Discover Rackham
Debbie Freund, From Rackham to University President
When asked why she came to U-M, Debbie says, “As an undergraduate, I was working in a hospital and in what later became an HMO. I wanted to pursue the field somehow, and my faculty told me the best Health Administration programs were at Michigan, so that’s where I...
Student Spotlight: Courtney Lynn McCluney
Courtney’s road to U-M was supported by a strong network of research faculty. As an undergraduate, Courtney participated in the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program, which is designed to prepare undergraduate students (especially underrepresented students) for doctoral...
Student Spotlight: Alison Gould
Alison studies a bioluminescent symbiosis between the coral reef cardinalfish and a luminous bacterium that the fish houses in a specialized light organ. “Understanding how specificity arises and is maintained in such symbioses is especially important now, as changes...
Rackham Predoctoral Fellowships: Impacting Graduate Education for 80 Years
In the spring of 1935, in the depths of the Depression, U-M President Alexander Ruthven met with Mary Rackham to present his vision for endowing the Graduate School. Horace Rackham had passed away two years earlier and left his fortune to the newly-established Horace...
Student Spotlight: Parinaz Naghizadeh Ardabili
A fourth year graduate student, Parinaz hasn’t been home to Iran since she arrived at U-M. “I have a single-entry visa. If I go back, I have to re-apply for a new visa, and I know people who do that, but it is a time-consuming process,” she explains. She has a home...
Student Spotlight: Zuowei Wang
For every 10 minutes U-M students spend studying, they spend 4 minutes distracted by their phones and other media. They have company; students in China are similarly distracted says Zuowei Wang, a fourth year doctoral student in Education and Psychology. Zuowei ’s...
Student Spotlight: Zhibek Kadyrsizova
Zhibek had a very mathematical childhood. Born in Kazakhstan to parents who both studied physics in college, she was interested in math from an early age. “It was a big part of our family. We spent some of our free time together solving problems,” she recalls. In her...
Student Spotlight: Patrick Harlin
When asked what is the favorite piece of music he’s written, he smiles and says, “Hopefully the one I compose next. You have a sense there’s more you can always do with a piece, and I take that energy and put it into the next one.” Hailing from the Pacific Northwest,...
Making Life Easier for International Students
In Fall 2013, Rackham set out to learn more about the international student experience at U-M, particularly for new students. To this end, we held focus groups with current international students. Students shared a wealth of information with us during these group...
Student Spotlight: Olga Shalev
Olga earned her bachelor's and master’s degrees in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science from the Technion, Israeli Institute of Technology. She served as a lieutenant in the Israeli navy and after graduation worked for seven years as the chief engineer at...