University of Michigan art school gets new name in honor of $32.5M donation

By Kellie Woodhouse Higher education reporter

Posted on Thu, Sep 20, 2012 : 4:41 p.m.

University of Michigan's School of Art & Design received a $32.5 million gift from a private donor, officials announced Thursday.

Penny and E. Roe Stamps

Courtesy of the University of Michigan

The gift was matched by a $7.5 million allotment from the university, giving the art school $40 million in new funds.

The donation was given by Penny and E. Roe Stamps, and the art school will be renamed the Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design in their honor. The University of Michigan Board of Regents approved the change Thursday.

Penny Stamps, a 1966 U-M art and design school grad, and her husband have already established scholarship and visitor programs and an art gallery at the school. They live in Miami, Fla.

The university said the couple is among the largest donors to any art and design school in the nation.

Former U-M art school dean Bryan Rogers, who retired in May after 12 years as dean, said the gift was a "very unlikely thing to do in today's world."

"Money for the arts, in particularly the visual arts, is very hard to come by," he said.

Read more about how the gift will transform the School of Art & Design.