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Pero and Miller elected to lead trustees

Jan. 26, 2007

KALAMAZOO--Dan Pero of Laingsburg, Mich., and Kenneth V. Miller of Kalamazoo have been elected to serve for 2007 as chair and vice chair, respectively, of the Western Michigan University Board of Trustees.

The election took place at the annual meeting of the trustees, which this year was held Jan. 29. All officers serve one-year terms.

Pero, who was appointed to his current term on the board in 2001, is a WMU alumnus who had previously served as a trustee in 1997 until relocation to Florida caused him to step down. He is president of the American Justice Partnership.

Previous positions held by Pero include partner in the Lansing-based public relations firm Sterling Corp., managing director for the Michigan office of the public relations firm Weber-Shandwick Worldwide and vice president for Eckerd Corp., a national retail drug firm with headquarters in Florida. Prior to his work in the private sector, the 1973 WMU graduate was former Michigan Gov. John Engler's chief of staff and campaign manager. Pero also is a past member of the Michigan Judicial Commission.

Miller was appointed to the WMU board in 2002 and leads the search process for the University's next president.

He is vice president and chief operating officer of Havirco, a Kalamazoo investment management firm, which he has co-owned since 1983. He is also owner of the Millennium Restaurant Group, which owns and operates restaurants in southwest Michigan, including The Union Cabaret and Grille, a WMU theme restaurant on the Kalamazoo downtown mall. He earned both a bachelor's and a master's degree in business administration from WMU and a juris doctorate from Thomas M. Cooley Law School.

Previously, Miller was director of the WMU Foundation, a position he stepped down from when he was appointed to the Board of Trustees.

Other WMU board officers elected to one-year terms at the Jan. 26 meeting were Betty A. Kocher, secretary to the board; Robert M. Beam, treasurer and assistant secretary; and Lowell P. Rinker and Janice VanDerKley, assistant treasurers. Beam, WMU's vice president for business and finance, will serve as treasurer until his retirement June 30. After, Rinker, associate vice president for business, will become treasurer. VanDerKley is associate vice president for finance.

Media contact: Deanne Molinari, (269) 387-8400, deanne.molinari@wmich.edu

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