 Hello, I'm Dean Susan Collins and I'm delighted to congratulate and welcome you to the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. Let me tell you a bit more about us and why the Ford School is such a special place. It's an exciting time to become a member of the Ford School community. Throughout 2014, we're celebrating the 100th anniversary of our school's founding. We're recognizing the milestone with a terrific series of scholarly and celebratory activities, acknowledging the amazing events of the past but also looking forward to our next 100. Our impressive faculty teach. They conduct policy relevant research and they engage actively with public officials, private sector leaders, and the media. You will learn much from them in your classes and our school's small size will give you opportunities to interact with your professors in informal ways as well. You and your classmates who'll come from all over the world will contribute to an enriched environment full of diverse ideas, backgrounds, and experiences. The Ford School is proud to call Joan and Sanford Weill Hall our home. It's a beautiful space located very near the law school and the business school and it affords students places to study, collaborate, and socialize. We host an incredible roster of distinguished policy makers and leaders, including recent and upcoming visits from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Care CEO Helene Gale, Twitter's President Dick Costello, Detroit City Emergency Manager Kevin Orr, Peace Corps Director Kerry Hasler-Rattlete, and many many more. While we treasure our intimate setting and size, we also have the benefit of being part of one of the world's most renowned research universities, the University of Michigan. We pride ourselves on the ease with which you'll be able to take courses from top schools and departments from all over this great university and you'll be able to do all of this within one of the country's most livable cities, the classic college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Congratulations again on your admission to the Ford School. We look forward to seeing you here in the fall and as always, go blue!