Business dean garners award for work with minority students
Aug. 1, 2001
KALAMAZOO -- The dean of Western Michigan University's Haworth College of Business has been named Educator of the Year by a group that develops and places talented minority youth in business and industry and prepares them for corporate and community leadership.
Dr. James W. Schmotter received the award from the Southwest Michigan affiliate of INROADS. According to Jaime Flores, the organization's Midwest area managing director, Schmotter was chosen because of his devotion to recruiting, retaining and developing minority business students.
"The dean has been instrumental in supporting both our pre-college and college components," says Flores. "He has hosted minority high school students on the WMU campus to introduce them to college life, and he works closely with us to place Western Michigan students in corporate internships. In fact, he even goes out of his way to get to know many of the INROADS students in the Haworth College of Business, supporting and encouraging them throughout their academic careers.
"Dean Schmotter has been exceptionally accessible and helpful to both INROADS staff members and our students; that's just not something you find very often at the dean level."
WMU has a long-established relationship with INROADS/Southwest Michigan, whose reach includes Grand Rapids, Lansing, Holland, St. Joseph/Benton Harbor, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek and surrounding areas. The University's director of multicultural affairs, Dr. Martha Warfield, serves on the INROADS board of directors, and her assistant director, Miguel (Mike) Ramirez, won the Educator of the Year award in 1998-99. Ramirez and Schmotter are the only two university-level educators to have won the award.
"I'm honored," Schmotter says. "I can think of few organizations that directly impact the lives of young people in more positive ways than INROADS. We take our commitment to diversity very seriously in the Haworth College of Business, and we're fortunate to have found such an excellent partner."
Media contact: Jessica English, 616 387-8400, jessica.english@wmich.edu