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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- January 10, 2008
CONTACT: Scott Hirko, Public Relations Officer,
shirko [at] mihumanities.org, 517-372-0029 ext. 25

THREE JOIN MHC BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Ed Bagale of Dearborn, Eva Evans of Lansing, Marcia Warner of Grand Rapids

(LANSING)----- The Michigan Humanities Council (MHC) announces that three individuals recently joined its Board of Directors; two were appointed by Governor Jennifer Granholm and the other elected by the board. The two gubernatorial appointments are Marcia Warner of Grand Rapids and Eva Evans of Lansing. They were appointed on December 7, 2007, and will serve until December 31, 2009. Ed Bagale was elected on October 25, 2007; his term began on January 1, 2008, and ends on December 31, 2010.

Ed Bagale, Vice Chancellor for Government Relations at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, is the University’s chief government relations officer, serving in this role since 1985. He has approximately 40 years of advocacy work in higher education. Mr. Bagale serves as a consultant and special assistant to the president of The Henry Ford, and on the boards of directors of The Dearborn Community Fund, the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services, the Arab American Chamber of Commerce, and MotorCities/Automotive National Heritage Area Partnership. He is Vice Chair of the Henry Ford Hospital and Health Network Board of Trustees and is also the co-chair of the Rouge River Gateway Partnership. Mr. Bagale holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Detroit.

Eva Evans of Lansing is a retired Interim Associate Superintendent for Human Resources and Deputy Superintendent for Instruction of the Lansing School District. She has more than 30 years of experience with the Lansing schools, including service in educational planning, as an assistant principal, English teacher, and elementary school teacher. Ms. Evans is a founder of the Lansing Association of Black Organizations and the “Be A Star” Children’s Performing Arts Program. She is also the Chairperson of Michigan State University’s annual alumni program, “Kaleidoscope,” and is a former commissioner to the Michigan Department of Civil Rights and the Lansing Board of Water and Light. Ms. Evans earned a Ph.D. in Administration and Higher Education from Michigan State University.

Marcia Warner of Grand Rapids brings to the MHC a wealth of experience in Michigan’s public library system and community service. Ms. Warner is currently the Director of the Grand Rapids Public Library, a position she has held since 2004. Her prior experience includes the Director of the Public Libraries of Saginaw from 2001-2004 and as its Associate Director from 1998–2001. Other prior experiences include serving as the head of the Hoyt Main Library in Saginaw, as Library Development Coordinator of the White Pine Library Cooperative, and as the Director of the Bullard Sanford Memorial Library in Vassar. She served as the president of the Michigan Library Association and currently serves on the board of directors of the Public Library Association. Ms. Warner also serves on the board of directors of the West Michigan Women’s Study Council and the North American Choral Company Board. Ms. Warner holds a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Michigan and, in 2000, she completed the Leadership Development Program at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The Michigan Humanities Council's Board of Directors currently consists of 23 members whose responsibilities include program and proposal review, planning, fundraising, advocacy for the humanities, liaison to projects, and other representation of the Council at activities around the state. Four members of the Council are gubernatorial appointees while the Council Board elected 19.

The Michigan Humanities Council, founded in 1974, is a private, non-profit organization funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities.