EMU Today

YPSILANTI – Barbara L. McQuade, who served with distinction as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, will give the commencement addresses at Eastern Michigan University’s graduation ceremonies Saturday, April 22 at the Convocation Center.

McQuade will speak at both the 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. commencements, and will receive an honorary Doctor of Public Service Degree. The EMU Board of Regents approved the appointment at its regular meeting on April 21.

McQuade, who will be joining the faculty of the University of Michigan Law School, was appointed by President Barack Obama in January 2010, and is the first woman to serve as U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Michigan.

Significant case accomplishments during McQuade’s tenure include the conviction of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and more than 30 others on public corruption charges; the conviction and life sentence of an Al-Qaeda operative for attempting to blow up an airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009; the conviction of a doctor who lied to patients about having cancer so that he could bill Medicare for expensive chemotherapy treatments; and the conviction and $4.3 billion fine against Volkswagen for cheating on emissions tests.

Before becoming U.S. Attorney, McQuade was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Detroit for 12 years, serving as Deputy Chief of the National Security Unit. Before that, she practiced law at the firm of Butzel Long in Detroit from 1993 to 1998, and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Bernard A. Friedman on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan from 1991 to 1993. From 2003 to 2009, McQuade served as an adjunct professor at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, teaching criminal law in the evenings.

Born in Detroit, McQuade is a 1987 graduate of the University of Michigan and a 1991 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School. While an undergraduate at U-M, she served as a sports editor of The Michigan Daily, the university’s student newspaper. She and her husband have four children.

McQuade will speak at both the 9:30 a.m. ceremony, which involves the College of Arts and Science and College of Technology; and the 1:30 p.m. commencement, to be held for the colleges of education, business and health and human services.

About Eastern Michigan University

Founded in 1849, Eastern is the second oldest university in Michigan. It currently serves 22,000 students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, specialist, doctoral and certificate degrees in the arts, sciences and professions. In all, more than 300 majors, minors and concentrations are delivered through the University's Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business; Education; Health and Human Services; Technology, and its graduate school. EMU is regularly recognized by national publications for its excellence, diversity, and commitment to applied education. For more information about Eastern Michigan University, visit the University's website.