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Historical Note: The office has had various names:

Public Relations Office 1962-1967 and 1985-2001;

College Relations Office 1970-85;

Information Services ?-1962 and 1967-1970;

Office of Communication and Events 2001-2005

Office of College and Alumni Relations 2005-

Office of Development and Alumni Relations 2015 (?)-

History & Background of the Office:
Perhaps the first donation to Grinnell College was in 1846 when J.J. Hill, one of the Iowa Band, made the gift of a silver dollar to challenge his colleagues to endow the College. Since that time, the College has been almost continually involved with fund-raising campaigns. In 1897 a Semi-Centennial Fund was established for enlarging the campus and for adding to the endowment. Four groups were targeted: alumni, trustees, faculty; citizens of Grinnell; Congregationalists of Iowa; and friends of education everywhere. Solicitations were sent out from the Semi-Centennial Committee.
In 1913 the Grinnell College Foundation was established to work with the Trustees of the College to manage and sell real estate, principally farm lands, given to the college under annuity plans. The Foundation financed men's and women's dormitories built in the second decade of the twentieth century. The College also had a number of endowment campaigns after the turn of the century. During the first half of the century, the College Treasurer and Business Officers were involved with development efforts, especially Louis V. Phelps (1915-49) and Charles Kaufman (1948-66). The fund-raising activities of the College were run by the administration, especially the President, and the Trustees for many years. In the late 1950s President Bowen hired the fund-raising counselling firm of Marts & Lundy to study the feasibility of raising substantial funds to meet the ongoing needs of the College. Then early in the 1960s, with the assistance of a matching grant from the Ford Foundation, the College hired its first, senior, fund-raising officer, John McFarland. From that time until 2005, development activities have been run from the Development Office. In 2005, the Development Office, the Alumni Office, and the Office of
Communications and Events were combined under one Vice-President for College and Alumni Relations.

Development Officers:
1963-65 John R. McFarland, Jr. Vice President for Development 1966-66 Russell W. Fridely Vice President for Planning and Development 1966-71 James O. Avison Director of Development 1971-73 James O. Avison Vice President for Resources Planning 1973-76 James O. Avison Vice President for Institutional Development 1976-80 David L. Murphy Vice President for Development 1980-82 Richard T. Jenkins Vice President for Development 1982-92 Thomas K. Marshall Vice President for Development 1992-93 Michael S. Bever Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations 1994-96 E. Kevin Cornell Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations 1996-2001 Angela Voos Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations 2001 - 2005 Todd A. Reding Vice President for Alumnit Relations and Development, 2005 - 2010 Mickey Munley, Vice President for College and Alumni Relations

Includes Summer Picnic information

Through 1969 alumni reunion coincided with commencement and programs are filed with commencement materials (75/[year]). From 1971 alumni reunions have been the first or second weekend after commencement, and general programs are filed in RG-Alum, Series 4. No reunion was held in 1970; Alumni Association awards for 1970 were awarded at 1971 reunion. Arranged chronologically

Autobiographical information which class members recorded on forms distributed by the Alumni Office and printed in booklet form for reunion classes. Arranged by class year (not by reunion year). Class of 1893- . Except for the 1913 reunion of the Class of 1893 (Souvenir: Reunion of '93 Grinnell) and the 1966 reunion of the Class of 1916 (Golden Anniversary Record of the Class of 1916), these booklets have been compiled since about the reunion of 1988. [These photographs were part of a display, probably for the 50th reunion of the class of 1928 in 1978. Because of their condition several of the posterboards were disassembled, labels copied on the verso of the photos, and shelved in folders with other papers in the Archives record group (RG-Alum/Ser.3.1:1928). Three posterboards are intact and filed in the oversize #1 file drawer (RG-Alumn/Ser.3.1.1928)]

A binder which contains photographs of class reunions from reunion year 1997 through reunion year 2002.  Shelved at the end of RG-Alum series 4.1.

A binder which contains photographs of class reunions from reunion year 2003 through reunion year 2012. Shelved at the end of RG-Alum series 4.1.

Constitution and by-laws changes. Proposals.