A special ceremony to dedicate Robert H. Bruininks Hall will take place at 3 p.m. Friday, May 1. The building is named for Bruininks, who has given more than 45 years of service to the University of Minnesota, including nine as president (2002-11), seven as dean of the College of Education and Human Development (1991-97), and seven as founder and director of the Institute on Community Integration (1985-91).
The University has a long and proud tradition of honoring past presidents by naming a building after them. The U’s Board of Regents approved the renaming of the Science Teaching Student Services (STSS) building at its Dec. 12 meeting. The STSS building was completed in August 2010, during Bruininks’s presidency.
Arriving at the U of M in 1968 as an assistant professor in educational psychology, Bruininks began a rare path to leadership within one institution. He later became professor, department head, dean, and executive vice president and provost. In 2002, Bruininks was appointed as the 15th president, serving until 2011. Returning to the faculty thereafter, Bruininks continued work at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and the College of Education and Human Development before retiring in September 2013.
Bruininks’s administration emphasized the U’s public mission and unique role as Minnesota’s only comprehensive research, land-grant university. Despite two deep state budget cuts, Bruininks advanced a transformative strategic plan that raised the institution’s academic profile, its service to students and the community and its stewardship of resources. Key initiatives such as expanded undergraduate research, travel-abroad opportunities and a campus-wide Honors Program for the Twin Cities campus helped fuel high student satisfaction rates, increased applications and enrollment, significantly improved graduation rates and growth in external research and private support.
In addition to STSS, Bruininks led the way for the construction of TCF Bank Stadium, research facilities in the Biomedical Discovery District and plans to reinvigorate and renovate the historic Northrop.
Bruininks’s academic career centered on child and adolescent development and policy research, and strategic improvement in the fields of pre-kindergarten to grade 12 and higher education.
About Robert H. Bruininks Hall
With expansive views of the Mississippi River, Robert H. Bruininks Hall forms a gateway to the East Bank campus at a landmark site. It is home to extensive technology-rich classrooms that serve about 20,000 students annually through hands-on and highly interactive learning environments, and through important student development programs, including the Center for Academic Planning and Exploration, Career Services Center, Office for Student Engagement, One Stop Student Services and University Veterans Services.
