I’m so honored to join with you this Veterans Day as we celebrate our students, faculty and staff who are veterans or who are serving in the military.

You are so important to me personally – you are such a valued and vital part of our community.

You exemplify our tradition, our ethos, our mission as a university – an eagerness to serve, and a readiness to sacrifice – a humility in the classroom and a boldness in action – a fidelity to honor and excellence, to Constitution and country.

Even more, you bring these values into our classrooms.

Whether serving in silent honor or speaking out with patriotism and pride, you represent a commitment to a calling greater than yourselves, a determination and adaptability, a dedication to education and learning, and a warrior-heartedness infused with compassion and character. 

We need that example of your character today.

That’s why we are so supportive of our Veterans and Military Services Program – it’s designed to assist military-connected students in their transition to, and ultimate success at the University of Michigan.

As part of those efforts, we also have a U of M Council on Military-Connected students. The Council serves as a campus-wide military student support team with representatives from units across the university including Undergraduate Admissions, the Office of Financial Aid, the Registrar’s office and many others.

We’re so excited by the achievements and successes of our military-connected students, staff and faculty, and we’re looking for new opportunities to engage. For in addition to your service, members of the military are often at the leading edge of applied science and technology.

For instance, last month we celebrated Dr. Kevin Ward, Director of the Max Harry Weil Institute for Critical Care Research and Innovation as well as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve Medical Corp., as our Distinguished University Innovator of the Year. It’s the highest honor we can offer to members of the U of M faculty who have developed transformative ideas, processes and technologies, and brought them to the market for the lifting of our society.

Dr. Ward has had an incredible impact here, establishing the Weil Institute and the Fast Forward Medical Innovation program, as well as founding multiple startups and receiving FDA approval for several of his innovations.

Also in October, the U.S. Space Force announced that U of M had been chosen to lead a national research institute to develop advanced, versatile propulsion systems. Concurrently, our Automotive Research Institute is continuing its longstanding agreement with the U.S. Army to boost work on autonomous vehicle technologies. And in May, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro came to Ann Arbor to announce the establishment of a new Center for Naval Research and Education.

As we work together and build together, we are strengthening our national security even as we are increasing opportunities for our military-connected students, staff and faculty and their families.

It’s so important for us to do so. For at the University of Michigan, our veterans and military service members will always have a welcoming home.

So thank you again.

Thank you for the example you set, for the commitment you have made, and for the excellence you bring in serving, learning and leading.

Happy Veterans Day … and Go Blue!