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The Center for Research on Social Organization was created in 1960 by the University of Michigan Department of Sociology as a way to centralize and encourage the research and training activities of faculty and graduate students in the area of social organization. The Center's main function is to support the research activities of faculty and students studying organizational arrangements that structure group life, including power relations, distribution of social resources, and historical transformations. The records of the Center reflect its commitment to facilitating faculty and student research on social organization, and includes annual reports, correspondence, committee events, and programs.

The records of the Center for Research on Social Organization (CRSO) document the history of the Center from its creation in 1960 through 2001. The records are divided into four series: Administrative, Committees, Events and Programs, and Photographs.

Mathematician, student of John Von Neumann, specializing in applied mathematics and game theory and decision making theory, director of several research laboratories, including Willow Run at the University of Michigan. Papers include, research notes, publications, correspondence and other material relating to his research and professional activities.

Merrill Flood's papers are arranged into five series. A small Biographical File contains curricula vitae (1966 and 1974) and news clippings from the University of Michigan News and Information Service. Also included is a bibliography of nearly three hundred published and unpublished research papers which Flood produced between 1930 and 1976.

The Correspondence Series (1938-1990) is arranged chronologically and consists of five folders related to Flood's research during the 1940s and the 1980s, with little material from the intervening years. Correspondence relating to Flood's work with the Faculty Program on University Governance has been interfiled with the related research reports.

A small Publications File (1937-1984, n.d.) contains twelve journal articles relating to the full range of Flood's research interests. Most of Flood's Research Notes (1929-1967, scattered) were unlabeled and undated. One file of notes, better labeled than most and dating largely from the late 1950s to early 1960s, has been retained in its original order.

The bulk of the material in the Flood collection is contained in the series, Reports and Drafts (1930-1981, n.d.), arranged chronologically. The series begins with two papers from the late 1930s on local government in New Jersey, followed by consultation research reports from the 1940s on optical systems, aerial combat surveillance, and aerial mapping. From the early 1950s, the series contains several reports on game theory and decision-making written for the RAND Corporation. Three papers relating to management science resulted from Flood's work at Columbia University in the mid-1950s. The series also consists of numerous reports documenting Flood's appointments at the University of Michigan. His work with the Mental Health Research Institute is represented in several research papers on learning theory and information processing networks. The other substantive section of this series consists of six working papers, with related correspondence, on decision-making and organization theory, resulting from Flood's 1970s work with the Faculty Research Program on University Governance. Reports from 1943, 1962, 1967 and 1973 derive from Flood's consultation work on behalf of private organizations.

This collection does not document Flood's work as Head of Willow Run Laboratories. For information on this period, researchers should consult the record group University of Michigan Division of Research Development and Administration.