| Posted by Mark Weber |
University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler: State of the University
 Guest speaker Eric Kaler, president of the University of Minnesota, provided a by-the- numbers report on the University of Minnesota’s condition. Now in his sixth year as president, Kaler maintains that the U of M is among the top-10 research universities in the country based on the benchmarks typically used to compare schools. Here are some other numbers he provided:
- The incoming Class of 2020 at 5,880 students is the largest since 1970, with students coming from 1,400 high schools, 44 states, and 51 countries.
- There are more than 250,000 alums in Minnesota, and more than 80 percent of Minnesota’s new physicians come from the U of M.
- About 325 University-industry partnerships have been created with the State of Minnesota’s help through a program called MnDRIVE – an acronym for Minnesota’s Discovery, Research, and Innovation Economy.
- Every dollar invested in the University by the state generates $13.20 in the statewide economy.
- The two State Senate Districts that include portions of Eden Prairie have 2,313 students attending one of the five University of Minnesota campuses.
Kaler also made a point of saying that the student-debt problem may be overstated in the media, where the University of Minnesota is concerned. He said that 43 percent of graduates in 2016 had no school-loan debt at all.
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Announcements
- We continue to sign up guests for the Family Holiday Breakfast that will be held in place of our meeting Dec. 20. The deadline to do so is Dec. 13.
- There are two more meetings this month (we are not meeting Dec. 27), so if you’d like to make a year-end donation to The Rotary Foundation, bring your checks for Dan O’Brien on Dec. 13 or Dec. 20.
- Volunteers are needed for a PROP fundraiser on Dec. 17: gift wrapping at Barnes & Noble bookstore. Four people are needed for shifts at 2 p.m., 4 p.m., and 6 p.m.
- The Swallowship happy hour for January will be Jan. 12 at Piper’s (formerly JJ’s Coffee & Wine Bar).
New Member Induction - Mike Lewis
 The club inducted new member Mike Lewis (right), who was accompanied this morning by his wife, Lisa. John Estall (left) did the induction honors and Kevin Kraemer (center) introduced Mike, a fellow volleyball enthusiast who has also done some coaching. Welcome to the club, Mike.
Happy Fines
Rotarians were happy and willing to pay for sharing why they were happy. Here’s a sampling: Yvonne Selcer was happy to report that, with the club’s help, about 500 holiday cards were filled out for mailing to military personnel and veterans. Rick Getschow was happy about the upcoming city council meeting being the last of the year. Dennis Kim was happy to be hosting U of M President Eric Kaler because, as he was told many years ago, the University is the best in the world. Bev Aho was also happy to have Kaler as guest, and asked all U of M grads to stand and contribute $1. Matt Crane was happy about the cold weather, because it makes the flooding of outdoor hockey rinks all the easier. Robb Hiller was happy to report that his son had proposed to his girlfriend.
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