Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appoints new members to Board ofTrustees

ALLENDALE, Mich. – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer named Shelley Padnos, a former chair of the board of trustees and long-time university donor, and Ronald E. Hall, a Southeast Michigan business leader and attorney, to the Grand Valley State University Board of Trustees. Padnos and Hall begin their eight-year terms February 2.

Padnos is an attorney and the current executive vice president of PADNOS, a company known for its innovative recycling process. Hall, of Bloomfield Township, is the president and chief executive officer of Bridgewater Interiors LLC, an automotive interiors manufacturing firm located in Detroit.

Before his time at Bridgewater, Hall served as a captain in the U.S. Army and then worked as an associate attorney at Dykema and corporate attorney at Johnson Controls. He serves on several executive boards, including the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago – Detroit Branch, Corewell Health, the Skillman Foundation, the Detroit Regional Chamber, Business Leaders for Michigan, Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association – Original Equipment division, and Detroit PAL’s advisory board. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School.

Hall said he is impressed with the innovative efforts of Grand Valley and is optimistic about its positive trajectory and the role he can play in its future.

“I am honored by this appointment and humbled by the confidence being placed in me by Gov. Whitmer,” Hall said. “Educational opportunity expansion is a personal passion of mine, and I have supported various entities in the space my entire career. GVSU is doing great work educating and preparing future leaders and citizens for Michigan, and I look forward to joining their efforts.”

Padnos, of Fennville, formerly served on the GVSU board from 2007-2014 and received an honorary doctorate from the university in 2017. In addition to her role at PADNOS, she has served as the president of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, the national trade association representing scrap processors and recyclers across North America. She has a long history of supporting the university. Padnos and Carol Sarosik created the Padnos/Sarosik Center for Civil Discourse, which is housed in the Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies. She has been a Grand Valley University Foundation director for three decades.

Padnos said she is eager to rejoin the board and continue to invest in the future of GVSU. 

“I am grateful to Gov. Whitmer for my appointment and am very much looking forward to rejoining the board of Grand Valley,” Padnos said. “Universities face huge challenges going forward, and it is my goal to add value crafting solutions and directions for GVSU.”

Padnos earned a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and her Juris Doctorate from Thomas Cooley Law School.

Padnos and Hall will replace Megan Rydecki and Victor Cardenas, whose terms expired at the end of last year. Their appointments are subject to the advice and consent of the Michigan State Senate.