Proton pickup data have been obtained through the 55 Mn(d, 3 He͒ 54 Cr (E d ϭ 46 MeV͒ reaction in the 6°-30°angular range using a magnetic spectrometer with a resolution of ϳ 40 keV full width at half maximum. Spectroscopic factors associated with transitions to 24 54 Cr final states (E*р 6.104 MeV͒ were determined from local, zero-range distorted-wave Born approximation analyses of the measured angular distributions allowing for l ϭ 0, 1, 2, and 3 transfer. A spin-dependent sum-rule analysis of the 0f 7/2 proton transfer data has been performed using complementary stripping data from a study of the 55 Mn(␣,t) 56 Fe reaction. The 0f 7/2 proton transfer data have also been compared to results from a 0f 1p shell-model calculation based on a new effective interaction for A ϭ 41-66 nuclei. ͓S0556-2813͑96͒05109-6͔