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University of Michigan president, spouse, give one million dollars for student study abroad

University of Michigan

University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman and her husband, Dr. Kenneth Coleman, announced today they will give their employer one million dollars to help undergraduate and graduate students study and travel abroad.

Coleman says she spent three months studying throughout Europe as an undergraduate student, and her husband, Kenneth Coleman, traveled to Latin America as a graduate student.

She says her experience "changed my outlook about myself and what I wanted to do with my life. We want to help students who otherwise might not have the opportunity to experience what we did as students. It may be a semester abroad, international service projects, internships, or situations we've yet to imagine."

Coleman made the announcement at her “leadership breakfast,” at which she traditionally sums up the progress made by the University of Michigan, and the challenges it faces.

She’s the University's first female president and will retire next year.

Coleman has traveled to China, Ghana, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Israel and Brazil during the 11 years she has served as U of M president.

In November, she will lead a faculty group to India.

She says the next fundraising campaign for the university will seek to raise one billion dollars to fund scholarships and grants, to help students afford tuition at the state's largest public university.