GMI Engineering and Management Institute (formerly General Motors Institute), nowadays called
Kettering University, is an
engineering/
applied science/
management school located in
Flint, MI. Originally founded by
Major Sobey, a believer in the strengths of a
cooperative education (read
co-op/
internship education) as the
Flint Institute of Technology,
General Motors was a believer in the idea and eventually bought the school out.
Until 1982, GMI was a training ground for GM workers who wanted to become engineers. In the late 1950s/early 1960s, GMI sought ABET accreditation and eventually received it. In the auto industry, GMI was referred to as "The Academy" -- the place to go to truly learn the art of automotive engineering. Graduates could look forward to high-level positions with GM or other auto companies.
However, in 1982 General Motors decided it needed to cut costs, and turned the university loose, a shock it is still recovering from. Renamed GMI, it sought corporate sponsors for its co-op students. It branched out, but the automotive focus never truly disappeared.
GMI alumni, sadly, are known for two things -- being the largest percentage of alumni going into the Harvard Business School from any college, as well as being the largest percentage of alcoholic alumni.