Wayne State celebrates Ford Motor Company support, unveils named student center

PHOTO RELEASE (April 26, 2012) - Wayne State University and its College of Engineering celebrated the generosity of Ford Motor Company yesterday, as the college unveiled the naming of the Ford Motor Company Student Activity Center.

	Pictured left to right: Ford Director of Education and Community Development Mike Schmidt, College of Engineering Dean Farshad Fotouhi, Ford Vice President of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering Robert Brown, and College of Engineering Board of Visitor member and retired Ford executive Brian Geraghty.

The Ford Motor Company Fund gave $3 million to Wayne State University's Wayne First campaign with $1.8 million of the gift supporting the College of Engineering and its Marvin I. Danto Engineering Development Center.

"Ford Motor Company supports Wayne State and the College of Engineering in many ways," said College of Engineering Dean Farshad Fotouhi. "Our students, faculty and alumni benefit greatly from its generosity, and for that we are truly grateful. It is an honor to name this room in recognition of Ford Motor Company's support and commitment to tomorrow's engineers and to Wayne State."

"The dedication of the new Ford Motor Company Student Activity Center is a milestone in the continuing partnership between Ford and Wayne State," said Mike Schmidt, director of education and community development, Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services. "This partnership is another example of our support of innovation, excellence in education and economic growth here in Detroit and Southeast Michigan."

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Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. With about 164,000 employees and about 70 plants worldwide, the company's automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford and its products worldwide, please visit http://corporate.ford.com.

Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution of higher education offering more than 400 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 32,000 students. For more information about engineering at Wayne State University, visit engineering.wayne.edu.