Proceedings of the Board of Regents (1963-1966)

DECEMBER MEETING, 1965 1153
Thanks to this generous support from the automotive industry, The University of
Michigan will be able to undertake a broad approach to the total problem. It will
be possible to integrate the many current research activities and to begin new,
interdisciplinary investigations related to the people who drive on our highways as
well as to the vehicles they drive and the roads they drive on. We will be able to
make the results of such research available to the governmental agencies, to manufacturers, and to the public at large.
The President was pleased to include in the minutes of this meeting
the following statement by Governor George Romney on the new highway safety research institute:
"I am delighted to learn of the decision of the automotive industry to work with
The University of Michigan in the establishment of a comprehensive highway safety
research institute.
"It is particularly fitting that the auto industry, which maintains its worldwide headquarters in Michigan, should co-operate in this endeavor with one of
AMichigan's great institutions of higher learning.
"This is an example of the combined role that can be played by a state university in research, teaching, and service. It is also an example of the obvious growing
awareness of the auto industry that it has a leadership role to perform in traffic
safety.
"Michigan has led the world in the transportation industry and has been a
leader in highway construction. Hopefully, through such an effort as this new
institute represents, we will gain leadership in preventing costly accidents on our
highways and streets."
Regent Cudlip said the creation of the institute was not only a
splendid thing in itself, but was also a reflection of the splendid work
which Regent Briggs had been doing in his program to develop greater
consciousness of highway safety among the citizens of the state.
The Vice-President for Academic Affairs distributed to the Regents Unitienguit ofes
a description of proposed procedures for appointing "Distinguished sors: Procedure
for Appointment
University Professors." of, Distributed
The Vice-President for Research made the following report to the Vice-Preint
Regents on the research programs of the University: for Research:
The research programs in this University flow on steadily the year around, and Report of
are not particularly responsive to the rhythm of the academic year. New projects
are continually being activated and old projects are terminated almost daily. There
is, therefore, some fluctuation in the volume of activity supported. Each year, however, as a part of the Financial Report there is assembled a statement of the
budgeted research expenditure for the previous 12 months. This represents in dollars
the volume of research performed-and while it is only one of the ways of assessing
research activity, it is one which has a measure of comparability with other expenditures even though scholarly accomplishment cannot be weighed in dollars.
For 1964-65 the University's total volume of research was $47.8 million, as
compared with the previous year's total of $42.2. The increase of $5.6 million is
somewhat lower than the growth rate for the preceding 12-month period which
was 18 per cent. This was as predicted in my report last year and reflects the fact
that disposable faculty time and institutional space are almost fully committed.
Our research programs then continue to grow steadily in volume and diversity.
From an administrative point of view, it is also true that they grow in complexity.
During the year there were more than 2,200 project budgets with about 1,300 being
active at any one time.
Once again, the federal government provided the major part of the financial
support, namely $38 million out of the total of $47.8 million. This is a partnership
system, whereby with monies from the common purse the research and educational
capabilities of the universities have been enlarged in the public service. In the past
year the U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare has been our single
largest sponsor, with a little over $12 million. This is almost a third of the total
federal support. Much of this, of course, derives from the biomedical and healthoriented programs of the U.S.P.H.S. and N.I.H., though an increasing amount is
now coming from the U. S. Office of Education, which only lately has moved into