Officially established in 1959, the Office of Research supports and administers large interdisciplinary projects called research centers and administers research institutes. The record group includes individual vice president's files, central office files, staff files, financial records, administrative files, committee and task force documents and reports, special event files, and project and institute files.
The records of the vice-president for research date from 1911 to 2013 and measure 323.5 linear feet, 1 oversize box and 157 MB of digital materials. The records document the activities of the office overseeing grant funded research at the University of Michigan and offer some insight into the range of research undertaken at the university. Records include administrative files of vice-presidents, including correspondence, memoranda, and budgetary material relating to research projects and grants of university units and departments; and photographs.
The organization of the records, particularly the early accessions, reflects the tenure of the successive vice presidents for research. Later accessions included files of associate vice-presidents and senior staff officers as well topically organized files that spanned the tenure of several vice presidents. The records are organized into the following series:
- A. Geoffrey Newman -- Boxes 1-15, 70-71
- Charles Overberger -- Boxes 15-69
- Charles Overberger/Warren Sussman -- Boxes 72-87
- Linda S. Wilson,-- Boxes 88-100
- William C. Kelly -- Boxes 102-105
- Central Files -- Boxes 108-127, 180-210, 266-275, Boxes 277-301, Boxes 311-322
- OVPR Staff Files -- Boxes 128-134
- Julie Ellison -- Boxes 135-136
- Marvin Parnes -- Boxes 137-146
- OVPR Financial and Administrative Files -- Boxes 147-148
- Administrative Files -- Boxes 149-150, Boxes 323-324
- Committees and Task forces -- 151-164
- Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project and Ford Nuclear Reactor -- Boxes 165 --166, 218-219
- Special Events, Symposiums, and Promotional -- Boxes 167-170, 275
- Presidential Initiatives Fund -- Boxes 171-179
- Contractual Restrictions Requests (PAF-R's) -- Boxes 213-216
- Michigan Life Science's Corridor -- Boxes 216-218
- Discretionary Fund -- Boxes 220-264
- Indirect Waivers -- Boxes 265
- Research Faculty Appointments -- Boxes 276, Box 322
- Washington D.C. Office -- Boxes 302-310