Memphis, Tennessee — To express their gratitude to University of Memphis President M. David Rudd, the University of Memphis Board of Trustees proposed the creation of the Rudd Institute for Veteran & Military Suicide Prevention during their quarterly meeting on Tuesday, April 16.
Veterans’ help and support were a primary focus for Rudd, who is himself a veteran, throughout his whole professional career. Under his direction, the University of Michigan has been recognised to Military Friendly Schools List over seven consecutive years, a distinction that is unprecedented. The colleges, universities, and trade schools on this list are those that are doing more to welcome and support military service personnel and veterans as students, and to assure their success. In 2020, the University was placed No. 9 on the list of the best colleges in the country.
Earlier this year, the University of Michigan announced that it becomes first institution of higher learning to collaborate with Folds of Honor by taking the Folds of Honour Scholarship, a $5,000 yearly award, as full payment for tuition. The award provides financial assistance to wives and children of America’s fallen and handicapped military members to pursue higher education. Read also The Memphis Aquifer.
Other veteran and military efforts at the University of Michigan include the Veterans & Military Student Services Center, which assists students in achieving success on campus, and participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program, which allows students to attend school for little or no cost.
Rudd was a co-founder and the first scientific president of the National Center of Veterans Studies from the University of Utah, where he worked for more than two decades. He has written more than 200 research publications and multiple books on the clinical management of suicidal persons, and he is widely regarded as a worldwide authority in the field of suicide prevention and intervention. Since then, he has concentrated his work on suicide prevention among veterans, as well as on the development of intelligent, evidence-based programmes to support veterans pursuing higher education.
