he 40-year career of William P. Sommers (BSE '55, ME '56, PhD Aero '61) has taken him from coast to coast, but he has kept strong ties to the University of Michigan and MEAM.
From his role as president of the Washington, DC, U-M Alumni Society to his involvement in the U-M San Francisco Major Gifts Committee, Sommers has tried to "give something back" to the school that broadened his sights beyond his modest beginnings and launched him on an exciting, challenging path.
Now MEAM has honored Sommers with the 1997-98 MEAM Alumni Society Award, presented to him on Friday, October 31, 1997, during the All-Alumni Weekend.
"I've never lost my relationship with MEAM and the U-M, and I've kept my roots in mechanical engineering," says Sommers, who also has served on the CoE National Advisory Committee. While at MEAM, he graduated first in his class and was tied for Most Outstanding Graduate.
"MEAM not only was a source of my education, it shaped my vision and broadened it. I came into contact with faculty, visiting professors, and recruiters as well as the robust world of commerce beyond the automobile industry. The environment at MEAM got me to aim higher than I would have otherwise," he says.
And aim high he did. Since 1994, Sommers has served as president and chief executive officer of SRI International, one of the world's largest not-for-profit research, development, and consulting service organizations located in Menlo Park, CA. SRI has annual revenues of $230 million and a staff of 2,000 in 10 cities around the world. Under Sommers' leadership, SRI has created eight startup firms in the areas of speech recognition, medical diagnostics, surgical technology, and biotechnology.
Before that, Sommers served in a series of top management positions at Booz-Allen & Hamilton, an international management and technology consulting firm, including executive vice president, president of the Technology Management Group, and director and managing partner of Asian operations and the western region of the U.S. He has extensive experience in the U.S. and Asia in the development of business strategies, operations improvements, technology commercialization projects, merger/acquisitions for technology-based global corporations. Following his 29-year tenure at Booz-Allen & Hamilton, he was executive vice president of Iameter, Inc., a health care cost containment and quality improvement firm.
While at U-M, Sommers received scholarships and held a variety of jobs to pay his way through undergraduate and graduate school. Since then, it's been important to him to help other young students get a strong start.

Christopher of San Mateo, California William P. Sommers

That's why Sommers has created a $500,000 trust in his will for an endowed fellowship within the CoE. The money is earmarked for master's or doctoral students who are investigating a new line of research or program area, or are in need of funding to launch prior to getting outside support.
"The hardest money to find is 'wild card' funding to support research in a potentially new area--it requires taking a risk, both on the technology and the individual," says Sommers. "Someone took a gamble on me. Now I want to give enough money to allow the University to help future generations of students. It's a good feeling to be able to provide some payback on the benefits I received through scholarship assistance while at the U-M."