2002 Distinguished Alumna
MARY KRAMER, '79
“My journalism career has spanned more than 35 years. Given the tumult in the media business, I am pleased to have found room to grow as publisher of Crain’s Detroit Business, a leading business newspaper and Web site that enjoys a leadership role in Southeast Michigan. I have led this organization since 1989 and am very pleased that I have put my knowledge of Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and other Michigan cities where I worked prior to Detroit to use! Crain’s Detroit Business now has a monthly Crain’s Michigan Business edition and a weekly e-newsletter focusing on business news from around the whole state.” - Mary L. Kramer
Mary Kramer is the vice president and publisher of Crain's Detroit Business.
Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, she is a graduate of Grand Valley State University and had 16 years of reporting and management experience at daily newspapers before joining Crain's Detroit Business in April 1989 as editor. Crain's Detroit Business, which was launched in 1985, covers business news in the five-county metropolitan Detroit area. Circulation is 30,000, with an estimated readership of nearly 140,000 people each week.
In 1990, Mary was named associate publisher of Crain’s Detroit Business. In 1994, she was named a vice president of parent company Crain Communications Inc. Since 2005, Mary has been the publisher of Crain’s Detroit Business, responsible for sales, circulation and editorial operations.
Active in a number of personal and professional organizations, Kramer is a former president of the Alliance of Area Business Publications, a national trade association for regional business publications.
Her volunteer roles include many that support higher education. She is a member of the foundation boards at Wayne State and Grand Valley as well as the Michigan Colleges Foundation that raises money for 16 private liberal arts colleges in Michigan. In civic and business affairs, she is also a member of the Detroit Regional Chamber, Metropolitan Affairs Coalition and Crimestoppers boards.
Mary is the first woman to be elected president of the historic Detroit Athletic Club. She holds honorary doctorates from Grand Valley State University, Walsh College, Alma College and Central and Eastern Michigan universities and recently earned an M.S. degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from Eastern Michigan University.
Her previous daily newspaper experience included editing positions at the Kalamazoo Gazette, Grand Rapids Press, Ann Arbor News, Greenwich (Conn.) Time, and Buffalo (N.Y.) Courier-Express.
Updated April 2011
