The president-elect of the American Bar Association, the Hon. Dennis W. Archer, will present the West Virginia University College of Law’s 12th annual Charles L. Ihlenfeld Lecture on Public Policy and Ethics.

Archer, a former mayor of Detroit and former justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, will speak on The Value of Diversity: What the Legal Profession Must/Should Do to Stay Ahead of the Curve at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 9, in the WVU College of Laws Lugar Courtroom. The lecture is open to the public.

Justice Archer is the current chairman of Dickinson Wright PLLC , Detroit. His many honors include being named”Public Official of the Year 2000”by Governing magazine and

being recognized by Newsweek as one of America’s 25 Most Dynamic Mayors. Under Archer’s leadership, Detroit’s crime rate declined each year of his administration, and he received international acclaim for his success in changing Detroit’s image and direction.

Archer’s memberships of note include the advisory board of the BrookingsInstitutionCenter on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, former president of the National Bar Association and the State Bar of Michigan, and a Fellow of the International Society of Barristers. The National Law Journal lists him among the 100 Most Powerful Attorneys in the United States and he was Ebony magazine’s choice as one of 100 Most Influential Black Americans.

The Charles L. Ihlenfeld Lecture is made possible through a bequest by the late Mr. Ihlenfeld, a 1933 graduate of the WVU College of Law. Ihlenfeld served as mayor of Wheeling from 1962 through 1967, as an Ohio county prosecuting attorney, and as a U.S. Magistrate for the Northern District of West Virginia. His son and grandson, William J. Ihlenfeld and William J. Ihlenfeld II, also are graduates of the WVU College of Law and practice law in Wheeling.