Discover Rackham
I Changed Research Groups, and the World Didn’t End – Part 1: The Divorce
If you’ve been in or around the world of academia for long enough, you’ve probably heard the analogy that joining a research group is like getting married. I’ve even heard research rotations explained as akin to dating. So, at the risk of stretching this metaphor too...
Alumni Spotlight: Robin Garrell
Like so many Rackham alumni, Robin Garrell’s career path evolved into something she never expected. She remembers, “I went to Michigan with the intention to go into industry. It wasn’t until into my fourth year that I thought maybe I’d consider an academic job. This...
Student Spotlight: Josh Wondra
Josh admits, “Applying to graduate school, I didn’t know what I was doing.” He applied big, contrary to the some misguided advice from his undergraduate professors. U-M was on the list because a faculty member talked about U-M as THE place for psychology. He explains,...
Aerodynamics, Golf, and a Reality Show: Engineering Students Compete on National Television Tonight
While packing my one backpack for a conference in Europe last summer, I received an email from the College of Engineering. It said that Wilson Golf is looking for contestants for their driver design competition to air as a reality television show on the Golf Channel...
Not Just a New Name, But New Ways of Thinking: The Rackham Program in Public Scholarship
At the start of this term, I stepped into a new role as a Graduate Student Staff Assistant with the Rackham Program in Public Scholarship. One of my first official responsibilities was helping to coordinate and facilitate an event marking the renaming of...
Student Spotlight: Cat Saint-Croix
Philosophy was always part of her academic plans, but interest became infatuation when she found philosophy of science. She says, “this careful, analytical approach to foundational questions drew me in—I realized that I just wanted to keep studying philosophy.” She...
Alumni Spotlight: Garrick Hu
Most students never know just how much that first job out of college can influence your career. For Garrick Hu, the University of Michigan played a central role not only in advancing his academic journey but shaping his industry focus with that one first job....
Announcing a Restructure of Rackham’s Programming for Graduate Students
Rackham’s Office of Graduate Student Success has been integrated into the Dean’s Office under a new unit: Graduate Student Programs. The two new units and their titles reflect strategic program priorities as outlined by Dean Carol A. Fierke: 1) Professional and...
Scenes from the Dean’s Office
Carol finds time to maintain her research lab in the chemistry department. Her lab researches the chemical mechanism and structure-function relationships of important biological molecules. There, she supports and mentors research scientists, postdoctoral fellows,...
Alumni Spotlight: Roy Hudson
Roy Hudson didn’t start out with aspirations to be a university president. He didn’t consider executive management a potential career option. He figured his options were fairly straightforward, hoping he could extend his GI bill to cover most of a Master’s degree...