News & Views

Nobel laureate Sir Angus Deaton talked about poverty and what role NGOs, governments and the private sector should play in order to alleviate it during an Oct. 5 event that was the culmination of WDI’s year-long celebration of its 25th anniversary.   Deaton’s talk, held in the Robertson Auditorium at…

At its 25th anniversary celebration dinner Oct. 5, WDI announced the establishment of a new lecture series named in honor of the Institute’s longest-serving board member. The Ralph J. Gerson Distinguished Lecture will take place every two to three years to “bring together our community and think about what…

WDI has marked its 25th anniversary with a video that celebrates its history while also chronicling the important work it continues to do around the world. The Institute also produced a short, biographical video of the life of WDI founder Bill Davidson.  The six-minute video about the Institute features on-camera…

WDI today unveiled a new book for its 25th anniversary that commemorates the Institute’s history, leaders, partners and inspiring work around the world. The book, “A Force for Economic and Social Freedom,” recounts the Institute’s founding and the dynamic life of its founder, Bill Davidson. The book also looks at…

The WDI Global Impact Speaker Series kicks off for the academic year by exploring the role that good supply chains play in ensuring health products reach their intended recipients in Africa and India, how technology is making a difference and why having a motivated and dedicated staff is critical. The…

In the past year, WDI Publishing has published 28 new cases - including 11 from University of Michigan faculty and 10 from U-M graduate students - a significant output for the initiative since it began in 2007. The WDI Publishing catalog now features more than 425 business cases from…

Note: Julia Entwistle is a graduate student at the University of Michigan's School for Environment and Sustainability, and this past summer was one of six WDI Global Impact interns placed with businesses and nonprofits around the world. Entwistle worked with the leadership at ADHENO, a non-profit focused on extreme poverty in Ethiopia. Her assignment…

The William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan will host an Oct. 5 talk and discussion with Sir Angus Deaton, a Nobel Prize-winning economist whose work has changed how many think about both global wealth and poverty. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take…

WDI has instituted several changes to its Healthcare Initiative to better coordinate the initiative’s work, increase its capacity and ultimately grow its impact. As part of the changes, Pascale R. Leroueil has been named director of the Healthcare Initiative. Leroueil joined WDI as a part-time research fellow in January 2015,…

WDI Publishing is organizing and administering a case writing competition to celebrate and commemorate WDI’s 25th anniversary and its long history of developing market-based solutions in low- and middle-income countries around the world. The global competition is open to individual students or student teams, as long as they enter…