Grants to WMU top $15 million for fiscal year

KALAMAZOO--Grants to Western Michigan University topped $3.5 million from November through January, WMU trustees learned at their Feb. 29 meeting. Since the July 1, 2011, start of the fiscal year, the University has received grants totaling $15,170,943.

For the period reported to the board, December grants led the way, totaling nearly $2 million and accounting for 54 percent of the three-month total. November grants came in just below $600,000, while January awards totaled slightly more than $1 million. Research grants accounted for a little under half of the three-month total, almost reaching $1.8 million, followed closely by grants for public service at nearly $1.2 million.

Notable research grants included a new award of $264,177 from the National Science Foundation to Dr. Todd J. Barkman, associate professor of biological sciences, to investigate the properties of a synthesized enzyme replicating one that has been extinct for at least 200 million years in order to uncover patterns in gene family evolution. The top public service grant was a $581,547 award from Kalamazoo Community Mental Health Services to Dr. Carol Sundberg, director of the Center for Disability Services, to provide daily living, communication, behavior control and social skill services to adults with developmental disabilities.