Stephen Gulis Jr.

Appointed January 21,2011 by Governor Rick Snyder for a term beginning January 1, 2011. Stephen Gulis Jr., of Rockford retired as president of global operations for Wolverine World Wide Inc., a leading global marketer of branded footwear that is headquartered in Rockford. He previously served the company as executive vice-president, chief financial officer and treasurer. Gulis graduated from NMU in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in finance. He delivered the May 2007 commencement address at his alma mater and received an honorary doctor of business degree. He also spoke to the Economic Club of Marquette County earlier the same year. His wife, Janet (Bloeser), is an NMU alumna. She earned her BSN degree in 1980.

"I've been interested in serving on Northern's board for several years, so I'm very pleased that the governor reached out and asked me," said Gulis. "As an alumnus, I also look forward to helping the university strengthen its representation downstate among potential students. There's a real opportunity to further develop the NMU brand.

"I believe the education system for the state of Michigan is going to be extremely important to our economic future. Anything I can do to support that is a worthy cause. My financial background obviously can help in identifying new, additional or innovative ways to look at the funding challenges. But we have to be careful that we still continue to provide a quality education. We can't afford to downgrade the level of service because of funding constraints. You don't have to be the cheapest to have the best value. That's key."

Gulis succeeds Larry Inman, whose terms expired, and will serve through Dec. 31, 2018.