University of Michigan. Vice-President for Development.

The office now designated the Vice President for Development has undergone a number of changes in title and responsibilities since its inception. While today it is a fundraising unit, the office from which this unit evolved was established as a vehicle for communicating information about the university to those outside.

As early as 1897 the regents of the University of Michigan recognized the need for a means through which official information about the university could be issued. Rather than establish a separate organization, the regents chose to graft this responsibility onto existing university units, offering a small sum of money to these units to cover additional expenses. Between 1897 and 1942 the department of rhetoric (1897-1901, 1912-1928), the Alumni Association (1901-1912), and the Bureau of Alumni Relations carried out this task. The work of the Bureau of Alumni Relations fell under the broad mandate of James B. Bruce, who in 1931 became the first university officer to bear the title Vice President in charge of University Relations. Bruce, a doctor by training, was an influential member of the Medical School faculty and held several important positions simultaneously. Bruce's general mandate was to oversee all university contacts with the non-academic world, most importantly by monitoring the intellectual content of post-graduate courses and presentations. Bruce personally seems to have had little interest in public relations.

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