Yesterday the University of Michigan announced that alumnus J. Robert Beyster and his wife Betty donated $15 million to the school's College of Engineering. Specifically, $9 million will be dedicated to endowing a fellowship program designed to fund up to 10 engineering doctoral students each year, $5 million will go towards the renovation of the Ford Nuclear Reactor Building on the University of Michigan Campus, and $1 million will be allocated to the Center for Entrepreneurship and the development of a curriculum to teach students about employee ownership. After earning bachelor degrees in engineering physics and engineering math in 1945, J. Robert Beyster earned his master's and doctoral degrees in physics at U-M in 1947 and 1950, respectively. Dr. Beyster went on to found SAIC in 1969 -- an employee-owned company (now public, and on the NYSE) that today has annual revenues in the neighborhood of $11 billion.

So, why do I mention this? Because in these days of Occupy Wall Street and the 1%'ers, it's important to note that many entrepreneurs who have built great wealth are also giving large portions of their wealth back to their communities, and to the institutions that played formative roles in their lives. They aren't just spending their hard-earned cash on expensive homes and cars and yachts -- they're putting their money to work, and they're making a very real difference in the lives of many.

The company Dr. B founded -- SAIC -- generated great value for its employee-owners, for its customers, and for the nation as a whole. During the course of its relatively short history, SAIC -- through its stock ownership program -- created more than 1,000 millionaires. As he looks back over his life, Dr. Beyster acknowledges the important role that the Unversity of Michigan played in his life. Says Beyster,  "I personally give the University of Michigan and my professors there a great deal of credit for giving me the preparation I needed to become a successful scientist and researcher, and ultimately, the founder of SAIC. In return, I would like to help the University that is responsible for doing all these fine things for me. In addition, it is my sincere hope that the research my gift will support in the areas of bioinformatics, nuclear reactor safety, computer and network security, autonomous systems, and more will help to keep the United States globally competitive long into the future."

This afternoon Betty Beyster and I were mourning the low graduation rates among science and math undergraduates in the U.S. today, and wondering what can be done to help stem the tide. Clearly, government isn't the answer -- at least not the entire answer. It's going to take the concerted effort -- and resources -- of men and women like Bob and Betty Beyster to move the needle up.

So, Dr. B (and Betty) -- I salute you for making a difference. Not just in the lives of the University of Michigan students whose studies will be enhanced and supported by their gift, but in the ability of our nation to continue to innovate in the years ahead. Says David Munson, the Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering at the University of Michigan, "Ph.D. students create and carry pioneering ideas from the university into the world. This gift will touch so many lives -- from the graduate students whose education it supports, to the professors whose research it propels, to the people across the globe who benefit as a result of the innovations it enables."