Before his final term ends in 2019, Gov. Rick Snyder will need to fill a pair of seats on the Board of Trustees (BOT) soon-to-be vacant because of term expiration.

Alumni of NMU, both Trustee Scott Holman’s and Trustee Richard Popp’s terms will expire on Dec. 31, in accordance with Article 1 of the BOT Bylaws. The Article establishes that each member of the eight-voting-member board can hold office for terms of eight years and no more than two member terms can expire in the same year.

The article also states the replacements will be “appointed by the Governor by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.”

“We are working through our process to identify candidates who are qualified and willing to serve in that capacity,” Gov. Rick Snyder’s Press Secretary Anna Heaton said in an email.

Snyder appointed Popp to the BOT in 2011 to replace Douglas Roberts, and appointed former trustee and chairman Holman to the BOT in 2014 to serve the remainder of an unexpired term left by Stephen Gulis, Jr., who resigned.
At this point, however, it isn’t clear who Snyder will appoint to replace Popp and Holman, but he’ll need to find successors before his final term ends in January. Heaton said the appointees will be announced before the end of the year.

Popp was elected chairperson twice and vice chairperson once and earned both a master’s degree in public administration and a bachelor degree in computer science from NMU.

He has been employed by Ford Motor Company for nearly 30 years and currently acts as Executive Director of Human Resources for Ford North America.

“I appreciate this board, this board is 100 percent committed to this university and it’s an honor to be a part of this board,” Popp said at the Sept. 21 BOT meeting. “Thank you all for all the work you’ve done.”

Holman served on the BOT from 1997 through 2004, earned a bachelor degree in business from NMU and has received the NMU Distinguished Alumni award. He is also a founding director of First State Bank, a managing partner of PN Investments LLC and currently a director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce board of directors.

The final BOT meeting of this year is scheduled for
Dec. 14.

“We’re going to be losing two of our top leaders,” Chairman Robert Mahaney said. “It will be a bittersweet meeting for the rest of us.”