Judge, businessman elected to Cooley Law board of directors

Richard F. Suhrheinrich, senior judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and former president of the Detroit College of Law, and Kenneth V. Miller, a Kalamazoo, Michigan-based businessman and Western Michigan University trustee, have been elected to four-year terms on the board of directors of Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Suhrheinrich was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 following his appointment six years earlier to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan by President Ronald Reagan. Suhrheinrich earned a B.S. degree from Wayne State University, a J.D. degree cum laude from the Detroit College of Law, and an LL.M. from the University of Virginia Law School. He also holds LL.D. degrees from the Detroit College of Law and Michigan State University College of Law. Before taking the bench, Suhrheinrich was founding and senior partner of the Detroit law firm Kitch, Suhrheinrich, Smith, Saurbier and Drutchas, P.C. Long involved in legal education, Suhrheinrich is former president of the Detroit College of Law/MSU College of Law Board of Trustees. He has taught law as an adjunct faculty member at a number of law schools, including Western Michigan University Cooley Law School where he has held the title of Distinguished Jurist and Professor. He has served on the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board, the State Bar Grievance Hearing Committee, and the governing boards of Brighton Hospital, Southwest Detroit Hospital, Sparrow Hospital, Hutzel Hospital, the Michigan Hospital Mutual Insurance Company, and the Eastern District of Michigan Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. Miller earned B.B.A. and M.B.A. degrees from Western Michigan University and a J.D. from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School. He is principal of Havirco, a Kalamazoo investment management firm. He is also owner and CEO of Millennium Restaurant Group, LLC, which owns and operates noted restaurants in southwest Michigan, including Martell's Restaurant and Tavern (formerly the Black Swan), Epic Bistro, The Wine Loft, The Union, Panini Express, Fieldstone Grill, CityScape Events Center, Millennium Catering, and The Idler. He is co-founder, director, and chairman of the Kalamazoo region of Mercantile Bank (Grand Rapids). Miller's experience in higher education is extensive. He is vice chair of the Western Michigan University Board of Trustees, first appointed to that board by Michigan Governor John Engler, also a WMU-Cooley graduate, and later reappointed by Governor Rick Snyder. He is also a current member and past chairman of the WMU Haworth College of Business Advisory Council. He further has served as trustee and chairman of the Kalamazoo Valley Community College Foundation. Following private law practice, Miller was co-founder, president and CEO of Radio Associates Group, an owner of radio broadcast properties in Michigan, California, and Nevada. He also co-founded AvTech Laboratories, Inc., a pharmaceutical products testing laboratory in Kalamazoo, and TEAM Industries, Inc., a Grand Rapids and Virginia-based manufacturer of polystyrene construction products. He further has been a corporate director of Biomet, Inc., a manufacturer of orthopedic and surgical products in Warsaw, Indiana. Miller is a director and chairman of the board of directors of the Michigan Restaurant Association, is trustee of the Havirmill Foundation, is past president and board member of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, and is former chair of Downtown Tomorrow, Inc. Board of Directors. He has received the Distinguished Alumni Award from WMU and the Red Rose Award for exceptional community service from the Kalamazoo Rotary Club. "I am honored that Judge Suhrheinrich and Mr. Miller have agreed to join our board of directors," said WMU-Cooley Law School President and Dean Don LeDuc. "They have distinguished themselves in the legal profession, business, and community service. Our students will benefit from their decades of higher education leadership and their long association with our law school. I warmly welcome them to the board of WMU-Cooley Law School." Published: Wed, Mar 11, 2015