Feature Stories
Mary L. Kramer, '79
“My journalism career has spanned 40 years. Given the tumult in the
media business, I am pleased to have found room to grow as the
publisher of Crain’s Detroit Business, a leading business newspaper
and website 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 print edition, a weekly
e-newsletter of the same name, and a daily 'Michigan Morning'
e-newsletter with news from around the state." - Mary L.
Kramer
Mary Kramer is the vice president and publisher
of Crain's Detroit Business and Crain's Cleveland 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. The combined audience for print editions and the Crain
website is 175,000 people.
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. In 2012, she was named a
group publisher, with additional oversight for the Crain's Cleveland
Business publication.
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; in 2013, she began her
eight-year term as a member of the Board of Trustees for GVSU. In
civic and business affairs, she is also a member of the Detroit
Regional Chamber, Metropolitan Affairs Coalition and United Way for
Southeastern Michigan.
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.
Share this spotlight
Return to the listing of feature stories.