Long-serving trustee Dennis Pawley makes way for change

Long-time Oakland University Trustee Dennis Pawley has announced he is stepping down from that position, effective immediately. Governor Rick Snyder has named Richard DeVore, PNC Bank regional president of Detroit and southeast Michigan, to replace Pawley on the Oakland University Board of Trustees.

“Dennis Pawley has served the university well for years – as a student, donor, friend, trustee and chair of the board,” said Board Chair Michael Kramer. “His contributions to the university are incalculable, and we wish him only the best with his future endeavors.”

Formerly the executive vice president of manufacturing for DaimlerChrysler in North America, Pawley is co-founder of the Lean Learning Center in Novi, Mich., and owns the independent management consulting firm, Pawley Enterprises, LLC, in Farmington Hills, Mich.

He said that in accepting an appointment to the board last fall, it was not his intent to serve a full, eight-year term. Rather, he intended to provide counsel and insight based on considerable institutional knowledge during a particularly active period of university growth.

“With most of the university’s major projects underway, and with the retirement of President Gary Russi, I feel it is appropriate to make room on the board for a new leader who will help select and work with the university’s next permanent president,” Pawley said.

“I will always have a great fondness for Oakland and am very proud to have played a role in what that has been accomplished over the last 20 years. I look forward to watching the next generation of leaders maintain Oakland’s momentum.”

Prior to his latest appointment, Pawley served on the Board of Trustees for 10 years between 1996 and 2010. He served as chair of the board between 2006 and 2008.

Pawley and his wife Carlotta have given many gifts to the university over the years, including a $4 million donation to help build the Dennis and Carlotta Pawley School of Education and Human Services Building. The Pawleys also gave a $1 million gift to the university to create the Pawley Lean Institute.