The Michigan Society of Fellows, under the auspices of the Rackham Graduate School, was founded in 1970 with endowment grants from the Ford Foundation and the Horace H. and Mary Rackham Funds. The seven founding UM faculty members hailed from Economics, German, English, the Law School, the School of Natural Resources and Environment (now SEAS), and the Medical School, including the then president of the university, Robben Fleming.