Winter 2025-26
In THE ISSUE
In
THE
ISSUE
Cover Story
In her conservation work, chemical biologist Rosa Vásquez Espinoza, PhD’21, harnesses both modern science and traditional Indigenous knowledge.
Feature
A remarkable set of Wolverines have each earned five degrees from U-M.
Feature
A postwar immigrant family’s decades-long dedication to educational opportunity leads to a University of Michigan family legacy.
Feature
At the Barger Leadership Institute, students are using mindfulness techniques to explore their leadership identities.
Guest Column
Ayanna McConnell
A Life-Changing Education
My grandparents — one a collegiate football player who broke color barriers in the NFL, and the other, a retired Detroit kindergarten teacher whose own parents mandated she complete college before marriage — gave me a lesson in life-changing education through travel.
Around THE U
Around
The U
Cover Story
Rosa Vásquez Espinoza, PhD’21, stepped forward, leaning over the hive that contained thousands of Amazonian stingless bees. Her face was wet with honey she and her team had applied to draw the insects toward her. Almost immediately, she felt the brush of wings and the tickle of tiny feet on her face.
Feature
When Daniel Schaffa’s, ’06, MACC’07, MA’12, JD’14, MS’15, PhD’17, fifth University of Michigan degree arrived at his parents’ home — the address he’d left on file at the school — his father called him about the master’s of science in mathematics, saying he didn’t know it was in the works.
Feature
In 1947, two years after the Allied Powers declared victory over Germany in World War II, a young Ernest Sarosi received a forlorn letter from his parents warning of the dire situation back home in Budapest, Hungary.
Feature
Yena Kwon, ’25, used to think there was one type of leader. “My perception of a leader was someone who always had the loudest voice, who was charismatic, stood in front of the room,” she says.
Your
Association
Mary Elmore, ’56, has dreamed of visiting Ireland for as long as she can remember. “I’ve known a lot of wonderful people from Ireland all of my life,” she says.
Where in the World is Blue?
Show your
As you travel around the world or around the block, show us your Michigan pride! Don your Maize and Blue or Block M, snap a photo, and submit it to Michigan Alum for the chance to appear in a future issue. Check out the current issue’s gallery here.
Alumni
news+notes
Around Town
Wolverine
Medical students are delivering care to an underserved local community through a popular student organization.
Michigan Alum
Winter 2025-26
Editorial Team
CHAIR Kurtis Wilder, ’81, JD’84 | PAST CHAIR Mary Kay Haben, MBA’79 | TREASURER Thomas W. Hawkins, ’83 | SECRETARY Gabriela Teran, ’96 | EX OFFICIO Ayanna McConnell | Wendell Brooks, ’87; Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, ’93; Wayee Chu, ’97; Salene Hitchcock-Gear, ’84; Monica Howard Douglas, ’94; Joseph Giles, ’96, MBA’01, JD’01; Li Li Leung, ’95; Alison Miller, ’00; Prakash Patel, ’89; Anup Popat, ’95; Emilie Rubinfeld, ’96; John Sabat, ’95; Charles F. Schwartz, ’90; Rajiv Shah, ’95; Kent Syverud, JD’81, MA’83; Steve Shindler, ’85; Jordan Wertlieb, ’86; Sophie Wong, ’97; Linda Zhang, ’96, MSE’98, MBA’11
