University of Michigan - Flint

1837 - In a letter to family back east, Sarah C. Miles writes, “A branch of the Michigan University at Ann Arbor is to be established in Flint at some future day.”

May 1944 - Flint Board of Education requests that a University of Michigan extension office open in Flint.

June 1944 - Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the GI Bill into law. Vets returning after World War II increased demand for higher education in Mid-Michigan, a major factor for the establishment of a branch of the University of Michigan in Flint.

February 1947 - Regents approve a higher education needs assessment for Flint.

1949 - UM Social Science professors, Arthur E. Lean & Franklin Killian, complete assessment and recommend a liberal arts college for Flint.

June 1950 - At his 75th birthday celebration, C.S. Mott offers $1 million for a four-year college in Flint.

February 1951 - Committee of Flint citizens makes request to regents for the establishment of a four-year college in Flint.

January 1952 - UM President Harlen H. Hatcher reports to the regents that he has named a committee to study the Flint College proposal.

1952-1954 - UM-Flint College committee and the Flint Board of Education debate whether the UM Flint College should be a four-year liberal arts college or a two-year senior college.

January 1955 – Governor Williams signs a $37,000 appropriation bill to cover preliminary expenses for the college. The Mott Foundation provides $1.2 million. Harlan Hatcher, Everett Cummings and C.S. Mott break ground for the new building.

January 1955 – UM President Hatcher and the Regents accept the two-year senior college proposal.

February 1956 – David M. French is named first dean of the Flint College of the University of Michigan.

June 1956 – Patricia R. Mudge, valedictorian at Northern High School, and Edwin H. Gullekson, Jr. valedictorian at Central High School, are the first students to receive letters of acceptance.

June 1956 – 14 full-time and four part-time instructors are hired to teach 28 courses in 13 subject areas.

September 23, 1956 – First day of school for the 167-student pioneering class. Three programs are available: business administration, teaching and liberal arts and sciences.

October 1957 – Mott Memorial Building (located on the Mott College campus on Court Street) is dedicated and opened.

June 1958 – 76 seniors from the first class graduate.

March 1959 – C.S. Mott donates a second gift of $1 million for the construction of a new library.

October 1962 – The Charles Stewart Mott Library is dedicated. It jointly housed the collections of the Flint College of U-M and Flint Junior College.

October 1963 – Classes are cancelled after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

1963-1964 – Studies are commissioned to examine the possibility of turning the Flint College of U of M into a four-year institution.

March – July 1965 – Michigan State Board of Education recommends a four-year college in Flint and the phasing out of U-M’s involvement. Public outcry and C.S. Mott threatening to withdraw millions in pledged support leads to State approval of a four-year University of Michigan College in Flint.

July 1965 – Regents approve establishment of departments of English, foreign languages and literature, history, education, business administration, biology, chemistry and physics. First freshman class of 170 begins.

May 1966 – First anti-Vietnam War protest is held on campus.

1966 – Theater Department is established.

January 1968 – First mid-year commencements are held.

April 1968 – University closes the day Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated.

February 1969 – Students for Black Action forms, the first student-established group dedicated to the concerns of minorities.

1969 – Challenge Program is established.

Spring 1970 – North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools grants accreditation to the Flint College of the University of Michigan.

May 1970 – National Guard troops kill three Kent State students protesting the U.S. invasion of Cambodia, causing hundreds of colleges across the country, including Flint College of the University of Michigan, to close.

April 1971 – Regents approve the name change to The University of Michigan-Flint.

April 1971 – William Moran begins tenure as first Chancellor of UM-Flint.

September 1972 – Sixteen temporary buildings are erected to ease campus overcrowding, pressuring the Regents to move UM-Flint to its current riverfront location.

May 1974 – Groundbreaking of the Classroom Office Building (CROB).

December 1974 – Department of Music established. Music Department concert in Wilson Park.

February 1975 – College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Management are created.

March 1977 – Classroom Office Building (CROB) is dedicated and UM-Flint’s library is moved to the fifth floor. University Center is dedicated.

December 1977 – UM-Flint’s first graduate program, Master of liberal studies, is offered through Rackham School of Graduate Studies.

March 1978 – President Gerald Ford visits campus.

July 1978 – Gregory St. L. O’Brien is appointed as UM-Flint’s first provost.

July 1978 – UM-Flint accepts a $6 million grant from the C.S. Mott Foundation to build a physical education building on condition it transfer ownership of the Mott Memorial Building to Mott Community College.

April 1979 – C.S. Harding Mott University Center opens.

Fall 1979 – UM-Flint Honors Program is created.

March 1980 – Master of Public Administration program is approved.

July 1980 – Conny E. Nelson begins tenure as second UM-Flint chancellor.

August 1980 – First broadcast of WFUM-TV 28.

October 1981 – Master of Business Administration program is approved.

January 1982 – UM physical therapy program moves from Ann Arbor to Flint.

August 1982 – Recreation Center opens.

May 1983 – Campus mourns the death of Chancellor Nelson, at the age of 50, from cancer.

July 1984 – Clinton B. Jones is named UM-Flint’s third Chancellor.

October 1986 – Groundbreaking for Classroom/Laboratory (later Murchie Science) Building.

1987 – The Office of Minority Affairs and the Office of Research are established.

June 1987 – Alumnus Senator Donald W. Riegle, Jr. proposes UM-Flint annex AutoWorld.

1988 – McKinnon Plaza is dedicated.

February 1988 – Master of Physical Therapy program is approved.

Summer 1988 – UM-Flint moves the last of the programs from the Mott campus to the Riverfront campus.

August 1988 – William Murchie Science Building opens, named for one of the founding faculty members of UM-Flint.

July 1989 – The School of Health Professions and Studies is established.

September 1990 – Water Street Pavilion, Ice Rink, and two floors of parking are purchased by UM-Flint from the City of Flint.

February 1991 – Master of Sciences in Anesthesia is approved.

April 1991 – UM-Flint approves four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in conjunction with Hurley Medical Center.

December 1993 – Chancellor Jones resigns.

August 1994 – Charlie Nelms is named UM-Flint’s fourth chancellor.

October 1994 – Frances Willson Thompson Library opens.

November 1994 – William S. White announces offer of $40 million to help UM-Flint acquire AutoWorld property.

November 1994 – President Bill Clinton visits campus.

July 1995 – Master of Science in Health Education program approved.

December 1995 – Regents accept AutoWorld property from Flint Downtown Development Authority.

February 1997 – AutoWorld is imploded and cleared to make room for the William S. White Building.

March 1997 – Center for University Outreach is established with support from the Mott Foundation.

April 1997 – Master of Arts in Education and Master of Science in Nursing are approved.

December 1997 – School of Education and Human Services is created, the university’s fourth college.

June 1998 – Regents authorize UM-Flint’s purchase of the Northbank Center on Saginaw Street.

July 1998 – Chancellor Nelms retires.

September 1999 – Juan E. Mestas begins tenure as fifth UM-Flint chancellor.

February 2000 – Master of Science in Biology approved.

October 2000 – Classroom and Office Building (CROB) is renamed for the first dean of UM-Flint, David M. French.

July 2001 – Doctor of Physical Therapy degree established, UM-Flint’s first doctorate program.

September 2001 – University closes after 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Fall 2001 – Women’s Educational Center Opens.

May 2002 – William S. White Building is officially dedicated.

October 2002 – Early Childhood Development Center opens.

May 2003 – First dean, David M. French, dies at the age of 94.

November 2004 – Regents approve UM-Flint request to explore feasibility of student housing.

April 2005 – Capital Campaign kicks off.

February 2006 – UM-Flint unveils Strategic Plan.

July 2007 - Juan Mestas announces his retirement as Chancellor.

July 2007 – The campus community breaks ground for the first-ever student housing facility.

Fall 2008 - The modern, 310-bed residence hall is completed and fully-occupied.

August 2008 - Ruth J. Person becomes UM-Flint's sixth Chancellor, the first female to hold the position.