Know Your Building: Stephen M. Ross Academic Center

Check it. The Stephen M. Ross Academic Center at 1110 South State Street opened in 2006. It's 3 stories tall with 38,000 square feet comprised of meeting rooms, offices, study space, computer labs, and double-secret-special rooms open only to athletes. I'd love to see if the average GPA of the athletes went up since it opened....

Mr. Ross, ponied up $5 million of the total 12 million dollar cost to get his name on the door. But that was just CHUMP change because he gave 100 million to the business school in 2004. He's got his name on that door too. (and no, Andy, I've got the numbers right)

Stephen M. Ross is sooooo big that he's got his own wikipedia page! No kidding. He is an alum of our esteemed institution, attaining an accounting degree in 1962. He is also a lawyer and a real estate mogul. He is originally a Detroiter but graduated from high school in Florida. Which explains why he is the owner of the Miami Dolphins and not our darned Lions.....
The other cool fact (imho) is that he is the nephew of Detroit philanthropist extraordinaire Max M. Fischer. Who put HIS name on the b-school at tUOS. Yeah, we Detroiters OWN you buckeyes....hah!

I was wondering though if Ross may have lost some of his coin to Madoff. Not sure if you have found this site muckety.com but it gives you the opportunity to create a relationships map for people, institutions, companies etc. I started a page on SMR---happy hunting!


The Michigan Daily had a piece about the center in 2007 and it's exclusive operating policy....interesting dilemma. I don't have a position one way or another (yeah yeah, pick yourselves up off the floor), but I wonder what you guys think about the exclusivity of these academic services for athletes.......

Know Your Building: Al Glick Field House

I don't know about you all, but it never ceases to amaze me when seemingly 'random' people give boatloads of money to name something. Al Glick's is the newest name to grace a building here on campus in the form of the new Al Glick Fieldhouse, a ginormous indoor practice facility where Zoltan can REALLY punt the ball.

So, I got to wondering---who is this guy and why did he donate 8.7 mil???

And, well...you shouldn't leave me alone to think because we now have a new feature here at Spawn: Know Your Building. (yeah, I'm jonesin' for football right about now)

Al Glick, 82, is the top dog at Alro Steel---a Jackson, Michigan based company founded (pun intended) in 1948. According to manta.com estimates, Alro has an annual revenue of $1,278,112,000 and employs a staff of approximately 1,500. It has locations in Michigan, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. So, yeah, I guess he and his family had some spare coin to donate.

According to the documents provided to the Regents:
"The University of Michigan (U-M) has received a leadership gift from Al Glick of Jackson, Michigan for construction of the Indoor Practice Facility for Intercollegiate Football (Field House). This new facility supplements the space available for field teams to use for practice during inclement weather. In particular, it will provide the football team with a building that meets their needs for indoor practice space. Mr. Glick has a 50 year relationship with Michigan Athletics. His older brother, Robert, attended the University of Michigan, and it was through him that A1 Glick made his first connection. Through the years he has had a special relationship with the U-M football program, including providing support for an Athletic scholarship fund. Through his encouragement, his entire family participated in the gift commitment of $8.7 million for the Field House, including his son, Randy, nephews Barry and Carl, and others. Mr. Glick's company, Alro Steel Corporation, partnered in the gift as well. He has also supported the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Women's Hospital. In recognition of this significant commitment from Al Glick, and the encouragement his gift provided to numerous other donors to support this project, recommend that the Board of Regents formally designate the Indoor Practice Facility for Intercollegiate Football as the Al Glick Field House."

We are probably most familiar with Alro because of it's sponsorship of Inside Michigan Football, i.e. the TV show formally known as Michigan Replay. Mr. Glick also likes to golf, and sponsors the

Alro Steel University of Michigan Golf Day at the Country Club of Jackson. (insert your own snipe here)

All in all, Al Glick seems like a stand-up guy. I couldn't find any drama about Alro---no news stories about lay-offs, bankruptcies, shady deals, or other shenanigans. Wonder if they'll let him watch practice once the building is in use!??