U of M announces 2009 Imagine Fund Annual Award winners
217 faculty members receive total of $651,000 to support arts, humanities and design system-wide
Contacts: Ryan Maus, University News Service, (612) 624-1690, maus@umn.edu
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (04/08/2009) —University of Minnesota Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost E. Thomas Sullivan announced today the recipients of the 2009 Imagine Fund Annual Awards. The Imagine Fund is a unique University of Minnesota system-wide program open to arts, design and humanities faculty to support a range of projects and enhance the presence of these disciplines at the university. The 217 recipients of this year’s inaugural awards have been granted a total of $651,000.
This marks the first year of the Imagine Fund Program, which is part of the provost’s effort to recognize the value of supporting arts, humanities and design at the university.
"This competitive process yielded many exceptional proposals reminding us that there is a vibrant range of excellence in intellectual and artistic endeavor at the University of Minnesota,” said Sullivan. “Especially in today's bleak funding landscape, our Imagine Fund initiative supports and sustains our finest scholars and creative artists."
Other aspects of the Imagine Fund program, supported by a generous grant from the McKnight Foundation, include the creation of two new endowed chairs to celebrate the arts, humanities and design; the appointment of a visiting scholar or scholars to serve as a distinguished arts and humanities chair; a special fund to support events that promote innovation, collaboration and greater public engagement; and the option for faculty to procure additional funds to secure course release and further advance their creative thinking and scholarship.
For more information on the Imagine Fund, including a complete and detailed listing of 2009’s award-winners, visit http://www.artsandhumanities.umn.edu/?q=resources_um/awards/2009_recipients