ANN ARBOR—The campus is invited to join the celebration when The Michigan Difference wraps up the most successful fundraising campaign in the University of Michigan’s history with a ceremony 2:30-4 p.m., Friday, Nov. 14. The event is free and open to the public, Friday, Nov., 14 in Hill Auditorium.

The campaign total will be announced by campaign Chair Rich Rogel at the event which is being emceed by the husband-and-wife team of NBC Sports anchor Andrea Joyce (AB ?76) and CBS Early Show anchor Harry Smith. The total raised to date exceeds the goal of $2.5 billion announced in 2004.The campaign ends officially on Dec. 31.

The support of more than 364,000 donors has enabled the university to greatly increase student financial aid, create new student programs, hire and retain outstanding faculty, support groundbreaking research, and provide new buildings for health care, teaching, arts and entertainment, and more.

“This is a singular moment in the history of the University of Michigan,” said President Mary Sue Coleman. “Thousands of donors from throughout our state, around the country, and indeed the world, have shown they believe U-M is a great investment. That investment will sustain the University’s impact for generations and will allow us to continue to serve our state and our nation.”

Campaign chair Rogel said, “Donors have not only given to today’s faculty and students, they have invested in the future?the future of the University, the future of the state of Michigan, and the future of our nation and world. This campaign is as much about the future of the University of Michigan as it is about the present. They’ve done all this and more. They have truly made the Michigan Difference!”

The Michigan Difference was chosen as the theme for the campaign to illustrate the unique nature of the University’s teaching, research and public service. Coleman, Rogel and other campaign leaders have emphasized the vital role of philanthropy in advancing U-M?s position as one of the nation?s leading research universities.

The Michigan Difference ? making a difference today:

? Tonya Mallett knew she could be a great teacher. She had the passion. She had experience with young people, including her own children. She even had many of the necessary college credits. What she needed was advanced teacher training. But looming between her and her dream was the specter of debt. A scholarship helped Mallett pursue her education, and today she teaches in a Detroit charter school.

? Dr. Yeohash Raphael, the Williams Professor of Otolaryngology, and his colleagues are looking at how gene therapy may someday be used to regrow auditory hair cells, whose destruction leads to hearing loss. And Dr. Eva Feldman, the DeJong Professor of Neurology, is using rats that carry a mutated gene to understand the causes and possible treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Both are Taubman Scholars, whose work is funded by the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute.

? The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy has its first home under one roof thanks to major campaign support for its new building. Susan Collins, who holds the campaign-funded Joan and Sanford Weill Deanship, says this landmark new building is transforming the student and faculty experience.

? Professor Ron Zernicke left the Canadian Rockies for Michigan as director of the campaign-funded Bone & Joint Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation Center. The new center draws on a range of demonstrated strengths at Michigan?kinesiology, orthopaedics, biomedical engineering?to conduct critical research into preventing injuries and rehabilitation, and promote lifelong musculoskeletal health.

? U-M softball Captain Teddi Ewing says the upgrades to Alumni Field, part of the donor-funded Wilpon Baseball and Softball Complex, make the stadium among the best in the country. When she’s not working on her batting average, she takes full advantage of the Stephen M. Ross Academic Center, a campaign-funded study center just steps away from where she and her fellow student-athletes train and compete.

? Dean Terrence McDonald looks at the new intellectual resources available to graduate and undergraduate students in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts due to donor support: The Frances and Kenneth Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies, the Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic Studies, the Ronald and Eileen Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia, the Newnan Advising Center, the Center for Korean Studies, the Barger Leadership Institute and the IDEA Institute (Instructional Development and Educational Assessment).

? The restoration and expansion of the University of Michigan Museum of Art will offer a multidisciplinary meeting place for the arts, says Museum Director James Steward. The museum project, a striking addition to the central campus landscape, will vastly expand the ability of the museum to showcase and interpret more collections.