Thousands of Michigan Tech alumni have given their time, talent, and treasure back to the University over its 141-year history. Few have been as involved and engaged as Marie ’82 and Mike ’82 Cleveland.
The Tech twosome has hosted alumni events, recruited students, served on boards and advisory groups, guest lectured in classes, hosted international students, and supported areas on campus through philanthropy. Their daughter, Kerstin, is even a Michigan Tech alumna (BS Chemical Engineering, 2014).
“I get so much out of volunteering,” said Marie, who is in her fifth year as a full-time volunteer putting 50 hours per week in the College of Business. “Sharing the things I learned in my career with students to help them leap frog their progress gives me so much joy.”
Mike added, “I came to a realization that while Tech is a state-owned school, the success comes from a lot of other sources. Alumni play a critical role in funding and improvements. I benefitted as a student from the investments made by previous alumni, and it was my turn now to provide those opportunities.”
Starting Their Michigan Tech Journey
Marie grew up on a farm outside of Reese, Michigan, near Saginaw. She attended Tech’s second-ever Summer Youth Program for women in engineering as a high school freshman. “I thought, based on that experience, that I wanted to be a chemical engineer. I liked chemistry, but realized later that I didn’t want to do that for my career.”
Marie’s father and brother both worked at General Motors, which offered her a co-op position if she came to Tech. She arrived on campus in 1977 as a mechanical engineering major.
Mike originally had plans to study wildlife biology before a conversation with his father. “He told me he would help pay for college…if I went into engineering. I chose engineering.”
After a year at Muskegon Community College, he enrolled in chemical engineering at MTU. “It was as far as I could get from Muskegon and still afford college,” he said. “It also fit me. I liked that it was smaller and easy to get around. Plus, I love the outdoors.”
The Michigan Tech Experience
Mike admits digging himself a pretty big hole in his first semester. “This was the first school that had high academic expectations, so I was dumped into the deep end. I really had to study, and I got better at it each semester.”
He remembers Professor Anton Pintar and the Unit Operations Lab for being formidable in his education. “Dr. Pintar taught many of the core difficult classes. He was a fantastic mentor.”
Outside of class, Mike became involved in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, helping revive Tech’s chapter and serving as president his senior year. He also spent weekends hunting and fishing all over the Keweenaw, including a winter camping trip at the end of US 41 in Copper Harbor. “We survived just fine, but my LCD watch froze,” he remembers.
Marie realized early on that mechanical engineering wasn’t for her. “I didn’t think like an engineer. I figured out I was in the wrong place, so my advisor sent me to the School (now College) of Business.”
Marie joined the German Club and became active in dorm council. “I came to Tech thinking that Houghton was a big town. Living in the dorm was a great place to meet people.”
She also still has the scar from stitches she received after playing broomball. “There weren’t helmets with facemasks at that time.”
Building a Life Together
Marie had met Mike during school, thinking he was coming around often to see her roommate. As both Mike and Marie were on campus over the summer, Marie would write to her roommate to keep her informed about Mike. “She wrote me back to tell me he was coming by to see me. Not long after, he showed up in a three-piece suit with a dozen roses. She was right!”
The two had dinner on that first date, and the rest is history. The Clevelands were married in 1983.
A month after graduating from Tech, Mike was hired by UOP (founded as Universal Oil Products, then later acquired by Honeywell) in Des Plaines, Illinois, as a development engineer. He started in manufacturing and worked there for many years before transitioning to product management, and eventually into sales. As global business director, Mike traveled extensively to China and managed major international projects. He later became vice president of technology, overseeing all major industrial processes with a focus on energy transition, sustainability, and new materials. Mike stayed with UOP for his entire career, retiring after 39 years in 2021.
“Problem solving, process optimization, and troubleshooting were key elements I learned at Michigan Tech,” he said. “I learned a tremendous amount in the Unit Operations Lab. I had coworkers from other schools who knew the theory, but didn’t know ‘righty tighty, lefty loosey.’ I came to the workforce with practical experience.”
Marie returned home after graduation, but with a sagging economy in 1982, didn’t find much opportunity. Mike convinced her to come to Chicago. After a short stint as a buyer for a small company, Marie was hired by Roadway Package System (RPS). She worked in human resources before becoming a quality manager.
RPS was acquired by FedEx in 2000, and Marie moved into sales. She advanced all the way to worldwide account manager. Traveling the globe for work, Marie spent time in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. She earned FedEx’s highest sales award, the President’s Club, and the Five-Star Award, the organization’s highest accolade. She retired in 2018.
“I had a blast,” she said. “I never felt like I went to work. Tech really opened my eyes to how to find different answers using outside-the-box thinking. Tech also taught me the strong need for integrity. There’s a temptation to shortcut the work, but you can’t.”
Involvement with Michigan Tech
The Clevelands began attending alumni events in the Chicago area and getting to know fellow alumni soon after graduation. After requesting tickets to the Tech vs. Wisconsin hockey games in Madison from then-alumni director Darcy Way, Mike and Marie worked with Way to start an alumni event around the annual hockey series. A couple dozen attendees the first year turned into a crowd in subsequent years.
“We would gather at a place called the Essenhaus, and the max it could seat was 77,” said Mike. “We maxed it out. We were so regular there that one year the owner bumped a UW gathering for us to book their room.”
Mike joined the Michigan Tech Alumni Board of Directors in 1990 and was serving as president when he was asked to volunteer to help fundraise for the University’s Second Century Campaign. He went on to join the Chemical Engineering Department’s External Advisory Board and was inducted into the Chem Eng Academy in 2016. He still regularly guest lectures in the College of Business.
For 10 years while she was still working full-time, Marie volunteered to attend weekly Chicago-area college fairs with Michigan Tech recruiters. She has been inducted into the Presidential Council of Alumnae and the College of Business Academy and continues to serve on the advisory boards for both the College of Business and Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. She won the Michigan Tech Alumni Award for Outstanding Service in 2014.
As extensive as their volunteer engagement is, much of their work with Michigan Tech isn't formally documented—including things like hosting displaced students for meals over holiday breaks or putting on an etiquette dinner to help students learn how to navigate a professional event.
"You see opportunities to help if you hang around," said Marie. "Mike originally exposed me to the idea of appreciating what you have and paying it forward. Now I try to see things through students' eyes and help them get where they want to go."
Together over the years, Mike and Marie have financially supported dozens of initiatives at Michigan Tech. Just some of the areas their philanthropy has touched include: academic departments, scholarships, campus beautification/Alumni Way projects, athletic programs, building funds, and student emergency funds.
Recently, they started an endowment to help faculty provide experiential education to students. "Sometimes faculty need resources to add hands-on opportunities or make what they're teaching more accessible," said Marie. "Those things really add color for students and can make a huge difference."
Decades after attending their first alumni event and making their first gift to the University, Marie and Mike are retired and living in Hancock. They continue to pour their time and resources back into the University. How did they get into this position?
"We got into a regular rhythm of giving and volunteering. That was key," said Mike. "We’ve been blessed. Our friendships, careers, and success all started at Michigan Tech. It's our turn to support the next generation."
Michigan Technological University is an R1 public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, and is home to nearly 7,500 students from more than 60 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan's flagship technological university offers more than 185 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.
