James Duderstadt, a former president of the University of Michigan who launched several significant initiatives for the school, including a landmark diversity program, has died at the age of 81.
Widely considered one of the most influential leaders of the state's flagship public university, Duderstadt was U of M's 11th president, serving from 1988 to 1996. He joined the U of M faculty in the late 1960s.
Duderstadt was behind major changes at the U of M during his tenure, including the Michigan Mandate to increase students and faculty of color. He also undertook a massive program to rebuild campus buildings and led the 1992 effort that made U of M the first public university to raise $1 billion in a fundraising campaign.
In a statement, the university said Duderstadt shaped the institution "with his zeal for technology, innovation and equality."
Current U of M President Santa Ono praised his contributions to the Ann Arbor campus. "One of Duderstadt's major accomplishments was the development of the North Campus, and the successful transition of the College of Engineering there, which allowed it to really have a burst of activity that really thrust it into even greater heights in comparison to other engineering schools at other universities across the state," Ono said in an interview.
Duderstadt was generally respected by students, although a group briefly occupied his office in 1990 when the university formed an armed campus police force — a decision that's still controversial among some student activists to this day.
Duderstadt stepped down from the U of M presidency to lead the Millennium Project, a research center on campus focusing on the impact of societal, economic, and technological changes on universities.
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