We are poised at a moment of growth. We have plans to expand our fellowships, connect the humanities to other regions of the university, extend outreach, further traditional scholarship, enhance our exhibition program. Some of our programs reexamine what the humanities might say about human rights, documentary film, even the ethics of medicine. These seek to push the humanities in new direction. Others hark back to our beginnings. Fellowships have always anchored our community, and will continue to do so. Supporting scholarship, fostering interdisciplinarity, opening our doors to new people remain core values. We continually seek friends to help support these adventures.

We want to add to our endowment to make sure that future cohorts can take chances on ideas that may bear fruit. We want to make sure that good ideas find support, that we remember the University’s mission--to practice and to teach critical thinking--working together on ideas and issues, rethinking central values and how they apply to today’s dilemmas, today’s world.

With all this emphasis on new (new people, new strategies, our own entry into a new era), we are happy to say we are working hard to maintain the best features of the Institute. We devote lots of personal attention to Fellows, to guests, to members of the University’s large family both on campus and off, as we encourage both conversations and controversies. Last year someone asked the Director if we were doing enough that is audacious, controversial, risky. We hope our answer to that question—as it was that day—will continue to be a resounding “yes.” And we count on our many audiences to keep it that way, not to forget our past, our heritage, but to keep current and curious and inquisitive.

This Institute was founded and has been funded all along by the generosity of Michigan alumni and friends. Early wisdom dictated that we would exist on income from endowment, that endowment would allow the freedom to mount programs and promote scholarship free from the vagaries of high or low budgets. That wisdom has proven quite apt, as universities, states and the nation face difficult budget questions. The Institute’s success in garnering endowment has assured future scholars that the University of Michigan can maintain strong support for advanced research in the humanities and arts. Individual donors, foundations, and corporations who have given generously to the Institute have assured our existence and have helped ensure our success. We modestly take this moment to thank each one.