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Tolbert, Archer chosen to lead WMU trustees

Feb. 18, 2010

KALAMAZOO--Larry Tolbert of Kalamazoo and Dennis W. Archer of Detroit have been elected to serve for 2010 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 Feb. 18. All officers serve one-year terms. Tolbert replaces Trustee Kenneth V. Miller of Kalamazoo, who remains on the board.

Tolbert, who was appointed to the WMU board by Gov. Jennifer Granholm in 2005, is a 1975 WMU alumnus and a life member of the WMU Alumni Association. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science. Tolbert is a marketing representative and secretary of health, welfare and pension funds for the Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, a labor organization covering West Michigan and parts of mid-Michigan. He served as vice chair of the Presidential Search Advisory Committee during the process that led to the selection of WMU President John M. Dunn in 2007.

Archer was also named to the board by Granholm in 2005. He is a 1965 WMU alumnus who has served in the past as a Michigan Supreme Court Justice and mayor of Detroit. He is chairman and CEO of the law firm Dennis W. Archer PLLC of Detroit and chairman emeritus of the firm Dickinson Wright PLLC, also in Detroit. A longtime member of the WMU Alumni Association, Archer was honored by that organization in 1982 as a recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award. He earned a law degree from Detroit College of Law in 1970 and is a past president of the American Bar Association.

Other WMU board officers elected to one-year terms at the Feb. 18 meeting were Betty A. Kocher, secretary to the board; Lowell P. Rinker, treasurer and assistant secretary; and Janice Van Der Kley, assistant treasurer. Rinker is WMU's vice president for business and chief financial officer. Van Der Kley is associate vice president for finance.

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Media contact: Cheryl Roland, (269) 387-8400, cheryl.roland@wmich.edu

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