- Accomplishments and Contributions
The work done by faculty, staff, and students at the University has improved the lives of people throughout the world.
Among the accomplishments:
- continuing success of the world's leading kidney transplant center
- release of more than 80 new crop varieties that have greatly increased yields worldwide
- development of the taconite process
- invention of the flight recorder (black box) for aircraft and the retractable seat belt for cars
- eradication of many poultry and livestock diseases
- invention of the heart-lung machine and its use in the world's first successful open-heart surgery
- isolation of uranium 235 (in a prototype mass spectrometer)
- invention of the first heart pacemaker
- development of the widely used Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
In addition, the University of Minnesota touches the lives of thousands of people every day. For example, more than 300 different University of Minnesota programs serve children and youth or assist other organizations that benefit young people; and the University of Minnesota Extension Service makes more than 700,000 contacts with Minnesota residents every year in areas ranging from crop management to gardening to effective parenting.
The University of Minnesota also makes significant contributions to the region's artistic and cultural richness. Through art galleries, museums, concerts, theater productions, lectures, and films, the University showcases not only the time-honored works of artists in every creative field, but also the work of students--the next generation of artists--and the illustrious faculty who inspire them.
