2009 PRESIDENT'S REPORT

2009 Highlights

Charitable Giving Exceeds Previous Year

Despite tough economic times and a two-year wage freeze, UM employees gave more during the 2009-10 Charitable Giving Campaign than they did the year before. Nearly 700 UM staff members, faculty members and administrators donated a total of $127,471 to local charitable organizations, compared with $125,841 the year before. The campaign lets employees select from a number of carefully pre-screened local organizations, then donate any amount through one-time gifts or payroll deduction.

NBC Features Program That Helps Soldiers’ Families

A nonprofit organization that offers scholarships and services to children of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan was featured on “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” in March 2009. Grateful Nation was co-founded in 2007 as a pilot program in Montana by alumnus David Bell with plans for eventual implementation in all 50 states. Grateful Nation is administered by UM’s Office of Student Affairs and funds are managed by the UM Foundation, but scholarships can be used to attend any school in the Montana University System.

Running Helps Invent Worldwide
Climate Change Index

Much like the Dow Jones industrial average condenses volumes of data from the business world into a single figure, a new worldwide climate change index distills the complexity of the Earth’s climate down to one number. Regents Professor of Ecology Steve Running was a key player behind the introduction of the new index at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. The index uses key indicators of global change – carbon dioxide, temperature, sea level and sea ice – to obtain its results.

CAREER Grants Go To UM Scientists

Three UM assistant professors were awarded prestigious Early Career Development Program grants by the National Science Foundation. The awards went to Klara Briknarova in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Lila Fishman in the Division of Biological Sciences and Art Woods in the Division of Biological Sciences. The CAREER grants last five years and average about $750,000. This is the second consecutive year that multiple UM scientists have received the honor.

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