ORSP's 100th Anniversary Timeline

ORSP celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2020. While research endeavors were ongoing in
U-M’s early years, the need to partner with sponsors and manage research with a new office was not established by the Board of Regents until October 1, 1920. A key champion of this office was Mortimer E. Cooley, dean of engineering 1904-1914. Cooley wrote that the university was not only responsible for educating the state’s youth but also for providing opportunities for “faculty and students to engage in research for the industry” to serve the university, its students, as well as the public good. The first director was Albert E. White from Chemical Engineering had a total departmental budget of $10,000. It was a start.