Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

The Thurnau Trust and Thurnau Professorships subseries, 1979-2001, (1 linear foot) includes the records of the administration of the bequest of Arthur F. Thurnau. Thurnau was student at the University between 1902 and 1904, and made the University the beneficiary of a bequest of approximately $3,000,000. The provost, Billy Frye, requested the faculty to submit proposals suggesting how the money should be employed, and in particular solicited ideas for research of intellectual significance and future promise. Several faculty members independently submitted proposals within the molecular genetics field, and Frye encouraged them to confer together and submit a joint, interdisciplinary proposal, which was funded through the proceeds of the trust. In 1988, the then provost, Jim Duderstadt, asked the Regents to repurpose the income from the Thurnau bequest to recognize and reward faculty for outstanding contributions to undergraduate education. The program honored tenured faculty whose commitment and investment in undergraduate teaching had a demonstrable impact on the intellectual development of Michigan students.