DETROIT – Wayne State University President Kimberly Andrews Espy, Ph.D., was joined on July 25 in downtown Detroit at the Westin Book Cadillac hotel by University Research Corridor (URC) colleagues, Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz and University of Michigan President Santa Ono, for a Crain’s Detroit Business Power Breakfast on higher education.

The three presidents made it clear to the 250 attendees that they are in agreement on collaborating and maximizing opportunities for Michigan’s three largest universities to drive economic development in Detroit and throughout the state.

President Espy expressed that collaboration among the universities and with for-profit and non-profit corporate and government partners is an imperative. She referenced Michigan Futures Inc. data that show that the state’s personal income has gone from 16 to 39 among the 50 states over the last 20 years.

“That means each and every one of us need to do more to be focused on economic development,” said President Espy. “Wayne State has a long history with respect to talent development – that’s our graduates. We're very fortunate that 80% of our students stay here in Michigan to work after they get their degree. People may not be as familiar with our innovative faculty and how the research becomes innovation – becomes new medicines, new technologies, new policies sometimes. Changes that help us do things differently.”

As examples, President Espy shared how a Wayne State faculty member and General Motors engineers designed a machine to temporarily replace the blood-pumping function of the heart, making many types of open-heart surgery possible for the first time, and how Zhuo-Hua Pan, Ph.D., professor of ophthalmology, visual and anatomical sciences, pioneered optogenetics for vision restoration, discovering a proprietary algae-based novel gene therapy to restore vision in patients suffering from blindness caused by retinitis pigmentosa.

She added that Wayne State is armed to help researchers support the new technology pipeline from idea to innovation to business through TechTown, the university’s research and technology park for small-business incubation and acceleration. TechTown is a hub of entrepreneurship that has supported more than 6,000 businesses across Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park since its opening in 2004, and has resulted in more than 2,200 jobs and raised more than $400 million in startup and growth capital.

TechTown helps small tech businesses and, just as importantly, non-tech small businesses like restaurants, travel agencies and clothing stores that also create jobs and have an economic impact. In 2023 alone, TechTown supported more than 900 businesses and 1,000 entrepreneurs, including 63% who identify as Black or African American.

The URC presidents – all who have been at their respective institutions for less than two years – met recently to set a strategic direction for the alliance and to discuss opportunities for collaborative research between students and researchers at the three institutions. Areas of focus that align with the state’s economic strengths include sustainability, life and health sciences, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing.

The goal is to grow upon the URC’s $23.9 million net economic impact last year.

“Everyone was very excited about the [NFL] draft – and the draft was absolutely amazing – a $165 million in economic impact,” said President Espy. “If you look at what the three universities do, that's like having a draft every other day of the year. That's how much impact the three of us have. So, think of the benefits of us working together here, in the fabric of Detroit. It benefits each and every one of us, and Detroit benefits the state. I'm optimistic and enthusiastic. We're a different kind of university. Each of us is a piece of the puzzle that, when you put it together, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.”

The other presidents shared President Espy’s outlook.

“I have never been at a place where the stars are aligning more,” said President Ono. “That is the case here in Michigan from Lansing to the community college sector, to the research universities, to the Business Leaders of Michigan, to the chamber. What's happening here is exciting. And remember today. This is the day and moving forward, this is going to be the place, the most exciting place for higher education in the country.”