The records of the Department of Human Genetics consist of 4.75 linear feet spanning the period from 1937 to 1977 and include material from the predecessor unit, Institute of Human Biology (1941-1956). The records have been arranged in three series: Institute of Human Biology, 1941-1956; Department of Human Genetics, 1956-1977; and Reprints and Publications, 1937-1966.
The records arrived as largely unarranged departmental correspondence files of professors Lee R. Dice and James V. Neel. To make these records more accessible, they have been divided chronologically into two series at the date at which the Department of Human Genetics was officially formed, with a third series consisting of reprints and publications from all stages of the department's evolution.
[From The University of Michigan: An Encyclopedic Survey, Volume V, The University of Michigan 1940-1975, 1977, 194-195:]
"The Department of Human Genetics had its origin in 1941, when a Heredity Clinic was established under the aegis of the Laboratory of Vertebrate Biology and the University Hospital. The clinic owed its inception to the interest of Professor Lee Dice, Director of the Laboratory, in the field of human genetics, and his conviction that the time was right to initiate a clinic which could serve both to counsel persons with inherited disorders and as a basis for research into this subject. In 1950, the Laboratory of Vertebrate Biology was reorganized as an Institute of Human Biology, and in 1956, with Dr. Dice's retirement, those parts of Institute activity concerned with human genetics became the nucleus for the present Department of Human Genetics. Originally the department was housed in some of the older hospital buildings, but in 1961, in consequence of a gift from the Buhl Foundation of Detroit, matched in magnitude by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, the means were at hand for the construction of a building designed specifically for the needs of modern human genetics. This building, the Lawrence D. Buhl Research Center for Human Genetics, was completed in 1964. When Medical Science II was built, the Department of Human Genetics was allocated additional space immediately adjacent to the Buhl Building. The departmental facilities are among the most extensive in the United States today. Because of this early start in the field, the University has played a very significant role in the explosive development of the field of human genetics in recent years."
For additional information about the history of the department within these records, see "Heredity Clinic Annual Reports" and "History" folders in Box 1, the "Department Formation" correspondence folder in Box 4, and the "Laboratory of Vertebrate Biology/ Institute of Human Biology Annual Reports" in Box 5.
Chairs of the Department of Human Genetics
| Date |
Event |
| 1956-1981 | James V. Neel |
| 1981-1982 | Myron Levine (Interim) |
| 1982-1987 | Donald L. Rucknagel |
| 1987-2004 | Thomas D. Gelehrter |
| 2005-2016 | Sally Camper |
| 2016-2019 | David Burke (Interim) |
| 2019- | Anthony Antonellis |
Name Changes
| Date |
Event |
| 1941-1956 | Institute for Human Biology |
| 1956- | Department of Human Genetics |
