STUDENT SUCCESS • FACULTY EXCELLENCE • INNOVATION
FROM THE DEAN
We have always aimed to be a school that moves, that shifts, that evolves.
Over the decades, we have grown from a department embedded in the School of Education to our own school in a prime spot on the Diag. We have added and transformed programs, creating top-rated offerings in sport management, movement science, athletic training, and applied exercise science. We have even developed the first-ever program that teaches students how to monitor the nervous system during complex surgeries.
Every one of these moves has mattered.
They have helped us train more students to be the next generation of orthopedists, rehabilitation technicians, doctors, physical therapists, and athletic trainers; the next wave of sports agents, data analysts, stadium designers, marketers, and front office leaders. They have allowed us to bring the latest technology into the classroom, from virtual reality modules to practice concussion assessments to generative AI tools that help our students learn smarter.
They have prompted the creation of programs that provide social and cultural support to students with backgrounds or identities that are underrepresented at the School of Kinesiology. And they have made it possible to expand experiential opportunities, which immerse our students in local, regional, national, and international communities to gain real-world knowledge and perspective.
All of this has helped prepare SoK graduates to serve as healers and innovators and playmakers.
Their success was spurred on by our faculty, who strive to put students first while pursuing research that moves the world forward.
Over the years, we have invested in ensuring that these leaders are the best. By creating an endowed chair and a named professorship to attract top-notch professors to our campus. By bringing aboard university-wide initiatives, including the U-M Concussion Center and the Human Performance & Sport Science Center, that have added faculty experts and expanded research in innovative areas as a result.
By recruiting academics in disciplines ripe for growth, including sport analytics, exercise as a way to help people with cancer, and athlete health and well-being. By launching new research labs, helmed by faculty who are working to delay progression of complex illnesses like Parkinson’s Disease, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in childhood health and development, and testing new technologies such as prosthetics and smart watches.
And by developing centers that maximize the economic impact of new sports and arena districts for surrounding communities; that examine and illuminate the implications of race and ethnicity in sport; that help businesses use the power of sport as a bridge builder and a catalyst for social change.
We couldn’t have moved to such heights without you, the supporters who so frequently enable us to make these achievements possible. I am proud of what SoK has accomplished, and I hope that, as you read this, you are proud, too. But we have even greater moves in our sights, and we can’t make them without your help.
So I’ll ask you the crucial question: If every move matters, what moves you?
Lori Ploutz-Snyder Professor and Dean, School of Kinesiology
OUR VISION
Here at Michigan Kinesiology, we don’t just move.
We move with meaning.
Move with purpose and passion.
We don’t just move bodies.
We move hearts, minds, and souls.
We move the needle with the research we conduct.
Move what’s possible with the ideas we share.
Move how people feel with new therapies.
Move how they play with advanced management.
Move minds with innovative sports marketing.
And move people closer together with new ways to experience the game.
Never stopping. Never still. Never settling for what was.
The world looks to Michigan.
And we look even further.
We look to more.
More athletes’ dreams coming true.
More second chances for people with mobility issues.
More well-being for people struggling to stay active.
More spaces where people of all backgrounds can rally around a common cause: their team.
We believe every student has the potential to make movement mean more. It starts here but can take us anywhere. Because every move matters.
Learn more about our three campaign pillars:
EVERY MOVE MATTERS:
STUDENT SUCCESS
The School of Kinesiology is one of the fastest-growing colleges at the University of Michigan. It’s no surprise. SoK graduates are needed more than ever to address the complex health and sport issues of our time.
But we don’t wait until they become alumni to immerse them in a working environment. Students are in the lab, on the field, and in the front offices. They’re engaging in hands-on research to prevent disease. They’re rehabilitating injured athletes. They’re developing case studies that sports teams and leagues will use to make real decisions. By the time they leave, we know they’ll be able to help the world move better. After all, they already have.
GOAL#1: for school-wide student scholarships
$5 MILLION
$2.5 MILLION
GOAL#2: for experiential learning opportunities
SCHOLARSHIPS, EXPERIENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES, AND FOSTERING AN INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENT
We’re working to build a diverse and thoughtful workforce of the future. To achieve that, SoK students need access to both rigorous in-class academics and meaningful out-of-classroom experiential learning opportunities. Working to level the playing field will get us closer to everyone having the same access and opportunities to enhance their education.
Every Move Matters when it comes to supporting the future of our students. Here’s where you can put what moves you to work.
GOAL #1: RAISE $5 MILLION
FOR SCHOOL-WIDE STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS
UNDERGRADUATE SUPPORT
• SoK students have a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, education levels, ages, ethnicities, and points of view. The richness of their experiences adds to a vibrant community of learners dedicated to moving the world forward. Financial aid processes can be complex and hard to navigate, with costs sometimes a barrier to enrollment.
• With close to 100 students enrolled annually in our winter-start programs - Movement & Applied Exercise Science (MAES) and Sport Management Immersion (SMI) - supporting the establishment of scholarships specific to winter cohort students will also support the growth of the School of Kinesiology. Scholarship support set aside specifically for these students will assist our efforts to reduce barriers for first-year undergraduates who will be starting on a non-traditional calendar.
If access moves you, please support broad-based scholarships that the school can utilize to meet students where they are by lifting their financial load and decreasing their need to take out costly loans. Help us bring the best students to campus and keep them here.
GRADUATE SUPPORT
• Master’s-level support: Students often pursue master’s degrees without the benefit of scholarships or other non-loan financial aid. Because of this, cost can be a barrier for many for whom a Michigan master’s degree is a goal. We do not want to lose students who would add to our vibrant intellectual community just because of affordability.
• Some areas, like athletic training, now require a master’s degree due to accreditation. Athletic trainers are unsung heroes for high school, collegiate, and professional teams alike as the first to the field when a player is injured or suffering a catastrophic health emergency.
• PhD-level support: PhD students are valuable additions to our research endeavors and help shape the future of our classrooms and labs. They often need support for summer research funding, dissertation review and editing, and travel to present at conferences.
• Kinesiology LINKS (Leadership, Inclusion & Networking for Kinesiology Success) Program: Under the motto KIN: ALL IN, the School of Kinesiology is committed to providing an inclusive, supportive, collaborative environment for all students. Summer bridge programs are a mainstay in higher education, opportunities for students with under-resourced backgrounds to build community and learn skills for success before beginning their programs on campus. These are summer programs, usually a week or two in duration, with year-round programming to keep the community connected, building a network of learners with deep ties to each other and the school.
If what moves you is academic curiosity, the desire to push further, and the importance of finding community on campus, please support our goals to build support for students seeking advanced degrees.
GOAL #2: RAISE $2.5 MILLION
FOR EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
• Internship Support: Many students pursue internships with organizations across the country during academic breaks. For some students, the costs of living in another city, even for a short period of time, can be a barrier to accepting a great internship experience. Supporting student internship experiences assures that they can learn from real industry environments, thus enhancing what they gain in the classroom.
• Treks: Part of the DNA of Kinesiology, treks offer opportunities for groups of students to visit industry leaders at work. Through these experiences, students see how organizations run, envision how their skills can be used in the workforce, and network with top executives.
• Student Organizations: A lifeblood of our school, more than 20 student organizations operate within the walls of the SoK building. Many focus on the development of mentoring and networking opportunities between students and alumni, industry partners, and other university connections. Some plan annual treks to major industry hubs and annual events in alumni-heavy markets. These organizations often pursue projects that provide hands-on experience as well.
• Global Engagement: The University of Michigan has set a bold goal to see 60% of students participating in global learning experiences within the next five years, growing to 85% participation in the next ten years. The School of Kinesiology’s Global Engagement Office now sees about 45% of students taking advantage of global learning experiences. If cost is not a factor, more students can participate.
• Clinical and Research Immersion: For undergraduate and graduate students pursuing careers in the health sciences, clinical and research immersion opportunities are critical hands-on learning tools. Often, those experiences require travel and sometimes, they require short-term relocation, which can be a costly barrier.
We do not want students to miss opportunities to gain critical out-of-classroom experience simply because of financial constraints. If augmenting in-class learning with critical, hands-on opportunities moves you, please support the experiential learning opportunities that help build the Leaders & Best into the workforce of the future.
EVERY MOVE MATTERS:
FACULTY EXCELLENCE
Our faculty are leaders in a diverse range of fields that fall under the wide kinesiology umbrella. They are probing researchers and principal investigators who work to solve the pressing issues of our time. They are passionate educators who challenge students to think critically and dream big. And they support communities through programs that put beneficial research findings into practice.
Recruiting and retaining the best and brightest faculty helps ensure that our research, curriculum, and community programs stay on the cutting edge, and helps foster school- and university-wide collaboration and innovation.
GOAL#1: in newly endowed, named faculty professorship and chair positions
$6 MILLION
$5 MILLION
GOAL#2: in newly endowed research cluster funds
GOAL #1: RAISE $6 MILLION
IN NEWLY ENDOWED, NAMED FACULTY PROFESSORSHIP AND CHAIR POSITIONS
• These positions provide long-term funding directed specifically toward the hiring and retention of faculty. Generally, endowed positions focus on specific areas of scholarly interest, but they can also serve more broadly by providing annual funding that can be utilized to recruit and retain top new teaching or research talent. Funds can be utilized to enhance salary packages or provide additional research and programming funds.
• These positions help move innovative ideas forward, helping to support novel research ideas while also helping to enhance our reputation and classroom impact.
If what moves you is attracting and retaining the brightest educators and most innovative researchers to our school, naming an endowed faculty line is a way to do just that.
GOAL #2: RAISE $5 MILLION
IN NEWLY ENDOWED RESEARCH CLUSTER FUNDS
FUND 1: HARNESSING THE POWER OF SPORT TO INSPIRE SOCIAL CHANGE
Sport and physical activity have the power to effect change. From the collective, equalizing experience of cheering on our favorite teams to experiencing the community that develops within a recreational sports program, sport has the power to connect our global community. And research shows that a wide variety of social determinants of health can impact longevity, physical health, emotional well-being, and other aspects of our lives. Expanding access to physical activity and sport regardless of age, socioeconomic status, education level, or other factors can vastly improve long-term health and well-being in our community.
This fund supports projects that impact communities, investigate sentiment, change policies and procedures, and move minds through the collective power of sport and physical activity.
FUND 2: MOVEMENT AS MEDICINE
Scientific evidence is showing that exercise and movement can vastly improve health outcomes and, in some cases, slow the progression of disease. From reducing pain during hospital stays to faster recovery after cancer treatment, movement can be medicine.
This fund supports projects that investigate the role of movement and exercise in enhancing longevity, slowing the onset of disease, managing pain, and deterring the onset of health issues related to chronic illness or repeated injury.
FUND 3: THE SCIENCE AND ECONOMICS OF SPORT AND HUMAN PERFORMANCE
Humans can achieve great heights, elite athletes can seem superhuman at times, and the professional sports market generates tens of billions of dollars within the global economy.
With growing professional player salaries, there is an increased desire for exercise and training prescriptions that help athletes train better, harder, and faster, while mitigating risk of costly injuries.
This fund supports projects that investigate and provide data regarding the impact of sport on bodies, in communities, and in global economies.
FUND 5: BIG IDEAS FUND
FUND 4: ATHLETE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
Participation in youth sports is expected to double over the next 10 years and athletes can now get paid for playing collegiate sports, so the time is right to research both the short- and long-term impacts. From the need to decrease concussion risk, to the management of injuries like anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears, to the increased attention on athlete mental health, research on athlete health and wellbeing is critical now more than ever.
This fund supports projects that investigate the well-being of athletes at all ages and levels, including their physical, emotional, intellectual, social, and financial health.
In our efforts to drive innovation and encourage collaboration, this fund will support interdisciplinary projects on novel or advanced concepts in movement, exercise, disease management, sport management, and more.
If moving the needle on research that has real human and community impact moves you, please support one or more of these new synergistic research funds.
EVERY MOVE MATTERS:
INNOVATION
From the impact of movement on our individual health to how physical activity and sport benefit our communities, research at the School of Kinesiology addresses issues that affect us all throughout our lives. We’re fostering sustainable and healthy communities, finding new solutions for illness and injury prevention and treatment, and accelerating business growth and urban redevelopment through sport. And we’re working with our colleagues in business, medicine, athletics, public health, architecture and urban planning, and information to share our knowledge and strengthen our playbook.
GOAL#1: permanent endowment for the Michigan Concussion Center
$15 MILLION
$15 MILLION
GOAL#2: permanent endowment for the Human Performance & Sport Science Center
GOAL#3: solidify SoK as a center of excellence in exercise and cancer
$1—15 MILLION
GOAL #1: $15 MILLION
TO PERMANENTLY ENDOW THE MICHIGAN CONCUSSION CENTER
• Founded in 2018 under the U-M Bioscience Initiative, the University of Michigan Concussion Center serves as a hub for concussion-related clinical care, research, and outreach and engagement on behalf of the U-M community. The mission of the U-M Concussion Center is to maximize societal and individual health through the relentless pursuit of concussion knowledge.
• With more than $80 million in grants, the U-M Concussion Center runs two of the largest studies on concussion in the world. The center provides educational opportunities to U-M students while connecting experts from around the world on this critical health issue.
• A permanent endowment of $15 million would name the center and provide support to its current operations in perpetuity, with some room to grow. Gifts of any size will support an operational support fund.
If what moves you is the work that helps lower concussion rates while returning people to work and play faster, please support this important, campus-wide initiative.
GOAL #2: $15 MILLION
TO PERMANENTLY ENDOW THE HUMAN PERFORMANCE & SPORT SCIENCE CENTER
• HPSSC was originally launched in 2016 as the Exercise & Sport Science Initiative (ESSI), with inaugural funds from the U-M vice president for research, provost, and athletic director. Now, as the Human Performance & Sport Science Center, we believe our new name more closely aligns with our global vision: optimal performance and health for people of all ages and abilities.
• Through student courses focused on human performance and sport science, performing innovative and cross-disciplinary research studies in athletes of all abilities, and by partnering with leaders in industry and high-performance sport, HPSSC is focused on translating our research discoveries to communities of all types, ages, and abilities.
• A permanent endowment of $15 million would name the center and provide support to the center’s current operations in perpetuity, with some room to grow.
INTRODUCING: HAIL
In 2024, the Human Performance and Sport Science Center embarked on a pioneering partnership with Michigan Athletics and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery to create a unique learning environment for students to develop hands-on sport science skills and experience on the playing field, and in the newly developed HPSSC Athlete Innovation Lab (HAIL). Students will participate in performance data collection and biometric assessments with the goal of optimizing performance, facilitating better and faster training and recovery, and ensuring student athlete health and well-being through innovation.
If what moves you is supporting student-athlete health and well-being and helping Michigan Athletics retain its competitive edge, please make a gift to support the HAIL initiative.
GOAL #3: $1—15 MILLION
SOLIDIFY U-M AND SOK AS A CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN EXERCISE AND CANCER
The School of Kinesiology is home to a handful of scholars and researchers with interests in how cancer affects the body. Researchers in the school examine how cancer surgery can affect muscle, tissue, and — ultimately — mobility. They study the impact of exercise on cancer recovery outcomes; the role of obesity in cancer development, diagnosis, and clinical outcomes; and the impact of social determinants of health on outcomes in communities of color.
Our goal is to launch a multi-phase effort to solidify our school as a leader in this area of clinical research.
• Phase 1: Establish a named, endowed, annual lecture series, held in the School of Kinesiology, and focused on innovative topics in exercise and cancer. (Timeline 1-2 years, $1 million)
• Phase 2: Establish a named, endowed, bi-annual symposium on U-M’s campus, inviting the top names in cancer and exercise to join in round table discussions, keynotes, and research project discussions. (Timeline 3-5 years, $2.5 million)
• Phase 3: Establish a named, endowed Exercise & Cancer Center in the School of Kinesiology. (Timeline 10 years, $10 million)
Other ways to support exercise and cancer initiatives in SoK:
• Provide one-time pilot project funding: $75,000
• Provide summer support for student researchers: $5,000/student/year
If what moves you is continued research designed to help people with cancer move toward recovery, please support this new initiative.
GOAL #4: $1 MILLION NAME AND BUILD OUT A MULTICULTURAL CENTER ON THE FIRST FLOOR OF THE SOK BUILDING
• With a commitment to access, opportunity, and inclusion, the School of Kinesiology seeks a partner to name a new, high-visibility multicultural center that celebrates the diverse heritages and identities of our student body, builds community, and offers support systems that help students succeed.
If what moves you is providing accessible spaces for building a diverse community of future leaders, naming this space will support ongoing multicultural programming and community building.
Approved SKB first floor space
Enclosed glass space inspiration
EVERY MOVE MATTERS:
TAKE ACTION
Today, as the University of Michigan launches its Look to Michigan campaign, the School of Kinesiology is learning, teaching, and researching in areas that will move the world forward.
Our work is evolving and wide-reaching and ever-moving. All of it aligns with the University of Michigan’s Vision 2034: a vision for the future that sees a global community looking to Michigan for answers to critical questions about health and wellness, best-in-class education, civic and global engagement, and the protection of our ecological resources.
And your partnership can help us meet the moment. You know that Every Move Matters.
THE ONLY QUESTION LEFT IS: WHAT MOVES YOU?
Louis
Senior
Robin
(734) 615-9678 perduel@umich.edu Marlon
(734) 647-2689 marlonw@umich.edu