Joseph B. Hemker

Joseph B. Hemker, B.B.A.’76
Outstanding Alumni Award

As an attorney with Howard and Howard, Joe Hemker focuses his practice in mergers and acquisitions and securities law, with an emphasis on financial institutions. He has successfully completed hundreds of merger and acquisition transactions with billions of dollars in transaction value. He is a frequent, sought-after speaker on corporate governance issues and strategic planning.

Hemker was admitted to the Michigan Bar in 1981 and the Illinois Bar in 1990. He graduated, magna cum laude, with a B.B.A. from Western Michigan University in 1976 and summa cum laude, with a J.D. from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 1981. He was a law clerk to the Honorable Robert J. Danhof, Chief Judge of the Michigan Court of Appeals from 1982 to 1983.

Hemker has taught Banking and the Law as an adjunct instructor at Kalamazoo Valley Community College and served as a banking law instructor for the American Institute of Banking.

His roots run deep with WMU. Hemker is past president and a member of the Board of Directors of the Western Michigan University Foundation. He is also a member of the Haworth College of Business Advisory Council. In addition, he has provided career advice to finance and commercial law students and has been an excellent source of information on mergers and acquisitions during preparation for student competitions.

Hemker is a member of the American Bar Association, its sections on Business Law and Mergers and Acquisitions; the State Bar of Michigan, its section on Business Law; and the Illinois State Bar Association.