An attorney licensed in Michigan and Illinois has been appointed assistant to the chancellor for equity and affirmative action at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Portia Hamlar, who holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Detroit where she was a member of the Law Review, will assume her post at UWSP on July 1. Her duties will include providing leadership, education and training in the areas of equity and affirmative action. She will monitor recruitment and hiring and work with federal and state affirmative action plans including writing UWSP’s plans, policies and procedures.

"We are very pleased to have someone with Portia Hamlar’s depth of experience at UWSP," said Chancellor Tom George. "Her professional background includes service as a faculty member, adviser to Black Law Students, labor and environmental counsel for Chrysler Corp., and associate counsel for the Michigan Bar. Her expertise in labor relations and mediation will be a welcome resource at UWSP."

Hamlar, who also holds a bachelor’s degree in music from Alabama State University, a master’s degree in textiles from Michigan State University, and a master’s in public administration from the University of Michigan-Dearborn, was a faculty member at the University of Detroit and Widener University Delaware Law School. She has served as a National Urban League Exchange Professor at Tennessee Sate and Howard Universities. In addition, she was an elementary and secondary teacher and technology and grants coordinator for the Detroit Public Schools.

Hamlar, who was editor of the "Michigan Environmental Law Case Digest" and assistant editor of the "Michigan Bar Environmental Law Section Journal," is the author of "Defending the Employer in OSHA Contests."

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