New WMU Trustees

Governor Snyder appointed two new members of the WMU Board of Trustees.  They will replace Granholm appointees Dennis Archer, former mayor of Detroit, and Larry Tolbert, a union official.

Gov. Rick Snyder appoints two new members to Western Michigan University Board of Trustees
New WMU trustees Michelle Crumm and Ron Hall both have business backgrounds, CEO experience

The new trustees are Michelle Crumm and Ronald Hall.

Crumm, appointed to replace Tolbert, is owner and CEO of Present Value LLC, which provides business strategy, forecasting and planning services. She co-founded and is former chief business officer of Adaptive Materials Inc., where she worked for 12 years.

Crumm is a board member for the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation and Arbor Hospice, and chairs the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum board. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Purdue University and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan.

Hall is chairman and CEO of New Center Stamping and president and CEO of Bridgewater Interiors, both Detroit-based automotive supply companies. He worked for Ford Motor Co. for 15 years, and served as president and CEO of the Michigan Minority Business Development Council and as director of the Minority Economic Development, Detroit Inc.

Hall, who will replace Archer, earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from WMU and a master’s degree in business administration from Wayne State University.

So both live in the Detroit area.

Where are they politically?  Searching Open Secrets, we find that Crumm has one federal contribution, $1000 to democrat John Dingell in 2006.  Hall has one federal contribution, $250 to Debbie Stabenow in 2003.  Wonderful.

http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.php?name=crumm%2C+michelle&state=MI&zip=&employ=&cand=&old=Y&sort=N&capcode=9rtnz&submit=Submit+your+Donor+Query
http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.php?name=hall%2C+ronald&state=MI&zip=&employ=&cand=&old=Y&sort=N&capcode=fxp5f&submit=Submit+your+Donor+Query

Two years ago, Snyder appointed Dana Debel, a lobbyist who didn't go to Western, worked for Governor Granholm, and lives in Ann Arbor.

Business backgrounds are nice, but is it too much to expect some appointees who are actually Republicans and live in the Kalamazoo area?  How about Dale Shugars, Tom George, Cameron Brown, or John Balkema?  We need some Republicans after eight years of Granholm appointees.  And trustees who live in the area are more likely to actually know what is happening on campus.

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