Newspaper editor, former trustee to speak at April 25 commencement

The longtime editor of the Grand Rapids Press and a former member of the Grand Valley State University Board of Trustees will be the speakers at commencement ceremonies set for April 25 at Van Andel Arena.

Grand Rapids Press editor Mike Lloyd will address graduates and their families during the ceremony scheduled for 10 a.m. Donna Brooks, who served on Grand Valley's Board of Trustees from 1993-2009, will speak in the 3 p.m. ceremony.

Lloyd has been the newspaper's editor for 31 years. He also worked as a reporter and city editor for the Press before his current position.

A graduate of the University of Missouri's School of Journalism, Lloyd is very active in the community. He is the incoming board chairman for Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park and also active with Celebration on the Grand. He is a charter and current member of the Grand Valley University Foundation board.

Brooks is a community advocate who lives in Holland, Michigan. Her support for and involvement with Grand Valley State University spans decades. She served as a member of the GVSU Board of Trustees from 1993 to 2009 and during that time served as chair of its Academic and Student Affairs Committee and board chair. She is co-chair of the university’s “Shaping Our Future” campaign, the first comprehensive campaign in the university’s history.

Brooks is one of only a few who have received both the Leadership and the Enrichment awards from the Grand Valley University Foundation. She has served as a GVU Foundation Trustee since 1989. Brooks organized and served as board chair for the Project Charlie program for the Holland area and has served as a board member for the Holland Community Foundation and the West Ottawa Educational Foundation. She also serves on the board of Homecor. She is a past recipient of the Michigan Federation of Private Child and Family Agencies “Volunteer of the Year” award. Brooks holds a bachelor's degree in dietetics and master's degree in nutrition from Michigan State University. Brooks and her husband, Jim, are co-chairs of the Hope College Patrons for the Arts and have supported the campaigns for Grand Valley’s DeVos Center and Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences. In addition, they have created two scholarships at Grand Valley, have donated the Lixenberg Collection of works on paper by contemporary Dutch artists, and participated with the Fall Arts Celebration.

Students in five colleges will receive diplomas at the morning ceremony: Community and Public Service, Engineering and Computing, Health Professions, Nursing, and Business. Students in the colleges of Education, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Liberal Arts and Sciences will receive diplomas during the afternoon ceremony.

Faculty and staff members who plan to process should begin robing at 9:30 a.m. or 2:30 p.m.

The Alumni Relations office will present two awards. The Distinguished Alumna Award recipient is Louisa A. Stark, director of the Genetic Science Learning Center at the University of Utah; and the Outstanding Educator is Stephen R. Mattox, associate professor of geology.

Stark earned a bachelor's degree in biology in 1979. She said her work as a biology teaching assistant at Grand Valley were the most formative of her career as a science educator. At the University of Utah, she also serves as clinical professor of science education and associate director of the School of Medicine's Community Engagement Core Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences.

The Genetic Science Learning Center provides professional development courses and workshops annually for more than 600 teachers from around the world. Stark earned a doctorate in evolutionary genetics from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

The Outstanding Educator is chosen from a survey of alumni members who are in the fifth year since graduation. They nominate a faculty member who has had significant positive impact on their careers.

Mattox joined Grand Valley's faculty in 1998; he has served as geology department chair since 2007. Last year he received the Michigan Science Teachers Association Award, as the College Teacher of the Year. 

He received a bachelor's degree in geology from Indiana University, and master's and doctoral degrees in geology from Northern Illinois University. He has published many articles and is currently working on a book about Michigan geology.