The coordinated gift allocates $1 million to Minnesota Carlson on the Twin Cities campus and $500,000 to the Swenson College of Science and Engineering’s Advanced Materials Center on the Duluth campus to fuel innovation and develop future talent. 

The rankings are determined by a wide variety of criteria, including graduation rates, student debt, faculty resources and expert opinion.

Pittenger will lead the Office of Undergraduate Education and help shape the undergraduate experience and the future of learning.

 Among the numbers are the University's No. 2 ranking in startup creation, 27 newly created companies and 167 issued patents during FY26. 

 The award honors institutions that demonstrate outstanding practices in supporting postdoctoral scholars. 

The associate professor in the College of Science and Engineering was chosen from more than 180 nominations to learn firsthand about the Navy and Marine Corps' most pressing science and technology challenges.

The College of Veterinary Medicine is helping fund postdoctoral researchers to accelerate early-career development and keep top scientific talent — and their pioneering ideas — moving forward. 

The Medical School research team will use the up to $6 million award to study cognitive flexibility as a form of intervention.

The director of international affairs will be paired with a distinguished mentor to accelerate leadership growth, expand networks and shape the future of international higher education.

The associate professor in the College of Design aims to establish an empirical framework for linking prototype testing practices to the type, depth, and impact of design knowledge generated during conceptual design.