Pharmacy Student Among First Munger Tenants
Sydney Bruno, PharmD'18 Candidate, is among the first to occupy innovative graduate student living opportunity.
Thanks to a generous gift from U-M alumnus Charles T. Munger, the University can promote interdisciplinary education via living situation. The gift is the largest single donation to the university in its 196-year history.
“It’s really finding a physical common ground to just be a sparking place for the interactions. To work with them and learn with them, suddenly you understand how different fields outside of your own work, just because of the early exposure,” states Bruno. "They always say networking is key to getting you anywhere, so now your network wont just be among doctors or pharmacists. You’ll know the painter; you’ll know the computer designer; you’ll know the engineer. And you’ll still be a pharmacist or a doctor."
The Munger residences are designed specifically for graduate and professional level students from all U-M schools and colleges, with a goal of fostering a trans-disciplinary community where students live and exchange ideas together. The Munger Graduate Residences challenge students to develop networks across disciplines and to pursue new ideas together, through both formal programs and casual interaction. Munger provides an innovative environment where today's graduate and professional students can best become tomorrow's leaders. Located on Central Campus, the Munger residences are LEED Silver certified.
"It's that overlap that’s so exciting, and it’s that overlap where one can actually translate it to the other. Sometimes using different words and nomenclature is where that the ah-ha moment comes,” states Dr. Bruce Mueller, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the U-M College of Pharmacy. "I already know how I think, but I don’t know how the engineer, the mathematician, or the chemist thinks. I’m finding that my research is a lot better now since I started getting different people into my group. And who knows how those are going to interact and actually change your career!”
