Supplement–The Class of 1951

Communications between the faculty of the University of Michigan Law School and alumni have improved rather dramatically in recent years. The appearance of Law Quadrangle Notes in 1957 was followed in 1960-1961 by the organization of the Law School Fund and in 1962 by the first meeting of the Committee of Visitors. As a result of these and other activities, the faculty and the alumni are better acquainted. But, as is so often true, a little information seems only to generate the need for more.

In order to test the utility of comprehensive information about graduates, former Dean A. F. Smith approved a proposal of Professor Richard V. Wellman, Faculty Placement Counsellor, to gather data concerning a particular class. The Class of 1951, which observed its fifteenth reunion in 1966, was chosen since it was felt that fifteen years was long enough for careers to be well settled, and yet not so long as to make its members unresponsive to school inquiries. The response was excellent: 229 of 282. or 81%, returned a completed, seven-page questionnaire. This story of the Class of 1951 reflects much of what was learned about this group as a result of the experiment.