FACILITIES
The FXB Foundation made a generous donation in support of the construction of the funding for the current home of the Aerospace Engineering department, the François-Xavier Bagnoud Building, as well as the adjacent Wave Field sculpture by artist Maya Lin.
François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Building
The Aerospace Engineering Department at U-M is centrally located in the François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Building, a highly modern 100,000 square-foot complex that includes classrooms, teaching laboratories, research laboratories, faculty and staff offices, and a student learning center. Not only do students in the program benefit from this outstanding facility, but the building also has a lot of history behind its name.
WAVE FIELD
Adjacent to the Aerospace Engineering Department is the equally appropriate Wave Field. The field was designed by architect Maya Lin, who is best known for desiging the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. Constructed in 1995, the mounds of earth are intended to show the movement of air waves. The Association François-Xavier Bagnoud commissioned the piece.
HOW the FXB FellowS Program has helped me
"Being an FXB Fellow afforded me the time and flexibility to pursue research topics that interested me, rather than what was already funded by an outside agency. Beyond the time and flexibility that the FXB Fellowship provided me, the personal support and encouragement of Countess Albina du Boisrouvray was, and still is, moving and inspiring to me. I clearly recall the yearly lunches we had when she would visit, and where she made sure to ask each of us how we were doing, how our research was going, if we needed anything. That heartfelt dedication always carried me through low spots during my PhD, and it makes me strive to give that same type of support to my students."
—ALBERT RATNER (FXB FELLOW)