Dianne Byrum

Dianne Byrum was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2008 and again in 2016. Byrum is a partner at Byrum & Fisk Advocacy Communications, a public relations firm she founded in 2006, with offices in East Lansing and Grand Rapids. Before that, she was the Michigan House Democratic Leader, the first woman to lead a caucus in the state. Byrum was first elected to the Michigan House in 1991, and to the state Senate in 1995, returning to the House in 2002. She served on the Ingham County Board of Commissioners from 1983 to 1990. Byrum has served as codirector of the Michigan Political Leadership Program, an MSU program that trains future public policy leaders. She is a recipient of the Champion of Hope award from the Children’s Trust Fund and the Public Official of the Year award from Habitat for Humanity.