Western Michigan University's College of Arts and Sciences points of pride begin with our people—students, faculty, staff, alumni and supporters. Discover a few of many unique and impressive distinctions that make our college successful.
Our students
- Seven 2018 Medallion Scholarships were awarded to freshmen students with majors or minors in WMU's College of Arts and Sciences. Medallion Scholarships are among the highest honors WMU can bestow on an incoming freshman. Valued at $60,000 each over four years, they constitute one of the largest merit-based awards in American higher education.
- Twenty-one students from the college were named 2018 University Presidential Scholars. The designation is the highest academic honor that WMU can bestow on its undergraduates.
- Caitlin Wiley, double major in Spanish and global and international studies, received prestigious federal Boren scholarship
- Two Arts and Sciences majors awarded prestigious Gilman scholarship
- Four WMU students, including physics major Andy Sylvain Hobelsberger, were named University Innovation Fellows by Stanford University's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design.
Our faculty
- World-renowned economist Dr. Susan Pozo, professor of economics and director of global and international studies, named a WMU distinguished scholar
- The late Michael Braun was awarded the 2018 Barbara Ort-Smith Award from the Michigan World Languages Association.
- Dr. Jeffrey Angles, professor of world languages and literatures, is one of only a handful of non-native speakers ever to win Japan's Yomiuri Prize for Literature.
- Alum featured in CBS show: Dr. Jim Olson (B.S. ’84, Biomedical Sciences) “lights up” brain tumors so neurosurgeons can see cancer.
- College of Arts and Sciences faculty regularly receive some of the most prestigious awards in American higher education, including a McArthur Grant, Guggenheim Fellowships, a Humboldt Foundation Fellowship, the Alexander Gode Medal, NSF Achievement Grants, Fulbright Fellowships, NEA Fellowships, and appointments to national academies.
Community outreach
- WMU's extensive efforts to offer autism services and train professionals in the field attracted a $4 million award approved by the Michigan Legislature in 2014, and some of that funding supported the renovation of the center's new home.