University of Michigan. Department of Economics

The teaching of political economy was provided for in Judge Woodward's "Catholepistemiad" scheme drawn up in 1817, which formed the basis for the University of Michigan. Until the appointment of Henry Carter Adams as lecturer in political economy in 1880, the current professor of moral and intellectual philosophy, who was nearly always the senior member of the faculty or the president, had taught the course. Adams became a full professor in 1887, and headed what became the Department of Economics until his death in 1921. Classes in business and industry were separated from the Department of Economics and eventually became the nucleus for the School of Business Administration, which was founded in 1924. Courses in sociology were similarly split off into the Department of Sociology in 1931. A centennial history, compiled in 1979, is available in the collection.

From the guide to the Department of Economics (University of Michigan) records, 1915-1980, 1915-1980, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)