Today’s meeting was called to order by President Roy and we sang our National Anthem as our patriotic song.   A total of 51 in person Rotarians and 13 Zoomers then proceeded to recite the 4-way test.

As part of John Greden’s inspirational message today, he reflected on the fact that prior to becoming a member of our club, he had been our invited guest speaker a number of times – and that the transition to membership felt like he was coming home.  Dr. Greden, the founder of what is now known as the Eisenberg Family Depression Center, presented to us the need for collaborative efforts to help young adults, ie. college students, who are struggling with mental health issues.  Reacheverystudent.net is one example of how we can collaborate with and contribute to efforts that provide colleges with resources so they can continue the work of helping at-risk students.

Today’s musical selection, led by Shelley MacMillan was a Halloween version of the tune ‘The More We Get Together’.  

Announcements

President Roy provided thanks to all of today’s meeting helpers – from greeters to mike runners and everyone in between.  We wished happy birthday to Mark Foster, Kathy Waugh, Ed Weir, Peg Talburtt and Dave Schmidt.  Congratulations to Claire Foley, Erik Bakker, Bob Dascola, Henry Johnson, Dave Schmidt and Dan Balbach on their Rotary Anniversaries of 15+ years!  We offered a warm welcome to several guests from visitors from India to family members and work colleagues.

‘Who Is It?’ Our weekly member background quiz was led by Bob Buckler this week and after a few clues such as came from a family of 10 kids, attended MIT for computer science and had an ancestor fight in the Revolutionary War…we finally made the correct guess:  Don Deatrick!  

Other announcements made this week: the annual Rotaract Dinner is coming up next week (the 25th dinner); the Nov 4 meeting will be held at the Gerald Ford Library on UM’s North Campus; the District Gala is next week; Send Hunger Packing will be Nov. 14; and we’ll have a Book Swap on November 18.

This week, President Roy highlighted our club’s Membership Committee – all 16 of them!  Remember, we can all be our own ‘membership committee’ as we help to identify and bring in new members to RCAA.

Rotary Club of Ann Arbor History Moment – presented by Downs Herold.  The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library is located on North Campus, right next to the Bentley Historical Library.  The Presidential Library was chosen to be located on our campus in 1981 primarily because a great deal of Gerald Ford’s records were already in a collection housed at the Bentley. In addition, the Ford Museum was established and located in Grand Rapids, MI.  From 2005 – 2020, the Director of the Ford Library and Museum was our own Rotarian and first female President of our Club, Elaine Didier!  If you didn’t know, our club records, from 1931 – 2018 are archived at the Bentley Library.  The archive materials and photos are available for personal review by individuals at the Library as well as visiting digital records that are also available for on-line reading and review. 

Kathy Waugh presented the slate of nominees for officer positions of the club for 2027-28:  President-Elect – Barb Dawes; President – Leo Shedden; Immediate Past President – Roy More; Secretary – Rona Hu; Treasurer – Bill McPherson.  Nominees for Director positions: Director of Community Service – Melissa Foster; Director of Youth Development – Brandy Merritt; Director of Club Service – Fernando Leon; Director of Club Development – Linda Wallis; Director of Club Outreach – Matt Boylan; Director of Public Relations – Sara Maddock.

Dallas Dort introduced today’s speaker:  Chris Rizik, CEO of Renaissance Venture Capital, whose talk today was titled ‘The Innovation-Based Economy.’  Renaissance is a first of its kind Venture Capital fund of funds and was formed in 2008. The company invests in venture capital funds around the US and largely works to introduce Michigan startups to venture capital (VC) funds, in an effort to attract capital from around the US to our state ($3.5 billion thus far). They introduce startups to major Michigan companies that are looking for innovation and help to build those customer relationships.

Venture capital is essentially at the center of important investment asset class, a driver of economic growth and the enabler of innovative technologies. VC has a large overall economic impact, accounting for 12.5% of US jobs and VC-backed companies grow 50% faster and add jobs 8 times the rate of other companies.  Eight of the ten largest companies in the US have VC backgrounds.  Chris went on to describe the investment path of VC – between investors, VC funds and startups.  The process is not without challenges, however, as he spoke about the concept of illiquidity (the state of an asset lacking ability to be converted into cash without loss in value). However, recent VC recovery can largely be attributed to AI (artificial intelligence).  In 2026, 86% of all US venture dollars were invested in AI companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, XAI and Waymo.  Chris described one example of how AI is contributing to company success – a company called Lila Therapeutics, who is using AI and robotics to accelerate drug discoveries by reducing time and costs during development.

As you might imagine, California is capturing nearly all VC funding in this area as the center of AI development. Where does Michigan fit in?  One answer is the concept of ‘physical AI’, which is AI that integrates with the physical world, think autonomous vehicles, robotics in manufacturing, drones, etc.  Chris also introduced us to a company called Nox Metals which is a Detroit-based supplier of custom-cut metals.  By using AI, they’ve accelerated job quoting, work schedules and use of factory space. Their work with AI is resulting in higher yields, less waste and quicker production.

Chris concluded with a few thoughts about where VC is headed.  VC will continue to be an important element in achieving investment goals; AI, biotech and others will create a new generation of startups and the interaction of technology and the physical world will be more important than ever.

President Roy concluded our meeting with this quote: “Be the change you wish to see in the world” – Mahatma Ghandi

Our meeting adjourned at 1:30pm.