Alfred B. Connable Jr.
Nov. 30, 1999
Alfred B. Connable Jr., a Kalamazoo business and civic leader who was a member of the first WMU Board of Trustees, died Nov. 16 in Kalamazoo. He was 95.
Connable, who was a WMU trustee from 1964 to 1967 and the board's first vice chairperson, also served as a University of Michigan regent from 1942 to 1958. In the latter position, he was celebrated for challenging Sen. Joseph McCarthy's attacks on faculty members during the 1950s.
Born and raised in Kalamazoo, Connable earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Michigan and a master's degree from the Harvard University School of Business Administration. His business career included serving as head of Connable Associates Inc., the firm his grandfather founded in Kalamazoo, and he played a key role in many state and area businesses. He was extremely active in the local community and at the University and was a charter member of WMU's President's Circle, which honors major donors.
WMU's Board of Trustees Room in the Bernhard Center was named for Connable in 1996. Connable also was honored with an honorary doctor of humanities degree from WMU in 1962.