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INSTITUTE
STAFF AND BOARD
1999
STAFF
Left to right first row:
Hans Voss, Managing Director; Anne Stanton, Great Lakes Shoreline Project Coordinator; Patty Cantrell, Economic Analyst

Left to right middle row:
Kelly Thayer, Transportation Project Coordinator; Aimé Merizon, Production Editor; Florence Barone, Managing Editor and Great Lakes Bulletin Editor; Conan Smith, Lansing Policy Coordinator; Arlin Wasserman, Policy Specialist; LeClair Stoltmann, Web Editor; Keith Schneider, Executive Director

Top:
Alicia Harrison, Office Manager and Events Coordinator

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Our Board provides wise counsel and great
leadership. We are fortunate to have directors
of such prominence, intelligence, and dedication.

Jon Armstrong		 Jon Armstrong of Frankfort is the former chairman of Midwest Commerce Banking Company in Elkhart, Indiana. Retiring to Benzie County in 1993, Jon is active with Friends of the Betsie Valley Trail and the Benzie Shores District Library.
Ralph Graham 		Ralph Graham of Bloomfield Hills is a retired entrepreneur and co-founder with his wife, Jeanne Graham, of the Clannad Foundation, a family philanthropy that has generously supported our Grassroots Support Center.

Tom Carr 		Tom Carr of Arcadia and Richmond, Virginia, is an attorney and financial consultant. Tom possesses broad experience in business, finance, management, and law, specializing in issues related to real estate development.
Richard J. Hitchingham		 Richard J. Hitchingham, Treasurer, a founding Institute member, worked as a trust investment analyst in Detroit before moving to Manistee County in 1975. Dick chairs the Springdale Township Planning Commission and works at Field Crafts Screen Printing as a bookkeeper.

R. T. Curran 		R.T. "Ted" Curran of Frankfort is executive director of the AIFS Foundation in Washington, D.C., which promotes international education. Previously, Ted was in the American Foreign Service for 25 years and president of Springfield College in Illinois.
Helen Milliken 		Helen Milliken of Traverse City was Michigan's First Lady from 1969 to 1983, the tenure of Governor William G. Milliken. Recognized as one of the state's visionary conservation leaders, she serves on the boards of the Michigan Nature Conservancy and the Women's Resource Center in Traverse City.

Preston Dilts, Jr		 Dr. Preston V. Dilts, Jr. of Frankfort is a retired physician and a nationally recognized specialist in obstetrics and gynecology. He has a strong interest in environmental and land use issues, particularly in Benzie County.
Bob Otwell 		Bob Otwell of Traverse City is an environmental engineer and chairman of the Traverse City Planning Commission. Bob is especially interested in promoting transportation networks that provide more choices while preserving our natural resources.

Virginia B. Pierce		 Virginia B. Pierce of Prudenville is a wildlife biologist who spent nearly 20 years with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. She and her husband, former DNR Deputy Director Don Inman, co-founded the Michigan Resource Stewards.
Howard A. Tanner 		Howard A. Tanner, Ph.D. of Haslett was the former director of the Department of Natural Resources from 1975 to 1983 under Gov. Milliken. Howard was also a professor at Michigan State University in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. He courageously defends Michigan's path-breaking environmental laws, many of which he implemented.

Deborah J.Rohe 		Deborah J. Rohe, Secretary, of Petoskey is a respected child care consultant and grassroots leader who helped a citizens group oppose a new Wal-Mart superstore. Deborah helps lead an Institute and community effort to support alternatives to a proposed four-lane highway bypass around Petoskey.
Karen Willard 		Karen Willard of Algonac is an attorney and former three-term Democratic State Representative. She has been a distinguished leader on several environmental issues, such as reforming the drain code, which subsidizes urban sprawl.

Keith Schneider 		Keith Schneider of Benzonia is a nationally known environmental writer, who has served as the Institute's executive director since he co-founded it in 1995. Previously, he was a New York Times national correspondent, specializing in environment, agriculture, and land use issues.
Willard Wolfe 		Willard Wolfe of Frankfort is a retired dentist who worked for decades to protect Michigan's trout streams and wetlands. Will and his wife, Joan, played key roles in making the 1972 Inland Lakes and Streams Act and the 1970 Michigan Environmental Protection Act a reality.

Bob Sutherland		 Bob Sutherland, Chairman, of Glen Arbor is founder and president of Cherry Republic, a distributor of cherry products and apparel. He is actively involved in Leelanau County's environmental issues.
Timothy Young		 Timothy Young of Honor is founder and president of Food for Thought, which specializes in organic and wild harvested condiments, jams, and jellies. He is the former chairman of the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council.
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