Hustoles recognized by Michigan women's business group

Carol L.J. Hustoles, Western Michigan University vice president for legal affairs and general counsel, and seven other southwest Michigan business women were honored March 6 by Inforum, Michigan's business forum for women, for their professional accomplishments.

One of WMU's two in-house attorneys, Hustoles came to the University in 1991. She was named general counsel eight years later and appointed vice president in 2002.

Her accomplishments include taking top honors in 2011 in the nonprofit category of the inaugural General and In-House Counsel Awards sponsored by Crain's Detroit Business. In 2009, she was named one of Michigan's 25 "Leaders in the Law" and among those recognized in an annual celebration of members of Michigan's legal community designed to "honor both legal success and the qualities of character that make only a few stand out."

Hustoles is a past president of the Kalamazoo County Bar Association and the southwest region of Women Lawyers Association of Michigan. She is a 2001 Fulbright award recipient, and has served as a board member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys and on the Michigan Board of Ethics.

Inforum's Inner Circle honors top women executives and attempts to give women who may have leadership potential opportunities to interact with them. The organization, which has more than 1,800 members throughout the state, does that by providing opportunities for business women to network, form alliances, discuss vital civic and business issues, and make connections that help accelerate careers. Founded in 1962 in Detroit as the Women's Economic Club, it has affiliates in Grand Rapids, Lansing and Kalamazoo.