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The Programs, Projects, Studies, and Curricula, 1964-1981, series provides some of the best documentation of the variety of the IoG's programmatic work. The best documented of those programs also seem to be among the most important. The Biology of Aging program--of which the 1975 conference was but an early stage--documents the lengthy development of a proposal to initiate an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in research on the physiology of the aging process. Material on the Educational Gerontology Graduate program includes proposals, memos, and correspondence relating to the origins of the nation's first curricula to bestow advanced degrees for teaching the elderly. The program was developed under the aegis of the School of Education, with interdisciplinary support.

The Health Advocacy for Older People project served Oakland, Livingston, Washtenaw, and Jackson counties, though the material in this collection is from Jackson County only. The project sought to improve access to and the quality of health care for low-income older people by training peer advocates and holding informational workshops. The Milieu Therapy Training program was a long-term research and demonstration project to improve the environment and hence the treatment of elderly mental patients.

One of the most important curricula in the IoG was the Specialists in Aging Training program. This program had two facets: a long-term master's degree curricula and a short-term residential institute leading to a certificate of specialization. Additional information regarding the Residential Institute will be found in the separate collection of Woodrow Hunter's papers. A less significant, but still noteworthy, project was the Senior Sounds radio program on WUOM, the transcripts for which are contained in this series (tapes of these shows may be found in the library's collection of WUOM, Tapes, B Series). Three other radio programs produced by IoG are represented in the Sound Tapes series in this collection.