There's a historical parallel in Schlissel's suggestion that Ford's big bet on the town where it was founded and making the neoclassical Rackham building the university's home base in Detroit. Horace Rackham, the namesake of the building and UM's School of Graduate Studies in Ann Arbor, was one of the original investors in Henry Ford's fledgling automobile company 115 years ago.

UM paid $5.1 million to the Rackham Engineering Foundation and the Engineering Society of Detroit for the east wing of the building (UM already owned the west wing for its extension service). Wayne State University's Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders has a lease for space in the building that ends in July of next year. UM also acquired a parking structure from the Rackham Engineering Foundation.

Situated at Woodward and Farnsworth across the street from the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Rackham building stands out in the burgeoning Midtown neighborhood as a gem in need of makeover. The aging front plaza on Farnsworth is mostly blocked off from pedestrian traffic.

"We're certainly going to invest some resources into renovating it," Schlissel said. "It's fallen into disrepair."

Schlissel's developing plans for the Detroit building have risen to the university's board of regents, which approved the purchase of the rest of the building last July.

"I know we're working now to have a bigger presence," said Ron Weiser, a UM regent and Ann Arbor real estate developer.

But the direction of UM's ambitions to have a larger presence in Detroit will fall on Schlissel's shoulders, Weiser said.

Schlissel, who became UM's 14th president in July 2014, is starting to spread his leadership wings beyond the university.

At last week's Detroit Economic Club meeting, he called on gubernatorial candidates Gretchen Whitmer and Bill Schuette to start telling voters what their vision for higher education policy is — before the Nov. 6 election passes by.

For much of this century, the state has lacked any true leadership from Lansing in the strategic mission of its 15 public universities, which are constitutionally autonomous but still arms of the state.

Most of Jennifer Granholm and Rick Snyder's combined 16 years as governor have been defined by a prolonged disinvestment in higher education — and efforts to slowly restore funding that was slashed during the recession and Snyder's budget-balancing first year in office.

In the long absence of a strategy from Lansing, Detroit presents an opportunity for UM and Michigan State University to relocate pieces of their research arms to the city, said John Austin, a former president of the State Board of Education.

With Wayne State University, which is partnered with UM and MSU through the University Research Corridor, the three research universities could be a "fulcrum for growth" in Detroit, Austin said.

He points to the role Carnegie Mellon University and Pittsburgh University have played in transforming their hometown from Steel City to a burgeoning tech hub.

"Not every place has an MSU or UM or a Wayne State," said Austin, director of the Michigan Economic Center in Ann Arbor. "There's nothing more powerful than the location of research universities and learning institutions to make that dynamic happen."

Wayne State would "certainly welcome" more investment in Detroit from other institutions of higher education, said M. Roy Wilson, president of WSU.

"If UM or any other university wants to come down and contribute, I think that's fine," Wilson said in an interview. "The city of Detroit could use whatever help they can get."

Detroit's revitalization, to date, has been largely fueled by hometown companies that sell pizza (Little Caesars), SUVs and pickup trucks (General Motors and Ford) and mortgages (Quicken Loans and Dan Gilbert's real estate empire).

Austin argues the state's universities could play a larger role in developing the next big industries and employers to sustain the comeback of Detroit and, perhaps more importantly, Michigan.

Detroit, with its urban landscape and geographic position in the Great Lakes basin, could be the city where Michigan State University researchers pioneer new methods in urban farming and food production.

The Detroit River would make an ideal location for the University of Michigan to establish a freshwater research center and tackle the world's water problems — an idea that's been kicked around in economic development and philanthropic circles in the past.

"Wouldn't it be great if Detroit was not just pizza, mortgages and cars, but also the center of clean energy, freshwater innovation and urban food sustainability?" Austin asked.

"We actually have the horsepower to do it if the research universities would get in on the action."

Schlissel seems ready to make a move in Detroit.

"I've heard many people say, and I agree, that the state of Michigan can't fully succeed unless the city of Detroit succeeds," he said. "Anything we can do to contribute to that is part of our mission."