Gov. Jennifer Granholm has announced three appointments to the Northern Michigan University Board of Trustees. NMU alumni Larry Inman of Williamsburg and Garnet Lewis of Freeland will be joined by Sook Wilkinson of Bloomfield Hills.  

Inman is a Grand Traverse County commissioner. He retired in 2007 as vice president of commercial lending at Huntington National Bank, ending a banking career that spanned nearly three decades. A 1976 NMU graduate, Inman has served on the NMU Foundation Board and was recently honored by his alma mater with the 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award. This marks his second appointment to the NMU Board of Trustees. He previously served from 2002-06. Inman’s current term expires Dec. 31, 2010.

“I was thrilled to get the appointment from Gov. Granholm and I am very excited to return to the NMU Board of Trustees for the next two years,” said Inman. “I look forward to working with the NMU board, President Les Wong and his leadership team at NMU during these challenging economic times.”

Lewis is associate director of professional education at Central Michigan University and has worked in higher education for more than 20 years. She received a master’s degree from NMU in 1986. Lewis is a former member of the NMU Foundation and NMU Alumni Association boards. She served as president of the latter from 2005-07.

“It is a great honor to be appointed to Northern’s governing board,” Lewis added. “As a graduate student and residence hall director from 1983-87, Northern gave me the opportunity to purse my education and gain invaluable professional experience. I can say in all honesty that Northern provided me with the opportunity to develop my leadership and communication skills, which have proven so invaluable to me throughout my career.”

Wilkinson is a licensed psychologist. She has a private practice in Bloomfield Hills and also works at the Center for Human Development at Beaumont Hospital in Berkley. A native of Seoul, Korea, Wilkinson is a leading expert in the field of international adoption. She wrote Birth is More than Once: The Inner World of Adopted Korean Children, co-edited After the Morning Calm: Reflections of Korean Adoptees and is working on an anthology tentatively titled Asian Americans in Michigan. Wilkinson chairs the Michigan Governor’s Council on Asian Pacific American Affairs. NMU President Les Wong is an appointed member of the council.

Wilkinson said, “I feel humbled and very excited about the awesome responsibility and opportunity to serve on the NMU Board of Trustees. I fell in love with the students and faculty when I came to NMU for the UNITED [Uniting Neighbors in the Experience of Diversity] conference as a keynote speaker last fall. What I'd like to accomplish is to promote NMU regionally, internationally and, of course, in southeast Michigan.

“I'm committed to making ‘quality, accessibility and affordability’ continued top priorities of the university. Michigan needs well-trained work force to attract new businesses and turn our economy around.  To produce well-trained workers, we need to provide quality higher education with easy access and at an affordable cost.”

Both Lewis and Wilkinson have been appointed to terms that expire Dec. 31, 2016. NMU’s governing board is comprised of eight members. Its next meeting is scheduled April 30-May 1.