WMU HOME > ABOUT WMU > WMU NEWS Grant total for 2003-04 tops $40 million Sept. 30, 2004 KALAMAZOO--Western Michigan University closed its 2003-04 fiscal year with a total of just over $40 million in externally funded grants, the WMU Board of Trustees learned Sept. 17. The year's grant total, the fifth largest in university history, exceeds the previous year's total by more than $7 million. Some $2 million in grants was received during the final month of the fiscal year, including an award for $838,438 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to Dr. Richard Long of the Department of Blindness and Low Vision Studies to continue a multi-university project aimed at helping low-vision pedestrians negotiate complex intersections. The board also learned of more than $9 million in grants already received by WMU since the July 1 start of the current fiscal year. Major grants received during July and August included an award for $4,535,115 from the U.S. Department of Education to Dr. Joseph Kretovics, professor of teaching, learning and leadership, to support the Midwest Educational Reform Consortium, an educational reform initiative, which is led by WMU and seeks to restructure public schools and reform teacher preparation to improve academic achievement in all students. Media contact: Cheryl Roland, 269 387-8400, cheryl.roland@wmich.edu WMU News Office of University Relations Western Michigan University 1903 W Michigan Ave Kalamazoo MI 49008-5433 USA 269 387-8400 www.wmich.edu/wmu/news