WMU HOME > ABOUT WMU > WMU NEWS 9/11 commissioner Slade Gorton speaks at WMU Nov. 11, 2004 KALAMAZOO--Former U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, commissioner for the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, will visit the Western Michigan University campus to talk about the commission's findings. Gorton, who serves as counsel with the firm Preston Gates Ellis Rouvelas & Meade LLP, will speak on "The 9/11 Commission: Findings and Conclusions" at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, in Room 1001 of Wood Hall. A public reception precedes his address at 6:30 p.m. His visit is being sponsored by the WMU Department of Political Science's Institute of Government and Politics. Gorton was appointed to the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission, in 2002 after spending 18 years representing Washington State in the U.S. Senate. Gorton's years in the Senate saw him appointed to powerful committee posts, including Appropriations, Budget, Commerce, Science and Transportation, and Energy and Natural Resources committees. He served as chairman of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee from 1995 to 2001; the Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs from 1995 to 1999; and Aviation from 1999 to 2000. He was also a member of the Republican leadership as counsel to the Majority Leader from 1996 to 2000. Gorton began his political career in 1958 as a Washington state representative and served as majority leader. In 1968, he was elected attorney general of Washington state, where he argued 14 cases before the Supreme Court. Gorton also has served on the president's Consumer Advisory Council and on the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission. He was chairman of the Washington State Law & Justice Commission, served as an instructor in constitutional law for public administration graduate students at the University of Puget Sound, and has served on the Board of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center since 1987. In 2001, Gorton served on the National Commission on Federal Election Reform. Gorton holds a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College and an LLB from Columbia University. He lives in Seattle and is admitted to the bar in Washington. Gorton's visit is being coordinated by Melissa Bourke, WMU assistant vice president for legislative affairs. For more information, call Bourke at (269) 387-2074. Media contact: Mark Schwerin, 269 387-8400, mark.schwerin@wmich.edu WMU News Office of University Relations Western Michigan University 1903 W Michigan Ave Kalamazoo MI 49008-5433 USA 269 387-8400 www.wmich.edu/wmu/news