"Educational Leadership in the 21st Century"
7:30 pm, Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Bobbitt Visual Arts Auditorium
From the classroom to the nation’s
capital, John Porter has spent the last 50 years as an advocate for Michigan
students of all ages while serving both the state and federal governments as an
education expert. After earning his Ph.D. at Michigan State University, he was named the
state superintendent of public instruction in 1969, a position he held for 10
years. Porter left the Michigan Department of Education to take the presidency
of Eastern Michigan University in 1979. After his successful 10-year tenure at
Eastern, he became general superintendent for the Detroit Public Schools from
1989 to 1991. He then served as chief executive officer of the Urban
Education Alliance, Inc. in Ypsilanti until his recent retirement.
Porter has
been recognized at Albion with the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1970, an
honorary degree in 1973, and with the Athletic Hall of Fame’s Lifetime
Achievement Award in 2003. He served on the College’s Board of Trustees for 15 years
and is now an honorary trustee. In recognition of his distinguished career in
education, in 2002 the College announced the creation of the John W. Porter
Endowed Professorship in the Fritz Shurmur Education Institute.
