Baer is New Chair of AAA Michigan
DEARBORN, Mich., Feb. 1, 2005 -- William P. Baer, principal owner, chairman and chief executive officer of The Crown Group, was elected for a one-year term as chair of the board of directors of the 1.7-million-member Automobile Club of Michigan (AAA Michigan) during a board meeting conducted today at the Dearborn Inn in Dearborn.
Stephen E. Ewing, president and chief operating officer of DTE Energy Gas, was elected for a one-year term as vice-chair at the board meeting.
The board meeting followed AAA Michigan's annual membership meeting, at which AAA Michigan members elected five board members to varying terms: William P. Baer (three years), Martha A. Darling (three years), Walter E. Douglas (one year), Stephen E. Ewing (three years) and Charles H. Podowski (three years).
WILLIAM P. BAER
Baer was first elected to the board in 1991. He has served on the board of The Auto Club Group (ACG) since 1997 and was chairman from 2002 to 2004.
Baer is principal owner, chairman and CEO of The Crown Group, a diversified automotive supplier of metal and plastic coatings, headquartered in Warren with several facilities throughout North America. He is also involved in building, developing and leasing real estate, primarily industrial properties.
He is a member of the Detroit Presidents' Organization and a former director. He serves on the boards of the Metro Detroit YMCA, Crestmark Bancorp and is a past director of Thompson International and Holy Cross Hospital and past chairman of the Young Presidents' Organization, also serving on its national board. Baer was also elected as a delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business.
He attended Eastern Michigan University and resides in Grosse Pointe Shores.
MARTHA A. DARLING Darling is an education policy consultant based in Ann Arbor.
She retired from the Boeing Company in Seattle after 12 years in various management positions. Prior to working at Boeing, she was a vice president of Seattle-First National Bank, and served as a White House Fellow and executive assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury, senior legislative aide to U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley and special assistant to the governor of Washington.
Darling, elected to the Automobile Club of Michigan board in 2002, also serves on the boards of the Institute for Women's Policy Research, White House Fellows Foundation, Reed College, Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, Nonprofit Enterprise at Work, Michigan Theater and the National Committee for the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. She also serves on the Leadership Council of the Washtenaw Project Great Start.
She is a graduate of Reed College and of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
WALTER E. DOUGLAS
Douglas is chairman and majority stockholder of Avis Ford, a Southfield automobile dealership. He has been a stockholder of the firm since 1986. Effective Jan. 1, Douglas relinquished his role as president to his son, but will remain as chairman and secretary of the company.
Douglas has been a director of the Automobile Club of Michigan since 1992, serving a two-year term as chair that expired in 2003. He has served as a director of The Auto Club Group (ACG) since 1997 and is currently chair. He also serves on the boards of the Museum of African American History, Tiger Woods Foundation, Detroit Symphony Orchestra Hall, Henry Ford Health System, Skillman Foundation, Wayne State University Foundation, Oakland University Foundation, Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan, North Carolina Central University Foundation and The First Tee of Michigan.
He earned an undergraduate degree in accounting and a graduate degree in business administration at North Carolina Central University, where he was presented an honorary doctorate degree in 1998. He taught at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and served two years in the U.S. armed forces.
STEPHEN E. EWING
Ewing is president and chief operating officer of DTE Energy Gas, one of three major business units of DTE Energy Co. Before that, he was president and chief executive officer of MichCon, which he joined in 1971 and served in various management positions before being named to his present position in 2001.
Ewing has been a member of the Automobile Club of Michigan board of directors since 1998. He serves on the boards of several economic, educational, cultural, community and health and human service organizations and businesses, including Detroit's Regional Chamber and United Way Community Services Board in Detroit. He is second vice chairman of the American Gas Association.
Ewing earned a bachelor of arts degree from DePauw University, an MBA from Michigan State University and an advanced management degree from the Harvard School of Business Administration.
CHARLES H. PODOWSKI
Podowski is the president and chief executive officer of The Auto Club Group (ACG) and serves as a member of its board, as well as on the boards of a number of its affiliated companies, including Chicago Motor Club, AAA Minnesota/Iowa, Automobile Club of Michigan, Cornhusker Motor Club, North Dakota Automobile Club and AAA Wisconsin. He also serves on the AAA National Board.
Podowski joined The Auto Club Group (ACG) from Advanta Corp., where he was president of Advanta's small-ticket equipment leasing, corporate credit card and insurance businesses, and was chairman of Advanta Bank Corp.
Podowski is a board member of Detroit Renaissance and Detroit Zoological Society and serves as chairman of the Michigan Campaign of the United Negro College Fund.
He received a bachelor's degree in sociology from Wheeling University in 1968 and earned an MBA in marketing from Rider University in 1973. Podowski attended the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School in 1993.