Thank you for considering a donation to the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research or one of its five centers.
 ISR is the world's largest academic social science survey and research organization. We are a leader in developing and applying new social science methods, and we are committed to training the next generation of social scientists. After a rich 60 year history, we continue to broaden our scientific reach through international ventures and new collaborations with federal agencies, foundations, corporations and individuals.
Contributions from Alumni and Friends make a tremendous impact on ISR. In fact, we count on your generous support to help sustain these research and training initiatives. Gifts provide graduate students with enriched opportunities for study and research or advance cutting edge methodological research in survey methodology.
In the last decade, over 100 emerging scholars at the University of Michigan and around the world have been supported by contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations. (You can learn more about the impact of philanthropy on students at ISR by clicking on the Making a Difference button.)
We know decisions about philanthropy are very personal There are many ways to support ISR and all gifts are greatly appreciated. We look forward to hearing from you about how you would like to support the Institute.
You have my commitment that your gift will be administered in strict and complete compliance with your wishes.
James S. Jackson
Director, U-M Institute for Social Research
Giving
Every gift is important and makes a difference in ISR's ability to provide unique opportunities for its students and researchers. At the moment, the funds below are our highest priority:
Fund descriptions
Click the button to make a gift to any of these funds. If you want to contribute to another area, please contact the ISR Development Office at 734-764-8369 or peshield@umich.edu
Your Gift at Work
| "I was honored to receive the Kenneth Organski Award. It provided me the opportunity to work very closely with Professor Jana von Stein to pursue a research question of interest to both of us -- why states sign human rights treaties and the role public opinion plays in these decisions. This opportunity helped finalize my dissertation idea and allowed us to explore an important research question." |
Michelle Allendoerfer, 2007 |
| "I am extremely grateful for the Innovation in Social Research Award I received when I was about to start my dissertation. It meant more than financial support to me and gave me the courage to persist through difficult times, knowing that someone had faith in me." |
Yu Niiya, 2005 |
| "The Innovation in Social Research Award facilitated my progress on my dissertation, for which I collected over 2000 participants in four states to investigate the interaction between individual and systemic discrimination processes. Not only did the support allow me to partake in such a grand endeavor, it ensured that I was on track to defend my dissertation in time to take a post-doctoral position." |
Tiffany Griffin, 2008 |
| "It was a privilege to receive the Organski Award this past summer. The funding allowed me to pursue a project of great interest with the guidance of Professor Barbara Koremenos. This experience has been extremely useful to me as a student: I've learned much more about how ideas in their formulation develop into larger research projects, how theoretical foundations lead to good research designs, and how to subject theoretical work to the scrutiny of empirical testing." |
Papia Debroy, 2008 |
| "I used The Weinberg Prize for travel to Cape Town, which made it possible for me to deepen my understanding of the South African context and to develop and maintain professional ties with my colleagues in South Africa. The expertise of my South African colleagues is extremely helpful and greatly influences the direction and quality of my work. I also gained hands-on skills by providing support to the work of a large-scale data project, a skill set that will be extremely valuable to me in my future career." |
Lloyd Greiger, 2007 |
| "The Weinberg Summer Prize allowed me to visit Nepal to conduct some of my dissertation research. Because I had never been to Nepal, this was a wonderful opportunity for me to gain familiarity with the people I am studying. Although I was able to gain a great deal of knowledge of the Nepali people from previous studies, nothing can substitute for first-hand knowledge of the people, the culture, and the environment." |
Colter Mitchell, 2006 |
| "Funds from the Weinberg Prize allowed me to have uninterrupted research time during the summer before and fall of the year in which I went on the academic job market. This was critical for enabling me to travel back to South Africa to collect key data for the completion of my dissertation work. The award also allowed me to focus all of my attention on producing the best job market paper that I was capable of - and the payoff to this in terms of my first academic job was beyond anything I could possibly have imagined!" |
Taryn Dinkelman, 2006 |
| "The Innovation in Social Research Award has provided me the opportunity to embark on this new area of research and to challenge many of the assumptions that drive our understandings of refugees and non-migrating civilians who live under the threat of armed conflict. It has also provided me the time to bring together theories from a number of related disciplines (such as economics, sociology, criminology, and psychology) that had not yet been considered in this area." |
Nathalie Williams, 2007 |
| "With the aid of Weinberg Prize, I was able to attend various international conferences and workshops that augmented and enhanced my current research on demographic approaches to socioeconomic polarization." |
Sun-Jae Hwang, 2007 |
| "Because of the Weinberg Endowment, I did field study in Gansu in the summer of 2008 and collected qualitative data from 51 in-depth interviews. With the support of the Award, I have stepped into a new phase of my academic life – from a student to a researcher." |
Zheng Mu, 2008 |
| "The Weinberg Prize was highly useful to me as a graduate student. It meant that I did not need to work as a teacher during that summer, which allowed me to focus intensely on my studies and make lots of progress towards completion of my degree." |
Vimal Ranchhod, 2005 |
| "The Innovation in Social Research Award gave me the opportunity to finish my dissertation research on the intersection of power, social stratification, and natural resources quickly, and provided the basis for the successful publication record I have developed since receiving my Ph.D. in 2004." |
Christopher Thoms, 2003 |
| "The Innovation in Social Research Award, allowed me to complete my dissertation before starting at the Federal Reserve, so I could dive in to my new responsibilities. More importantly, I was able to cement research collaborations that have continued with faculty at ISR. The support was instrumental in the successful completion of my studies and in setting a strong foundation for my future research." |
Claudia Sahm, 2006 |
| "The Innovation in Social Research Award funded my travel to archives and libraries across the country to do research on the extension of the voting franchise to women. It also gave me time to be involved in several research projects with faculty members, which was not only a rewarding intellectual experience, but also resulted in some of my first publications." |
Corrine McConnaughy, 2002 |
| "The Innovation in Social Research Award allowed me to devote all of my time to research and my family, rather than having the added burden of teaching. Because of this, I was able to finish my dissertation in one year, a rarity in the Communications Department. In addition, I was able to be present for some of the little moments in my sons' lives that I otherwise likely would have missed. I was with my older son on his first day of Kindergarten, for example, something he still remembers today." |
Laramie Taylor, 2004 |
| "The Innovation in Social Research Award allowed me to pursue research trying to identify interpersonal social learning effects on beliefs and behaviors about fertility in a very small village in Nepal. This research had a profound impact on my professional career, helping me secure a tenure track position at McGill University, and has had an influence on the field of demography." |
John Sandberg, 2001 |
| "The Katz Fellowship was crucial in helping me finish my dissertation, which is currently in press at Cognition & Emotion. The Fellowship made it possible for me to complete an interdisciplinary project in three countries. Of course, I underestimated how much work it would be!" |
Janxin Leu, 2003 |
| "The Katz Fellowship helped me tremendously in completing my dissertation, which created a ripple effect in my career. Not only did I get two publications out of my dissertation, but I have continued along the same lines of my dissertation research and have branched out into longitudinal research. In addition, I traveled to various conferences where I formed collaborations to address similar questions in a data set housed in Germany." |
Kate Fiori, 2005 |
| "Chances are I would still be trudging through the dissertation process if it were not for the Katz Fellowship. Thanks to it, over the 2006 and 2007 academic year I was able to focus all my energies on completing my dissertation. Since I was fortunate enough to not be distracted by other responsibilities, I was not only able to complete my dissertation in a timelier manner; I was also able to produce a more coherent and reasoned end-product. In fact, portions of my dissertation are already in press, while others are near the end of the review process." |
Justin Jager, 2006 |
| "I received the Katz Fellowship during my last year at Michigan. Thanks to the time I was able to devote to my research and my dissertation while on the Katz Fellowship, I'm hopefully on my way to being in good position for a tenure-track faculty job. Two articles from my dissertation are now in press. I could not have done this without the support from the Katz Fellowship." |
Nicholas Bowman, 2007 |
| "The Kenneth Organski Award was instrumental in helping me conduct my dissertation research. I conducted a nationally-representative public opinion survey in Yemen, which is the first such survey that has ever been done in the country. The survey itself comprised face-to-face interviews with over 1,400 Yemenis, and these data continue to be crucial to my academic work." |
Daniel Corstange, 2006 |
| "The Katz Fellowship has been instrumental in facilitating my research career in several ways. First, it provided me with resources during my final year of graduate study that allowed me to finish the Joint Doctoral Program one year ahead of schedule, thus allowing me to take a prestigious post-doctoral position at Columbia University. While at Columbia, I wrote several manuscripts as well as successfully obtained grant funding from CDC to support my research." |
Shawna Lee, 2004 |
| "I felt thankful and appreciated after receiving the financial support during my Master's study. This generous support helped me complete the Program, which built a very solid foundation for my career. Hopefully, one day I will make scientific contributions to the development of field of survey methodology and will be able to make a financial contribution to help others to pursue their dreams." |
Dandan Zhang |
| "I would not have been able to enroll in the University of Michigan Program in Survey Methodology without the funding I received from the Program. This support made my Master's study possible, which is the cornerstone of my future career. I am truly grateful." |
Hanyu Sun |
| "The scholarship I received motivated me to strive for excellence in my graduate program. Knowing most of my fellow Masters students did not receive such an award, I set high standards for myself—to prove that I was worthy of the award. The scholarship pushed me to achieve my full potential." |
Rachel Orlowski |
| "The award I received allowed me to attend the Program without taking out any private loans or getting a second job. Being able to do this made the decision to attend graduate school much easier and allowed me to focus on my studies rather than worrying about money or incurring an overwhelming amount of student debt. Now that I have completed the program, I find my work in public opinion research very rewarding, and I am thankful for the opportunity provided by the award." |
Christine Lien, 2009 |
| "Being accepted into the Program in Survey Methodology is the opportunity of a lifetime for me, and I might not have been able to enroll without the generosity support of the program. Because of this support, I am positioned to achieve my educational goals and am one step closer to achieving my professional goals as well." |
Amy Faucher, 2009 |
More quotes from gift recipients
Giving to ISR Centers
Some of ISR's Centers and programs have their own fundraising priorities. Click on the links below for more information:
|
