EMU Today

YPSILANTI – The Eastern Michigan Board of Regents elected current regents Nate Ford as chair and Marques Thomey as vice chair at the Dec. 5, 2025 meeting. Both were elected to serve two-year terms, beginning in January 2025. Ford served as vice chair for the last year under current Board Chair Chad Newton. Newton, chief executive officer of the Wayne County Airport Authority, was appointed to the EMU Board of Regents in March 2021 and will continue to serve as a board member.

Ford was appointed to the EMU Board in December 2020 by Governor Gretchen Whitmer. He is associate vice president and group director for program/construction management for HNTB Corporation, a national infrastructure design firm. The company has designed many airports, tunnels, roadways, bridges, sports arenas, and transit systems nationally and internationally. Among the projects he currently oversees are the I-375 improvements and I-94 modernizations in Detroit. Previously, he was director of the City of Detroit Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department under then-Mayor Dave Bing. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Morehouse College. Learn more about Ford in this profile. 

Thomey was appointed to the EMU Board of Regents by Governor Whitmer in February 2023. He is the director of business development and real estate at the Wayne County Airport Authority. He previously served as a City of Plymouth commissioner from 2018 to 2021 and served on the Eastern Michigan University Alumni Association Board of Directors from 2011 to 2017 – including a term as president. Thomey received a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Management Technology from Eastern Michigan University and a Master of Science in leadership from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Learn more about Thomey in this profile. 

The meeting represented the final board meeting for two EMU regents whose eight-year terms will be complete at the end of the year. Regent Eunice Jeffries was appointed to the EMU Board of Regents in 2016 by Gov. Rick Snyder, and she became the first African American woman to chair the board in 2021. Regent Alexander Simpson, an EMU alum, was appointed to the EMU Board in 2016 by Gov. Snyder. 

About Eastern Michigan University
Founded in 1849, EMU is the second oldest public university in Michigan. It currently serves nearly 13,000 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; Engineering and Technology; Health and Human Services; and its graduate school. National publications regularly recognize EMU for its excellence, diversity, and commitment to applied education. Visit the University’s rankings and points of pride websites to learn more. For more information about Eastern Michigan University, visit the University's website. To stay up to date on University news, activities and announcements, visit EMU Today.