RESUME’
Alan at Age 14 |
Alan
P. Suits was born in Kirkwood, MO, in 1925. He graduated from
Kirkwood High School in February 1943. He completed his freshman year
at the University of Michigan before being inducted into the US Navy
in October 1943. Following eleven months of training as a Navy electronics
technician he served during World War II in the Atlantic aboard a
destroyer, the USS Vogelgesang (photo below).
In Washington, DC
1944 - Age 19 |
In 1946 he
was honorably discharged from the Navy and returned to the U of M where
he received a BA degree in
1949, majoring in Psychology and Economics. Following his graduation he married Beverly York of Anderson, Indiana,
a fellow student at the U of M. They had two children while residing
in Kirkwood: Robin Suits now of Yellow Springs, OH, and Neil Suits,
of Billings, MT.
Married Beverly York
in 1949 |
In 1956 he established the Suits News Co. It was a wholesale distributor
of magazines and paperback books. Over time it expanded and eventually
was operating eight book stores in Lansing and Ann Arbor, MI. in addition
to the wholesale operation. He sold the company in 1982.
Alan served on the Board of the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce
1988-90 and was chair of the Ingham County Economic Development Corp.
and served as a director of Blue Care Network - Health Central from
1979-89. In 1990 he received the Michigan Volunteer Leadership Award
from the Greater Michigan Foundation. He was president of the Michigan
Advocates for the Arts from 1989-1992.
Political
Activism
Michigan Gov. James Blanchard
with Beverly, Paula Blanchard and Alan
in our East Lansing home.
1985 |
Alan with HEW Secretary Donna Shalala
and US Senator Debbie Stabenow
May 1996 |
| Alan
has been active in a number political campaigns including
acting as Treasurer in the Gubernatorial, State Senate, Congressional
and US Senate campaigns for Senator Debbie Stabenow. He was co-chair
of Governor James Blanchard’s Entrepreneurial & Small
Business Commission from 1983-90; and was Chair of the Governor's
Statewide Small Business Conference. |
MSU
Volunteer Leadership
Alan
Suits was the founding president of six MSU community advisory boards.
They are the WKAR-TV Community Advisory Board in 1976, the Friends
of the Kresge Art Museum
in 1977, the Wharton Center Advisory Board
in 1980, the Dean’s
Community Council of the College of Arts and
Letters in 1987, the Friends of the MSU Summer Circle Theatre (summercircle.org)
in 1996 and the Community Council
of the MSU College of Social Science in 1998.
As
founding president of the Dean’s Community Council of the College
of Arts & Letters Alan initiated the college’s international
travel programs 1993-98 to London, Paris, Rome, Greece,and Turkey;
and an annual lecture tour to the Stratford (Ont.) Shakespeare Festival
each year. He initiated the MSU Arts Weekend in 1995, an annual event
held in the summer at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.
Dean's Community Council on Retreat
Mackinac Island, MI - October 1990
East
Lansing Arts Commission
Sculptor
Louise McCagg
preparing Familiar Faces
to be cast in bronze
at the foundry
|
Cassiopeia
Cast bronze sculpture
by Nancy Leiserowitz |
He
served as co-chair of the East Lansing Arts Commission from 1995-99.
While on the Commission he initiated a number of activities including
the placement of three works of public sculpture in East Lansing, Cassiopeia, Familiar Faces and Andromeda. Suits also became
the founding president of two organizations created by the commission.
They are: FestEve, Inc. in 1995, a nonalcoholic New Years Eve celebration for Lansing, East Lansing and MSU; and the East Lansing
Film Festival (ELFF.com) in 1996
which, with strong support of the City of East Lansing, has become
an annual event for the community. In 1989 he received the Crystal
Award from
the City of East Lansing for his part in the creation of the Michigan
Festival; and in 1999 he received a Citation for Community Service
for his work on the East Lansing Arts Commission.
"Andromeda"
Alan and the sculptor, Anthony Frudakis.
This cast bronze sculpture was placed on the Grand River Blvd.
median In East Lansing
|
"Familiar Faces" by Louise McCagg
Showing a maquette of the bronze sculpture,
Familiar Faces
Alan served for six years on the East Lansing Arts Commission
and directed the Outdoor Sculpture Program
|
Greater
Lansing Housing Coalition He
was President of the Greater Lansing Housing Coalition (glhc.org)
for six years. The coalition buys uninhabitable houses in Lansing’s
inner city and, with the help of the City of Lansing and the Michigan
State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA), rehabilitates and sells
them as single family homes to low income first time home buyers.
The Coalition has renovated over 100 houses in Lansing since 1994.
Sailing
Alan
is an experienced sailor and together with Beverly sailed extensively
in Lake Michigan and the North Channel
of Lake Huron aboard their sailboat
"Boss", a 36' "S-2" yacht. In winter they chartered
sailboats throughout the Caribbean from Tortola, St. Lucia, St. Martin,
St. Vincent, the Grenadines, Honduras, in the Gulf of California,
and in the Greek Islands.
Jane
Vieth Suits
