Dr. James Johnson Duderstadt, President Emeritus and University Professor of Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan, died on August 21, 2024.
Jim was born on December 5, 1942, to Mack Henry and Katharine (Johnson) Duderstadt in Fort Madison, Iowa. He was raised in Carrollton, Missouri.
Dr. Duderstadt received a B.Eng. in electrical engineering with highest honors from Yale University in 1964 and an M.S. and Ph.D. in engineering science and physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1967. After a year as an Atomic Energy Commission Postdoctoral Fellow at Caltech, he joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 1968 in the Department of Nuclear Engineering, rising through the ranks to full professor in 1975. Dr. Duderstadt became Dean of the College of Engineering in 1981 and he and his team moved the College to the North Campus. He served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs in 1986. He was elected President of the University of Michigan in 1988 and served in this role until 1996. He then returned to the faculty holding a university-wide faculty appointment as University Professor of Science and Engineering, co-chairing the University’s program in Science, Technology, and Public Policy, and directing the Millennium Project, a research center exploring the impact of over-the-horizon technologies on society.
Dr. Duderstadt’s teaching and research interests have spanned a wide range of subjects in science, mathematics, and engineering, including nuclear fission reactors, thermonuclear fusion, high-powered lasers, computer simulation, information technology, and policy development in areas such as energy, education, and science. He has published extensively in these areas, including over 30 books and 200 technical publications.
During his career, Duderstadt received numerous awards and honorary degrees for his research, teaching, and service activities, including the E. O. Lawrence Award for excellence in nuclear research, the Arthur Holly Compton Prize for outstanding teaching, the National Medal of Technology for exemplary service to the nation, and the Vannevar Bush Award for lifelong contributions to the welfare of the nation through public service activities in science, technology, and public policy. He has been elected to numerous honorific societies including the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Phi Beta Kappa, and Tau Beta Pi.
Dr. Duderstadt served on or chaired many public and private boards including the National Science Board; numerous committees of the National Academies including the Executive Council of the National Academy of Engineering and the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy; the National Commission on the Future of Higher Education; the Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee of the Department of Energy; and business organizations such as the Big Ten Athletic Conference, the University of Michigan Hospitals, Unisys, and CMS Energy; chaired the Policy and Global Affairs Division of the National Research Council, co-director of the Glion Colloquium (Switzerland), nonresident Senior Fellow of the Brookings Institution, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the DOE CASL Nuclear Energy Innovation Hub.
Jim married Anne Marie Lock on June 24, 1964. They have two children, Susan (John Iskander) and Katharine (Nathan Schwadron), and four grandchildren, Eleanor and Jonas Iskander, and Marina and Jane Schwadron.
Jim and Anne worked as a team throughout their 56-year Michigan careers. After retiring from the presidency, they published many books and documents on University of Michigan history, and preserved them on the Millennium Project Website (milproj.dc.umich.edu).
Private family services will be held.
