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WILMER COOKSEY. GM EMPLOYEE AND LIFETIME SERVICE AWARD RECIPIENT OF THE COUNCIL OF ENGINEERING DEANS OF THE HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.

The prestigious Lifetime Service award was given to Wilmer Cooksey in 2008 for his longtime dedication to education for African Americans. The award was created especially for Cooksey, who was an assistant professor in industrial engineering at General Motors Institute (GMI) in Flint, Michigan before taking his first job GM manufacturing job in 1976. Cooksey held leadership positions at GM plants in St. Louis, Atlanta and Fairfax, Kansas before being named plant manager of GM's only Chevy Corvette plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky. in 1993. Under Cooksey's direction, the Corvette and the plant have won numerous awards. Cooksey, who has called running the Corvette plant his "dream job."

"Many people leave the workplace for academia, but Wil did the opposite: he brought his advanced academic knowledge to the shop floor," said Gary Cowger, GM group vice president of Global Manufacturing and Labor Relations, who will speak about Cooksey 's achievements during the award ceremony. "We are grateful for the leadership he has brought to GM manufacturing, and we're proud of his lifetime commitment to education."

Cooksey serves on the Tennessee State University Foundation Board of Trustees, the Western Kentucky University School of Business Advisory Board, the Western Kentucky University College of Education and Behavioral Science, Drug Abuse Resistance Education Advisory Council and the Advancing Minorities' Interest in Engineering (AMIE) Board of Directors.

A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Cooksey earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Tennessee State University in 1965 and a master's degree in industrial engineering from the University of Toledo in 1972. He completed postgraduate work in mechanical engineering at Michigan State University.

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