DETROIT – The Wayne State University Board of Governors will have one new member beginning Jan. 1. Voters also returned one incumbent to a seat on the eight-member board at the Nov. 7 statewide election. Newcomer Debbie Dingell and incumbent Eugene Driker, both Democrats, were elected to eight-year terms on the Wayne State governing body. A swearing-in ceremony will be held on a date to be determined.

Dingell is an active civic and community leader in Michigan and Washington, D.C. She is a strong advocate for women’s and children’s issues and currently chairs several boards, initiatives and committees. She was the founding chair of the National Women’s Health Resource Center in the nation’s capital and is a co-founder of The Children’s Inn, a home-away-from-home for critically ill children at the National Institutes of Health. She is vice chair of the General Motors Foundation and executive director of public affairs and community relations for GM.

The newest member of the WSU Board has indicated that maintaining the university’s tradition of affordability, accessibility and excellence is important to her. She served on the Cherry Commission on Higher Education and Economic Growth, which was created by Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm in 2004 to identify strategies for doubling the number of Michigan residents with college degrees within 10 years.

Dingell, wife of longtime Michigan Congressman John Dingell, currently is vice chair of the board for the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Center but plans to resign, effective Jan. 1. She also serves on the boards of numerous civic and cultural groups in the Detroit area and in Washington, D.C. She is a graduate of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and also has a master’s degree in liberal studies from Georgetown.

She assumes the board position being vacated by Republican two-term member Elizabeth Hardy, who did not seek re-election.

Eugene Driker’s election marks his first full term on the Board of Governors. He was initially appointed by Gov. John Engler in 2002 to fill a vacancy. A Wayne State alumnus and one of the university’s most active boosters, he is a founder and senior member in the law firm of Barris, Sott, Denn & Driker. He received a Distinguished Alumni Award from WSU in 2000 and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 2001. He also is a recipient of the WSU Law School’s Distinguished Alumni Award. In 2003, he was named an honorary member of the university’s Phi Beta Kappa chapter.

A prolific fundraiser, Driker is vice chairman of the Wayne State University Foundation. He chaired the successful WSU Law School capital campaign in1998-2001. He has served on the boards of numerous civic organizations, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Metropolitan Detroit Convention and Visitors Bureau, Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, Jewish Vocational Service, Detroit Board of Police Commissioners, and the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Center, among others.

Driker is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th and 6th Circuits and various U.S. district courts. A specialist in business law, he has lectured at the WSU Law School and before many professional groups, including the State Bar of Michigan and the Institute of Continuing Legal Education. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a Juris Doctorate degree from Wayne State. He also holds an advanced degree in law from George Washington University.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 11 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students.