Merit, A Quiet Success

I’m writing in recognition of the 60^th anniversary of Merit, a non-profit network operating in Michigan. There aren’t many network entities that can trace their beginning back to 1966 when Michigan State University, University of Michigan, and Wayne State University formed the Michigan Educational Research Information Triad with the goal of networking the universities together. Through a grant from the National Science Foundation that was matched by the Michigan Legislature, Merit successfully networked the mainframe computers at the three universities in 1971. Merit established an early goal to connect all educational entities in Michigan to an interconnected network. This work got a huge boost in 2010 with two federal grants that helped to build 2,287 miles of middle-mile fiber across Michigan. The Merit network today reaches throughout the state, including 70 new miles of fiber funded by a federal grant in 2022 to reach the Upper Peninsula. Currently, Merit is connected to 3,041 member locations in Michigan, which includes 863 higher ed locations, 633 K-12 locations, 526 government locations, 325 non-profits, 235 healthcare locations, and 212 libraries.