MARQUETTE, Mich.—Rick Popp of Northville Township will serve as chair of the Northern Michigan University Board of Trustees for the 2014 calendar year. He is an NMU alumnus and Iron Mountain native. H. Sook Wilkinson of Bloomfield Hills will be the new vice chair of the board.

Popp has been employed by Ford Motor Company for more than 23 years. After leading Ford’s human resources function in Mexico, he directed Ford’s employee benefits organization for the past six years, and was just recently named director of human resources for Ford’s Global Marketing, Sales and Service and Corporate Communications teams.

Popp was appointed to an eight-year term on the NMU Board of Trustees by Gov. Rick Snyder in 2011 and elected vice chair for 2013. He holds two degrees from NMU: a master’s in public administration with an emphasis on personnel and labor relations; and a bachelor’s in computer science. He is also a fellow of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton executive education program.

“It is an honor to be elected as the board chair for my alma mater and an organization that means so much to me," he said. "Being elected by members of such a talented, diverse and committed board makes this appointment even more special. That said, we recognize the challenges in front of us and the importance of doing our part in continuing to build a stronger NMU.”

Wilkinson was appointed to the board in 2009. She is a clinical psychologist, author and expert in international adoption. She serves as chair of the Michigan Governor's Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission, plays an advisory role in the governor’s Global Michigan Initiative to reinvent the state’s economy by attracting global talent and serves on the Global Detroit board working to revitalize the economy in southeast Michigan.