72] However, these branches struggled to enroll students, leading some to merge with local colleges.^[72] Notably, Kalamazoo College operated as the Kalamazoo Branch of the University of Michigan from 1840 to 1850.^[72]

The administration during the early years of the university was complicated and designed to keep it tightly under state authority. The university's business was often intertwined with state affairs. The position of chancellor of the university, created by the organic act in 1837,^[73] was never filled, and the positions on the board of regents, appointed by the governor, were often held by state officials. The lieutenant governor, the justices of the Michigan Supreme Court, and the chancellor of the state all served as ex officio members of the board, with the governor himself chairing the board.^[74] The regents' powers were shared with a rotating roster of professors, who were responsible for some vague aspects of the university's administrative duties; however, all important decisions had to be made by the governor and his party.^[75][76][77] There were several attempts to gain independence from the state legislature, but progress was slow until the late 1840s, when the regents gained leverage, supported by Michigan citizens.^[76] This shift culminated in a revision of the organic act on April 8, 1851, which freed the university from legislative control, transitioned the regent positions from appointed to elected, and established a president selected by the regents.^[76]

• Southeast Professors' House, built 1839
• Northwest Professors' House, built 1839
• Northeast Professors' House, built 1839
• Mason Hall, built 1841
• South College, built 1849

Henry Philip Tappan became the university's first president in 1852, with the ambition to shape the institution as a model for future universities.^[74] During his decade of service, he overhauled the curriculum,^[79] expanded the library and museum collections,^[79] established the law school,^[38] and supervised the construction of the Detroit Observatory.^[79][80]

Tappan's tenure also saw the creation of the Michigan Glee Club, the oldest student organization at the university, and the publication of the first student newspaper, The Peninsular Phoenix and Gazetteer, in 1857.^[81][82]

Despite these accomplishments, Tappan's 11-year presidency was marked by considerable tension.^[79] His impartial stance on religion faced backlash during a time of heightened religious fervor.^[79] Due to changes in the Board of Regents and discontent with his administration, he was forced to resign in 1863.^[79][83]

One of Tappan's major reforms was the secularization of faculty appointments, prioritizing merit in selections^[79] and breaking away from the backward tradition of regents distributing positions among Protestant denominations.^[79]

In 1855, Michigan became the second university in the country to issue Bachelor of Science degrees.^[12] The following year, the country's first chemical laboratory was built on campus, specifically designed for chemistry education, providing additional space for classes and laboratories.^[84]

The Medical School was founded in 1848, and graduated 90 physicians in 1852. It opened the first university-owned hospital in the U.S. in 1869. By the 1860s, more than five hundreds students were studying at the Medical School.

• Detroit Observatory, built 1853
• Old Medical Building, built 1848
• Old Haven Hall, 1863

In 1863, Erastus Otis Haven took office as president, having been a professor at the time and needing to prove his right for the presidency.^[85] The campus was divided by conflicting views among students, faculty, and regents regarding Tappan's restoration, the homeopathy crisis, and the Civil War.^[85] Haven's administration faced routine administrative difficulties and struggled to garner support for increased state aid, despite achieving modest gains.^[85] The university, which had received a fixed $15,000 since 1869, still required additional funding.^[85] Frustrated, Haven resigned in 1869 to become president of Northwestern, a Methodist institution, a move that sectarians viewed as a setback for secular colleges.^[85]

The presidency remained vacant from 1869 to 1871, with Professor Henry Simmons Frieze serving as acting president.^[86] During this period, the university raised funds for University Hall, overhauled admissions with a diploma system, and introduced coeducation.^[86] Frieze, a champion of music education, also established the University Musical Society.^[86]

By the late 1860s, the university had become one of the largest in the nation, alongside Harvard in Cambridge.^[87] The first female student, Madelon Louisa Stockwell (lit. 1872) of Kalamazoo, Michigan, was admitted in 1870,^[88] although Alice Robinson Boise Wood was the first woman to attend classes in 1866.^[89] In 1871, Sarah Killgore became the first woman to graduate from law school and be admitted to the bar of any state in the United States.^[90]

The university's first known African American student, Samuel Codes Watson, was admitted as a medical student in 1853; the first known African American woman admitted was Mary Henrietta Graham, in 1876 (lit. 1880).^[91] In 1870, Gabriel Franklin Hargo graduated from the law school as the second African American to graduate from a law school in the United States.^[92]

The growing student body led to unruliness. In 1872, Ann Arbor hosted 49 saloons, and the spectacle of student intoxication and public donnybrooks concerned school administrators and state politicians.^[93][86] Frieze attributed these problems to a lack of centralized faculty control.^[86]

James Burrill Angell became president in 1871 and would remain in the post for nearly four decades.^[94] His tenure would be remembered as the most successful in the university's history.^[94] Tappan's reforms in the 1850s set the university on a path to becoming an elite institution, but it was Angell who completed that transformation.^[94] Shortly after Angell's arrival, University Hall was completed at vast expense; it would remain the university's major academic building right up until the 1950s.^[94]

During his presidency, Angell restored campus discipline,^[93][94] raised entrance and graduation requirements,^[94] and persuaded the legislature to increase state aid.^[94] Angell's tenure saw the addition of many extracurricular activities, including the intercollegiate football team.^[94] Though a reformer, Angell was not authoritarian; he encouraged open debate and aimed for near-unanimous agreement before implementing changes, rather than pushing through with only a narrow majority.^[94] This approach enabled him to address knotty issues on campus, including the long-standing homeopathy problem.^[94]

Angell retired in 1909, and seven years later, he died in the President's House, which had been his home for forty-five years.^[94] His successor, Harry Burns Hutchins, who was once his student, would lead the university through World War I and the Great Influenza epidemic.^[94]

The university during this period was known for its liberalism. Harper's Weekly published an article in July 1887 that noted the school's "broad and liberal spirit" and the wide-ranging freedoms of its students.

Angell transformed the curriculum to focus on electives, expanding course offerings to include and expand professional studies in dentistry, architecture, engineering, government, and medicine.^[93] That led to a faculty of great minds in many fields, from John Dewey in philosophy to Frederick George Novy in bacteriology.^[95]

In 1875, the university founded the College of Dental Surgery, followed by the establishment of the College of Pharmacy by Albert B. Prescott in 1876. That year, the university awarded its first Doctor of Philosophy degrees: to Victor C. Vaughan in chemistry and William E. Smith in zoology.^[14][15] They were among the first doctoral degrees to be conferred in the nation.^[14] The university remained the only institution in the state to grant PhD degrees until the late 1940s.^[96]

• University Hall, built 1871
• University Museum, built 1880
• Old Library, built 1881
• Engineering Shops, built 1885
• Engineering Building, built 1904

Angell's tenure saw the addition of many extracurricular activities, including the intercollegiate football team.^[94]

• Ferry Field, opened 1906
• Waterman Gymnasium, built 1894
• Barbour Gymnasium, built 1896

With his presidency, Angell focused the university on preparing a new generation of statesmen for public service.^[94] Angell himself was frequently called upon by the White House for diplomatic missions.^[94]

In 1880, President Rutherford Hayes appointed him as Minister to China, where he successfully negotiated an immigration treaty that facilitated foreign student enrollment.^[94] Later, in 1887, 1896, and 1897, President Grover Cleveland appointed him to fisheries and waterways commissions.^[94] That same year, President William McKinley named him Envoy Extraordinary to Turkey.^[94] By the late 19th century, the university had gained an international reputation, in large part due to Angell's diplomatic efforts.^[94] During this period, over eighty subjects of the Emperor of Japan were sent to Ann Arbor to study law as part of the opening of that empire to external influence.^[97] The university also played a key role in developing the Philippine education, legal, and public health systems during American colonization, largely due to the contributions of Michigan alumni like Dean Conant Worcester and George A. Malcolm.^[98]

In 1910, Harry Burns Hutchins assumed the presidency, becoming the first alumnus to hold that position.^[99] He had spent seven years in Ithaca, New York, where he was called by Andrew Dickson White and Charles Kendall Adams to establish the Cornell Law School.^[99] Hutchins then became the dean of the law school at his alma mater, where he introduced the case method of instruction.^[99] Hutchins was acting president when Angell was absent.^[99] During his presidency, Hutchins established the Graduate School,^[99] doubled enrollment,^[99] and increased the faculty.^[99]

Hutchins secured more state aid and alumni support to fund the university's capital needs,^[99] including the gothic Law Quadrangle,^[100] Martha Cook Building,^[101] Hill Auditorium, and Michigan Union, which became campus landmarks.

Hutchins enhanced the university health service,^[99] but wartime distractions plagued his presidency. The influenza epidemic, which caused student deaths from poor care, deeply troubled him.^[99] Well-liked by the regents who encouraged him to remain president, nonetheless, Hutchins retired in 1920.^[99]

The 1920s at the university were marked by the brief tenures of two presidents, Marion LeRoy Burton and Clarence Cook Little.^[102] In 1920, when Burton assumed office, a conference on higher education took place at the university, resulting in the establishment of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges.^[103] Under his leadership, construction boomed on campus,^[103] and enrollments increased,^[103] propelled by the prosperous economy of the Roaring Twenties. He initiated the annual honors convocation,^[103] introduced the deans' conference,^[103] and increased university income.^[103] Burton's tenure also saw the advent of major field research initiatives in Africa, South America, the South Pacific, and the Middle East.

Burton fell ill in 1924 and died in 1925.^[103] In this emergency, President Emeritus Hutchins was called by the regents to assist, with Alfred Henry Lloyd serving as acting president until Little's arrival.^[103] Clarence Cook Little was elected president in 1925,^[104] advocating for individualized education^[104] and reforming curricula, particularly for women.^[104] Little proposed a curriculum division after two years to address knowledge gaps, leading to the University College proposal, which was ultimately abandoned after his resignation in 1929.^[104] Little was seen as a highly divisive figure who, among other things, offended Roman Catholics with his outspoken endorsements of contraception.

The Roaring Twenties saw the reorganization of the College of Engineering and the formation of an advisory committee of industrialists to guide academic research initiatives.

The proposal for establishing a nonsectarian divinity school on campus came after strong advocacy from Charles Foster Kent and received unanimous backing from nearby churches.^[105] The school was short-lived and was quietly shelved in 1927.^[105] Burton fell ill in 1924 and died in 1925.^[103]

Following Little's resignation, Alexander Grant Ruthven, an alumnus, was elected president by unanimous vote.^[106] He would lead the university through the Great Depression and World War II.^[106]

Under Ruthven's leadership, the university administration became more decentralized with the creation of the university council, various divisions, and a system of committees.^[106] The decentralized nature of the university earned it the nickname "The Deans' University".

For years, the university was a backwater in theoretical physics. Nonetheless, this changed under department head Harrison McAllister Randall, who brought theorists Samuel Goudsmit, George Uhlenbeck, and Otto Laporte onto the faculty.^[107] Goudsmit mentored famous students at the university, including Robert Bacher and Wu Ta-You, the Father of Chinese Physics, who in turn taught Zhu Guangya and two Nobel laureates, Chen Ning Yang and Tsung-Dao Lee. Wolfgang Pauli held a visiting professorship at the university in 1931.^[108] Stephen Timoshenko created the first U.S. bachelor's and doctoral programs in engineering mechanics when he was a faculty professor at the university.

From 1928 to 1941, the Summer Symposium in Theoretical Physics featured renowned physicists like Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Paul Dirac, and Erwin Schrödinger, with at least fifteen attendees being Nobel laureates or future laureates.^[109]

In 1948, shortly after World War II, the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project was established to honor the hundreds of lives lost from the university during the war.^[110][38] Funded by numerous contributors, including the Ford Motor Company, the Phoenix Project operated the Ford Nuclear Reactor, which established the nation's first academic program in nuclear science and engineering.^[111]

Apart from theoretical research, the university also contributed to the development of the VT fuze, depth bombs, the PT boat, and radar jammers. In 1948, Michigan's Institute for Social Research (ISR) was established by Rensis Likert.

The 1930s saw a major crackdown on the consumption of alcohol and the rowdiness that had characterized student life practically from inception. In February 1931, local police raided five fraternities, finding liquor and arresting 79 students, including the captain of the football team and Michigan Daily editors. During the Great Depression, ritual and widespread freshman hazing all but ceased. Long known as a "dressy campus," student attire became less formal.^[80] Fraternities and sororities became less prominent in student life, as their finances and memberships went into steep decline.

An enduring legacy of the 1960s was the sharp rise in campus activism. Political dissent, largely subdued by campus consensus during World War II, returned to the university with a vengeance during the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War.

On March 24, 1964, a group of faculty held the nation's first "teach-in" to protest American foreign policy in Southeast Asia, attracting 2,500 students to the event. A series of sit-ins in 1966 organized by Voice, the campus political party of Students for a Democratic Society, prompted the administration to ban sit-ins. This decision, in turn, led 1,500 students to conduct a one-hour sit-in in the administration building.

Radicals adopted increasingly confrontational tactics, including an incident in which members of the Jesse James Gang, an SDS offshoot, locked themselves in a room with an on-campus military recruiter and refused to release him.^[80]

In March 1970, the Black Action Movement, an umbrella term for a coalition of student groups, sponsored a campus-wide strike to protest low minority enrollment and to build support for an African American Studies department. The strike included picket lines that prevented entry to university buildings and was widely observed by students and faculty. Eight days after the strike began, the university granted many of the coalition's demands.

The university's student government fell one vote short of approving a marijuana co-op based on the premise of high-quantity purchases and free distribution. Such attitudes persist in the Hash Bash, a rally and festival calling for the legalization of marijuana use, held annually on and near campus.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, campus unrest began to diminish the university's academic standing, which had been ranked among the top five in the nation.^[112] That standing started to decline during Fleming's tenure.

Campus unrest persisted during Harold Tafler Shapiro's presidency, which began in 1980, fueled by controversies surrounding the university's national defense initiatives and foreign investments.

In 1963, a controversial set of admissions practices collectively known as "affirmative action" was introduced.^[113] It was a radical measure originated by Hobart Taylor Jr., aimed at boosting Black student enrollment at elite universities.^[113]

In 2003, two lawsuits involving the university's affirmative action admissions policy reached the U.S. Supreme Court (Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger). U.S. President George W. Bush took the unusual step of publicly opposing the policy before the court issued a ruling, though the eventual ruling was mixed. In the first case, the court upheld the Law School's admissions policy, while in the second, it ruled against the university's undergraduate admissions policy.

In November 2006, Michigan voters passed proposal 2, which banned most affirmative action in university admissions. Under this law, race, gender, and national origin can no longer be considered in admissions.^[114]

In the 1960s, President Harlan Hatcher controversially dismissed three professors for their refusal to cooperate with Joseph McCarthy's House Un-American Activities Committee during his tenure, under pressure from Kit Clardy and his subcommittee.^[115]

The university administration continued to face labor disputes with labor unions during the 1990s, notably with the university's Lecturers' Employees Organization (LEO) and the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), which represents graduate student employees.

In 1986, the university launched M-CARE, a managed care health plan that provided HMO coverage and other plans to university faculty and staff, retirees, dependents, and employers in the community. In late 2006, as the climate for health plans was changing rapidly throughout the region and the U.S., the university decided to sell M-CARE to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and its Blue Care Network subsidiary. As part of the sale, a new health care quality organization called Michigan HealthQuarters was founded.

In 2021, a music professor stepped down from teaching amid controversy over allegations that he showed the 1965 British movie Othello without warning students that it contained blackface.^[116] The controversy took place against a background of sexual misconduct scandals at the university in recent years, both inside^[117] and outside^[118] the music department.^[119]

• 1703
  • 31 August – Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac proposes the establishment of a seminary in the parish of Sainte-Anne-de-Détroit.
• 1755
  • Parish records identify a "director of Christian schools."
• 1760
  • 5 June – A ledger from 1780 contains the record, Captain Andrew Park of the King's Regiment, is charged "June 5, 1760, 12 shillings, sixpence, cash, paid for schooling the children of the regiment."
• 1775
  • Mention is made of a schoolhouse just outside of the fort at Detroit.
• 1781
  • 15 May – In a ledger, Peter Grant is charged one pound, 12 shillings for "cash paid Garrit for Schooling his son."
• 1798
  • 7 June – Fr. Gabriel Richard arrives in Detroit on the Feast of Corpus Christi, to be the assistant pastor at Sainte Anne's Church.

• 1801
  • Rev. David Bacon opens a school in Detroit.
• 1804
  • Fr. Gabriel Richard starts running separate schools for boys and girls with his assistant pastor, Fr. Jean Dilhet.
• 1817
  • 26 August – The Michigan Territory government passes an act to establish the Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania within the territory, with Fr. Richard appointed as vice president and Rev. John Monteith as president.
  • September – The university receives a subscription from the Zion Lodge No. 1 F&AM.
  • 24 September – The cornerstone for the first schoolhouse in Detroit, situated near the intersection of Bates Street and Congress Street, is laid.
  • Schools are established in Monroe and Mackinaw.
• 1818
  • A Lancasterian school and a classical academy open in the Detroit Schoolhouse.
• 1821
  • 30 April – An act places the corporation under the control of a board of trustees.
• 1827
  • 12 April – The legislative council passes the territory's first public school law, which establishes basic education as a municipal duty. The university ceases its oversight of the territory's preparatory schools and leases the Detroit schoolhouse to private teachers.
• 1837
  • 18 March – An organic act is passed to reorganize the university under a twelve-member board of regents.
  • Asa Gray is appointed the first Professor of Botany and Zoology. This position is the first one devoted solely to botany at any educational institution in America.
• 1839
  • The President’s House built.
  • Construction begins of Mason Hall, the first instructional building on Ann Arbor campus, finished in 1841.
• 1840–1850 – Kalamazoo College operates as the Kalamazoo Branch of the University of Michigan.
• 1841
  • The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts established.^[120]
  • The first classes in Ann Arbor are held.
• 1845
  • Eleven graduates, including Rev. Judson Dwight Collins, are awarded Bachelor of Arts degrees during the first commencement in Ann Arbor.
• 1846
  • Louis Fasquelle, a native of France, is appointed as the first Professor of Modern Languages.
• 1849
  • South College built.
• 1850
  • The Medicine School established.
• 1851
  • 8 April – A revision of the organic act frees the university from legislative control, transitions the regent positions from appointed to elected, and establishes a president selected by the regents.
• 1852
  • August – Henry Philip Tappan assumes the newly created presidency of the restructured University of Michigan.
• 1853
  • The university admits the first African American student, Samuel Codes Watson.
• 1854
  • The College of Engineering established.
• 1859
  • The Law School established.
• 1869
  • The university opens the country's first university hospital.
• 1871
  • James Burrill Angell becomes president.
  • The university grants accreditation to Central High School in Detroit. It is the oldest public high school in the city.
  • University Hall built.
• 1875
  • The School of Dentistry established.
• 1876
  • The College of Pharmacy established.
• 1880
  • The School of Music, Theatre & Dance established.
• 1893
  • The School of Nursing established.
  • Tappan Hall built.

• 1906
  • Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning established.
• 1910
  • Harry Burns Hutchins assumes the presidency, becoming the first alumnus to hold the position.
• 1912
  • Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies established.
• 1914
  • Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy established.
• 1921
  • The School of Education established.
• 1924
  • Ross School of Business established.
• 1927
  • The School for Environment and Sustainability established.
• 1928–1941 – The Summer Symposium in Theoretical Physics is held.
• 1930
  • Alexander Grant Ruthven, an alumnus, is elected president.
• 1941
  • The School of Public Health established.
• 1948
  • Institute for Social Research is established by Rensis Likert.
• 1951
  • The School of Social Work established
• 1957–2003 – Ford Nuclear Reactor operates.
• 1969
  • The School of Information established.
• 1974
  • Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design established.
• 1984
  • The School of Kinesiology established.

• 2004
  • The Neutron Science Laboratory purchases a DD neutron generator (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Model MP320, producing 2.45 MeV with a rate of 10⁶ n/s).
• 2021
  • Construction of ZEUS (Zettawatt-Equivalent Ultrashort pulse laser System) completed, opened in 2023.
• 2024
  • 22 April, students set up tents on The Diag as part of the nationwide pro-Palestinian encampment.
  • The university begins collaborating with Los Alamos National Laboratory on high-performance computing and AI research.

• Bentley Historical Library (2001). "The Board of Regents of the University of Michigan". Archived from the original on 2007-08-12. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
• Bentley Historical Library (2004). "Presidents of the University of Michigan". Archived from the original on 2016-06-22. Retrieved 2018-10-29.
• Brennan, Thomas E. (October 9, 2001). "A Portrait of Augustus B. Woodward" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 13, 2006. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
• Dunbar, Willis F.; May, George S. (1995). Michigan: A History of the Wolverine State. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-7055-4.
• Fedynsky, John (13 November 2001). "What's in a name?". Res Gestae (Student Newspaper of the University of Michigan Law School). 52 (5): 1, 4–5. Archived from the original on 2024-02-09.
• Hinsdale, Burke A. (1906). Demmon, Isaac (ed.). History of the University of Michigan. University of Michigan. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
• McLaughlin, Andrew C. (1891). Adams, Herbert B. (ed.). History of Higher Education in Michigan. Contributions to American Educational History. Government Printing Office. p. 20.
• Shaw, Wilfred (1920). The University of Michigan. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Howe.
• Shaw, Wilfred B., ed. (1942). The University of Michigan, an Encyclopedic Survey. Vol. 1. University of Michigan Press. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
• Bentley Historical Library (2015). "Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1962 visit to University of Michigan: Live as Brothers, or Die as Fools".
• Ross, Robert Budd (1898). Landmarks of Wayne county and Detroit. Detroit, Evening news Association. LCCN 01007051.
• The Story of Ste Anne de Detroit Church, Detroit Michigan 1701-1976 (PDF). Custombook, Inc. 1976.
• Sheldon, Electa M. (Bronson) (1856). The early history of Michigan, from the first settlement to 1815. New York A.S. Barnes. LCCN 01007001.
• Poor, Gerald L.; Griffin, Gladys I. (1959). Public education in Michigan. Field Services, Central Michigan University. ASIN B0007FIX20.

• Bordin, Ruth (1967). The University of Michigan: A Pictorial History. A Sesquicentennial Publication. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press & Ambassador Books Limited. hdl:2027/mdp.39015006358462. LCCN 66-17029 – via HathiTrust.
• Farrand, Elizabeth (1885). History of The University of Michigan. Ann Arbor: Register Publishing House. hdl:2027/mdp.39015056839288.
• Fleming, Robben W. (1996). Tempests into Rainbows: Managing Turbulence. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-10674-0.
• Holtzer, Susan., ed. (1990). Special to the Daily: The 1st 100 Years of Editorial Freedom at the Michigan Daily. Caddo Gap Press. ISBN 0-9625945-2-0.
• Peckham, Howard H. (1994). The Making of The University of Michigan 1817–1992. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-06594-7.
• Slosson, Edwin E. (1910). Great American Universities. Macmillan. pp. 182–209.

• Official History of the University of Michigan website
• Libraries & Archives Directory for University of Michigan
• The University of Michigan - Bentley Historical Library
• pictoral history of the library
• The History of University of Michigan, 1817 - 2017 (Anne Duderstadt)