Democrats Laurence B. Deitch and Rebecca McGowan will take office as Regents Jan. 1.
Deitch and McGowan, elected to eight-year terms Nov. 3, will replace Veronica Latta Smith of Grosse Ile, who didn’t run for re-election, and Neal D. Nielsen. Smith and Nielsen are Republicans.
Deitch, a lawyer from Bloomfield Village, earned a B.A. in 1969 from the U-M and graduated from the Law School in 1972. He is a member of the Michigan Civil Service Commission and former member of the National Advisory Council to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Deitch is trustee of the Michigan Cancer Foundation; director of the Community House in Birmingham; director of the Greater Detroit Interfaith Roundtable of Christians, Jews, and Muslims; and vice president of the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Welfare Reform.
Prior to the election, he told the Record that the two biggest challenges facing the University are securing its financial well-being and improving undergraduate education.
“In order to secure the University’s financial future, we have to make The Campaign for Michigan a success. …we have to do everything that we can do to manage our money better and that includes continuing some of the efforts begun by the administration in cost containment and revenue enhancement.”
Deitch also said “we have to be vigorous in working with the Legislature to return to the days when our state properly funded the University and other institutions of higher education.”
McGowan, who has lived in Ann Arbor since 1985, is currently manager for governmental affairs for the Industrial Technology Institute. She served as a legislative assistant to Senators Adlai E. Stevenson and Frank Church and was a member of vice president Walter Mondale’s White House staff.
Prior to the election, McGowan, who also is chair of the Leadership Council of the Center for the Education of Women, told the Record she views the major issues facing the University in terms of accessibility:
—Access for undergraduates to an excellent undergraduate education.
—Access for qualified Michigan students to financial aid.
—Access for women and minorities to fairness and to full membership in the University community at every level.
—Access for the people of Michigan, with an emphasis on technology transfer from research laboratories to Michigan businesses to help the economy and to create new industries and businesses.
—Access to the Board of Regents for the University community.
