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Delivering his State of the University address, President Domenico Grasso celebrated significant organizational victories while underscoring a priority of his presidency: As leaders, the University of Michigan must continue to innovate, invest and educate.
In front of 200 leaders and invited guests in University Hall — and more than 1,000 Michigan community members watching via a livestream — Grasso acknowledged numerous highlights from 2025 and unveiled several ambitious projects intended to strengthen U-M’s responsibility to serve the public good through research and dialogue.
Grasso focused the address through the lens of U-M’s strategic visioning plan, Look to Michigan, which launched this summer from the foundation of Vision 2034. Following Grasso, teams of faculty, staff and students presented on each of the vision’s five main pillars.
“Our university’s progress is impressive, and our ambitions bold,” he said. “Our legacy of impact and service is not defined by individuals but by the long and devoted line of staff, students and faculty who advance humanity through their intellect, passion and skills.”
Grasso touched on several milestones as evidence of the university’s health:
He referenced generational facilities coming online, including the state-of-the-art D. Dan and Betty Kahn Health Care Pavilion, the Central Campus Residential Development, the new College of Pharmacy building and the Hadley Family Recreation & Well-Being Center.
Grasso then introduced a major new investment in biomedical research, announced updates to the civil discourse and dialogue center and reaffirmed the university’s support of ambitious Look to Michigan programs.
A $250 million investment will develop a Michigan-based “Skunk Works” for biomedical research. The biomedical innovation institute will make U-M a global leader in life science innovation by launching companies to accelerate research breakthroughs.
“We are establishing a biomedical innovation institute that will be one of the most ambitious investments in years,” Grasso said. “We will merge our research strengths with entrepreneurial speed to bring discoveries from the laboratory to patients faster than ever before.”
The high-risk, high-reward institute is grounded in bio-AI, clinical trials and commercialization. The result will be serving humanity more effectively with faster and more advanced healthcare.
Grasso cited the recent success of HistoSonics as an example. Twenty years ago, U-M researchers pioneered a non-invasive method to destroy liver cancer tumors using ultrasound pulses. Their technology — histotripsy — grew into the company HistoSonics. Two years ago, it received FDA approval to treat liver tumors and this summer, it sold for $2.25 billion. HistoSonics now plans to apply its technology to other cancers.
“This is a powerful example of how Michigan is saving lives. We aim to replicate this success, but at a significantly faster pace,” he said.
The five-year, $250 million investment will launch the institute and recruit top scientists and entrepreneurial talent from across campus and throughout the world.
Grasso provided more information on the $50 million civil discourse and dialogue center, first announced in September, to bridge today’s societal differences and strengthen our social fabric.
“Some may find it ironic that a university, already the marketplace of ideas, would establish such a center,” Grasso said. “But at this moment in history, when division too often drowns out discourse, Michigan must lead.”
The university will begin campus town halls in January and February, leading to an April preview event that will showcase what true dialogue can achieve. Grasso said the discourse center will reach out to the broader society and model how to listen, communicate and connect across our differences in a thoughtful manner.
“We may not always succeed. But we will always strive for mutual respect, humility and a commitment to consequential outcomes,” he said.
Grasso concluded by reaffirming U-M’s commitment of $1 billion over 10 years to Look to Michigan initiatives.
“I have been a department chair, a dean and a provost, and some may wonder how we can make this vast investment while also addressing budget challenges,” Grasso said. “The answer is we must think differently. We must not compromise the potential of the future for the exigency of the present.”
Grasso said the university will soon call for proposals from the university community for ideas.
“The world’s brightest minds in the world surround us on all three campuses, and together we can be more strategic and disciplined than ever before,” he said.
