Samuel T. Dana Building

UM's Sustainable Gold

by Navya Shankar

The Samuel T. Dana building took the University of Michigan’s campus sustainability to the next level by achieving gold certification through the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program (Granholm and Chester 4). The Dana building is home to the School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), so the faculty takes pride in its “gold” status; however, it did not always have such accolades. Its lengthy history reveals its rocky start in which it was home to many different departments, renovations, and name changes. It was through the help of Samuel T. Dana himself that the building is recognized for its tremendous value to the community today.

The Dana Building, January 2012 by Dwight Burdette. Photo courtesy: localwiki.org

Campus Map Focused on Dana Building (2023). Photo courtesy: UMICH Student Life

The Dana building began construction in 1901 and was finally completed two years later at a cost of $167,000 which was quite expensive at the time (Donnelly et al.). The building used to be an extension of the medical building and was used for “preclinical instruction, medical administration, and research” (Seewald). When the medical school left, the name changed to the School of Forestry then to the School of Natural Resources and Environment, and finally to Samuel T. Dana, in honor of the esteemed forestry professor (McInnis and Tyler 39).

Samuel Trask Dana was a “professor of forestry and forest economics and [the] first dean of the School of Forestry at the University of Michigan” (Powers). He completed his undergraduate studies at Bowdoin College in Maine and his graduate studies at Yale University. He has always had an immense interest in forestry which explains his time as “captain and secretary of the commodity committee on lumber” in the US Army during WWI (Tocher et al. 3). Many admired him for his creative thinking and problem-solving abilities. For example, Dana was the one behind the school’s name change from forestry to natural resources. The administration was looking to reevaluate and restructure the school due to “problems in related resource fields” and no recommendations “were nearly as sweeping as was the reorganization plan submitted in 1950 by Dean Dana” (Carow 230-241). He was responsible for the expansion of the academic program into “wood technology, wildlife management, fisheries management” and more, making UM more inclusive (Carow 230-241) After twenty years of work, Dana retired at age 70 in 1953. In 1973, five years before Dana died, the administration renamed the building in his honor as the Samuel Trask Dana building.

Samuel T. Dana (circa 1960). Photo courtesy: JStor

Once it became known as the Dana Building, the administration committed to the “greening” of the building (McInnis and Tyler 39). They completely restructured the building from its lighting to its plumbing to ensure its sustainability which “save[s] the University about $32,596 in energy costs each year” (Granholm and Chester 4). The building has taken major strides in its academics as well. The SEAS alumni network is now over 12,600 people and the school has funded $23 million in research, continuing Dana’s legacy.

The name Samuel is Hebrew for “name of God” (Campbell). It has strong religious ties to Christianity as seen through the Books of Samuel in the Old Testament. This book says that Samuel is the “last of the ruling judges” and helped his community in times of violence and political unrest (Campbell). Like his name’s history, Samuel Dana fought to keep UM afloat in times of turmoil. For instance, due to WWII, UM enrollment dropped dramatically, so Dana proposed that the university fund Latin American students' tuition to keep the School of Forestry from collapsing and the number of fellowships more than doubled (Carow 230-241). Dana’s impact and influence on the university are monumental just like his name.

Despite the Samuel T. Dana building’s rough beginnings including its departmental and enrollment issues, the building has far exceeded expectations and made its mark on the UM campus. Dana, with his brilliant mind and commitment to education, shaped the School for Environment and Sustainability into the respected program it is today. His efforts have allowed many students to pursue their niche passions and turn them into prospective careers. His legacy will never be forgotten and the university continues to honor him through the years.

Works Cited

Burdette, Dwight. “The Dana Building in January 2012.” LocalWiki, January 2012, https://localwiki.org/ann-arbor/Dana_Building. 7 Apr. 2023.

Campbell, Mike. “Samuel.” Behind the Name, 7 Dec. 2022, https://www.behindthename.com/name/samuel.

Carow, John. “History of the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources 1940 - 1970.” Natural Resources Schools & Colleges, http://um2017.org/History_School_of_Natural_Resources.html.

Donnelly, Walter A., et al. “Samuel Trask Dana Building.” Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan Press, 1958, https://bentley.umich.edu/legacy-support/campus_tour/dana.php.

Granholm, Jennifer M., and Steven E. Chester. “The Greening of Dana.” Environmental Science and Services Division, https://www.michigan.gov/egle/-/media/Project/Websites/egle/Documents/Programs/MMD/Pollution-Prevention/Case-Studies/Sustainablity-Case-Study-UofM.pdf.

McInnis, Maggie, and Ilene R. Tyler. “The Greening of the Samuel T. Dana Building: A Classroom and Laboratory for Sustainable Design.” APT Bulletin: The Journal of Preservation Technology, vol. 36, no. 4, 2005, pp. 39–45. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40003162. Accessed 31 Mar. 2023.

Michigan SEAS. “Photo of Dana Building in Summer.” flickr, 15 May 2017, https://www.flickr.com/photos/snre/51798687352/in/album-72157628402664217/. 10 Apr. 2023.

Photo of Campus Map Focused on Dana Building. Student Life Campus Information University of Michigan, 2023, https://maps.studentlife.umich.edu/building/samuel-trask-dana-building. 10 Apr. 2023.

Photo of Samuel T. Dana. JSTOR, July 1966, https://www.jstor.org/stable/3982825?seq=2. 7 Apr. 2023.

“Popularity of Name Samuel.” Social Security, https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/babyname.cgi.

Powers, Thomas E. “Samuel T. Dana Papers: 1893-1970.” Bentley Historical Library, https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhlead/umich-bhl-851592?subview=standard%3Bview.

Seewald, Joel. “First Medical Buildings 1850-1925.” The Historical Marker Database, 10 Oct. 2017, https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=108917.

“A Sustainable and Just Future Starts at SEAS. Be Part of It.” University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, https://seas.umich.edu/.

Tocher, Ross, et al. History of the Samuel Trask Dana Chair. https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/148488/Danahistory_rk_2000.pdf?sequence=1.

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