WMU-Cooley Law School Associate Dean and Professor Michael C.H. McDaniel was honored May 16 with the Distinguished Citizen Award by the Chief Okemos District of the Boy Scouts of America during the 2017 Distinguished Citizen Breakfast for Scouting. During the event, he was presented with the Key to the City from Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero.
Pictured (left-right) Dick Peffley, general manager of the Lansing Board of Water and Light; Nathan Triplett, former mayor of East Lansing and district chair of the Chief Okemos District Water and Woods Field Service Council of the Boy Scouts of America; Michael C.H. McDaniel, WMU-Cooley Law School associate dean and professor; and Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero at the 2017 Distinguished Citizen Breakfast for Scouting. During the May 16 event, McDaniel was honored with the Distinguished Citizen Award by the Chief Okemos District of the Boy Scouts of America and presented with the Key to the City by Mayor Bernero.
“I am honored to receive the Distinguished Citizen Award,” McDaniel said. “As an Eagle Scout, this award alone is humbling. To also be recognized with the Key to the City by Mayor Bernero is a truly gratifying experience.”
Upon acceptance of the awards, McDaniel spoke of how his time in Boy Scouts has influenced his professional career. He also discussed leadership, emphasizing several key values that are expected of Boy Scouts, including consistency, integrity and preparedness.
“I submit to you that the values that we expect of our Scouts, are the values we must expect of our business, educational and community leaders, and are the values we must demand of our political leaders,” McDaniel said.
In addition to teaching constitutional law, McDaniel is also the director of the Homeland and National Security Law LL.M. program at WMU-Cooley Law School, a program he created in 2013. McDaniel is a retired Brigadier General and was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Homeland Defense Strategy, Prevention and Mission Assurance at the Department of Defense prior to joining the law school.
In 2003, he was also Homeland Security Adviser to then-Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, and has been the chairperson for Great Lakes Hazard Coalition (GLHC) since 2012. He also served as the Assistant Adjutant General for Homeland Security with the Michigan National Guard.
McDaniel has been on the board of directors for the Infrastructure Security Partnership (TISP) since December 2012, assisting the organization in national infrastructure security and resiliency planning.
McDaniel worked closely with Lansing Mayor Bernero during the 2013 ice storm, which left 34,000 people without power. McDaniel was called in personally by the mayor to lead the Community Review Team, make recommendations and solve the issue.
In 2016, McDaniel was appointed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to the Flint Water Interagency Coordinating Committee (FWICC) and helped to secure $100 million in funding from Congress. The funding sped up the process of removing hazardous water pipes, with over 600 pipes replaced by the end of 2016.
McDaniel earned his law degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 1982. He has been with WMU-Cooley Law School since 2011.
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