Wayne State University announced Friday that a WSU alumnus has made a historic $50 million donation to its College of Engineering — the largest single gift made to the university in its 157-year history.

Subscribe to the Detroit Evening Report on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

The donation from alumnus James Anderson and his wife, Patricia, will be used to improve faculty support in the College of Engineering, including doctoral fellowships, undergraduate student experiences and a dean’s fund to improve recruiting efforts for top faculty and Ph.D. students.

School officials are calling the gift “transformative,” allowing the university to “build on more than a century of engineering talent that created a culture of innovation in our city,” said WSU President Dr. Kimberly Andrews Espy, in a news release.

The college has been renamed the James and Patricia Anderson College of Engineering in their honor.

James Anderson is the president and CEO of Urban Science, a leading automotive consultancy and technology firm headquartered in Detroit. In 2014, the Andersons established The James and Patricia Anderson Engineering Ventures Institute at WSU’s College of Engineering to help foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship among students and faculty.

“Since my time as a student, and later a faculty member at Wayne State University, I’ve witnessed firsthand the power of a quality STEM education in transforming lives, economies and communities,” Anderson said. “My wife, Patricia, and I are humbled and grateful for the opportunity to expand our commitment to this renowned institution.”

Other headlines for Friday, April 4, 2025:

• Bridge Michigan reports that two west Michigan housing projects — one to support those in drug recovery and the other for low-income workers — are in jeopardy because of funding cuts from the Trump administration.
• The Greater Detroit Agency for the Blind & Visually Impaired is hosting its “Life Beyond Sight” 5k Walk on Saturday, April 12, at The Lexus Velodrome in Detroit, in support of the agency’s essential programs.
• Detroit’s 23rd annual Greek Independence Day Parade has a new route due to construction, and will begin at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 6 at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral on E. Lafayette Street before turning right on Beaubien Street.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

More than 250 felons sent to prison for life with no chance of parole for crimes committed when they were 18 years old must have their sentences reviewed under a decision released Wednesday by the Michigan Supreme Court.

The unanimous 6-0 decision expands an earlier ruling that lifers convicted of first degree- or felony murder when they were younger than 18 are entitled to resentencing hearings. (Justice Kimberly Thomas recused herself from the case because she was involved in it before joining the Supreme Court in January.) “

The same will now apply to 18-year-olds.

“And at that resentencing, they’ll have the opportunity to demonstrate to the circuit court that they are rehabilitated and capable of rejoining society,” said attorney Maya Menlo with the State Appellate Defender Office.

She told the Michigan Public Radio Network that life without parole still remains an option.

“The prosecuting attorneys in each county will review the cases and will decide whether they want to pursue a sentence of life without parole, but we expect that that sentence will be extremely rare.”

Special Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Timothy Baughman said now prosecutors have to make some decisions on these cases.

“Prosecutors are going to have to look at them and determine, are we just going to accede to a resentencing to a term of years or is this one of the cases that we want to have a hearing on and argue that the defendant should still get life without parole? So there’s a lot of decisions that are going to have to be made by prosecutors,” he said.

The defendant is John Antonio Poole, who was 18 years old in 2002 when his uncle paid him $300 to shoot a man because his girlfriend owed him money. Poole is now 42 and being held at the Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia.

In a related case, the state Supreme Court will rule soon on whether to expand the ruling to include lifers sentenced for crimes committed as 19- and 20-year-olds.