Rachel Upjohn Building

A Transgenerational Legacy of Giving

Rachel Upjohn Building. Photo courtesy: University of Michigan Medical School

by Karina Landero-Mottus

The Rachel Upjohn Building is named in honor of two women, both named Rachel in the Upjohn family, who've had ties with the University of Michigan going back decades.

While the building may not be familiar to a large proportion of University of Michigan students, it is the largest hub of mental illness research, outpatient services, and laboratories in Michigan Medicine (“Rachel Upjohn Building”). The building is especially remarkable in its architecture; three stories tall, an atrium with a large skylight above, large glass windows on each floor, and a patio with forest scenery are all intentional methods of allowing natural light in, serving as an “antithesis of depression,” which is one of the mental illnesses studied and treated in the building (Demas).

The building is not only a phenomenal ode to light, but also to the rather obscure Upjohn legacy at Michigan. It is named for "Rachel Mary (Upjohn) Meader [known as Mary Meader] of Kalamazoo, who with her husband Edwin gave $10 million toward its construction. It’s also named for Mrs. Meader’s grandmother, Rachel Babcock Upjohn ("Rachel Upjohn Building"), whose husband Ed Upjohn was an alumnus of Michigan's medical school and founded Upjohn Co., a pharmaceutical manufacturing firm in 1885, a fortune to which Mary was heiress (Lohrstorfer and Larson; Person).

Rachel Mary (Upjohn) Meader was an aerial photographer, explorer, and philanthropist born in 1916 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Her most prolific work took place in 1937, when she took aerial photos of South America and Africa for five months (Person). During this voyage, she traveled roughly 35,000 miles and captured “more than 2,000 photographs… including the Ruwenzori Mountains in Uganda, which had never before been photographed” (Demas). Her perseverance throughout this expedition would not be the only instance of her remarkable resilience, even more inspiring as Meader struggled with depression throughout her life (“Rachel Upjohn Building”).

Rachel Babcock Upjohn was actively involved in philanthropic endeavors all throughout her life, ranging from monetary donations to donating “a major collection of pre-Columbia art, and…a significant collection of Japanese netsuke small carved figures” to the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts (Funeral Homes, Inc.). Deservingly so, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts currently has the Meader Fine Arts Library named in both her and her husband's honor as well (“Art Library”).

Rachel Mary (Upjohn) Meader by Melissa Nurre. Photo courtesy UM Library Online Exhibits

"Ed and Mary on their wedding day." Photo courtesy: The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology

Rachel Mary Upjohn Meader’s legacy is upheld through the countless contributions she has made to not only the state of Michigan but the world. Three years before her passing in 2005, Meader signed the American Geographical Society’s Fliers’ & Explorers’ Globe not once, but twice (an honor only two others have attained)—once across East Africa, the other across the Andes Mountains. Other prominent explorers have signed the globe as well, including Amelia Earhart and Neil Armstrong (Martin). Mary passed away in March 2008 in her hometown of Kalamazoo, aged 91. She is survived by her four sons, seven grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren (Martin).

The surname Upjohn is an alternate form of Ap-John, meaning “son of John,” according to The Internet Surname Database. The last name originated from “a combination of Welsh and the activities of the Knight Templars of the 12th century” the site says. The personal name “John” is derived from Yochan, altered by returning Knight Templars in medieval times (“Last Name: Upjohn”). The prefix “Ap” also descends from medieval times, as “almost all Christian names in Wales developed the prefix of 'ap'” in this period of history, the surname database states. Upjohn is a rare remnant form of Ap-John, as the name “John” itself has thousands of alternate forms today, making it the current most prominent Christian surname (“Last Name: Upjohn”).

Currently, the Rachel Upjohn Building remains the pinnacle of all mental health research at the University of Michigan. There are no plans in place to change the name anytime soon, but the same can’t be said for the University of Michigan Depression Center, found within the building. In 2021, it was approved to rename the center to the Frances and Kenneth Eisenberg and Family Depression Center. Frances and Kenneth cumulatively have contributed roughly $39 million towards the university, ranging from research award programs to gifts for the Taubman Medical Research Institute (Marowski).

Works Cited

“Art Library | Fine Art and Art Museum.” Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, 1 June 2022, kiarts.org/educate-learn/art-library. Accessed 4 Apr 2023.

Demas, Kristy. “Rachael Mary Upjohn Light Meader: A Trend-Setting Pioneer Throughout Her Life.” Eisenberg Family Depression Center, 22 Sept. 2020, depressioncenter.org/news-events/news/rachael-mary-upjohn-light-meader-trend-setting-pioneer-throughout-her-life. Accessed 3 Apr 2023.

“Last Name: Upjohn” The Internet Surname Database, www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Upjohn. Accessed 4 Apr 2023.

Lohrstorfer, Martha, and Catherine Larson. “Kalamazoo Public Library - Local History - William E. Upjohn: Person of the Century 1853 - 1932.” Kalamazoo Public Library - Local History - William E. Upjohn: Person of the Century 1853 - 1932, 6 June 2007, http://web.archive.org/web/20070928141332/http://www.kpl.gov/collections/LocalHistory/AllAbout/biography/Upjohn.aspx. Accessed 4 Apr 2023.

Martin, Douglas. “Mary Meader, 91, Pioneering Aerial Photographer, Dies.” The New York Times, 22 Mar. 2008, www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/us/22meader.html. Accessed 3 Apr 2023.

“Obituary for Mary U. Meader." Langeland Family Funeral Homes, Inc., 16 Mar. 2008, www.langelands.com/obituary/Mary-Meader. Accessed 3 Apr 2023.

Marowski, Steve. “University of Michigan Renaming Depression Center for Eisenberg Family in Recognition of $30M in Giving.” Mlive, 26

Mar. 2021, www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2021/03/university-of-michigan-renaming-depression-center-for-eisenberg-family-in-recognition-of-30m-in-giving.html. Accessed 4 Apr 2023.

Nurre, Melissa. “Mary Meader.” University of Michigan Library, 2012, https://apps.lib.umich.edu/online-exhibits/exhibits/show/travel-

through-maps-and-narrat/item/1829. Accessed 5 Apr. 2023.

Person, Dave. “Upjohn Heiress Remembered for Her Quiet Acts of Kindness.” Mlive, 18 Mar. 2008, www.mlive.com/kalamazoo_gazette_extra/2008/03/upjohn_heiress_remembered_for.html. Accessed 3 Apr 2023.

“Rachel Upjohn Building.” UMich Medicine, medicine.umich.edu/dept/psychiatry/about-us/rachel-upjohn-building. Accessed 3 Apr. 2023.

"Rachel Upjohn Building." University of Michigan Medical School, https://goblueguide.medicine.umich.edu/locations/rachel-upjohn-

building. Accessed 5 Apr. 2023.

“Ed and Mary on their wedding day.” The Kelsey Musuem of Archaeology, https://exhibitions.kelsey.lsa.umich.edu/meader/about.html. Accessed 12 Apr. 2023.

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