People & achievements in the greater Ann Arbor area, including Kestly Development and Bodman PLC

• Bodman PLC recently announced that several of its attorneys have been listed in the 2012 edition of Michigan Super Lawyers. The publisher of Michigan Super Lawyers rates prominent attorneys in more than 70 practice areas based on independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations. Bodman attorneys listed in Michigan Super Lawyers include four from Ann Arbor: Harvey W. Berman, construction/surety; Timothy R. Damschroder, mergers and acquisitions; and Alan N. Harris and Susan M. Kornfield in the area of intellectual property. Additionally, Ann Arbor-based Bodman attorneys recognized under the Rising Stars category (for lawyers 40 and younger) were Matthew T. Jane, construction litigation; and Carrie Leahy, business/corporate.

• Jacques Habra, University of Michigan alum, returned to campus Sept. 7 to kick off this fall's Entrepreneurship Hour lecture series, sponsored by the Michigan Center for Entrepreneurship on U-M's campus. Habra graduated from the University of Michigan in 1996 with a degree in English and Philosophy and launched tech firm Web Elite during his senior year. In total, Habra has helped create and launch eight companies since graduating from Michigan and has sold five of those companies. To learn more about the Center for Entrepreneurship and the lecture series, visit http://cfe.umich.edu.

• Ann Arbor writing and tutoring nonprofit 826michigan recently added two new staff members to the organization: Frances Martin as volunteer coordinator and D’Real Graham as 826michigan's new program coordinator, charged with running its after school writing and tutoring program at Ypsilanti Middle School and leading drop-in writing sessions for youth at all of the Ypsilanti District Library branches.

• University of Michigan psychologist Toni Antonucci will receive the 2012 Distinguished Career Contribution to Gerontology Award from the Gerontological Society of America, the nation's largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging. Antonucci is the associate vice president for research, social sciences and humanities at U-M, the Elizabeth M. Douvan Collegiate Professor of Psychology, and a research professor at the U-M Institute for Social Research. She also chairs Society 2030, an innovative consortium bringing together U-M researchers and corporate leaders to prepare for society's changing age structure. She will receive the award at the Gerontological Society's annual meeting, which will be held in November in San Diego.

• Maria Measel has joined the Ann Arbor office of Edward Surovell Realtors as a sales associate.

• The Family Book Club Sept. 22 will announce the news of its change in name to the Children’s Literacy Network. A 21-year-old grassroots nonprofit serving will hold a Celebration of Literacy event from 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. at Barnes and Noble Booksellers in Ann Arbor, with storytellers and other events for children and a chance for adults to learn more about the nonprofit's mission and goals.

• A ground-breaking ceremony was held Aug. 25 for the 48,000-square-foot Dexter Wellness Center. The event was open to the public and was attended by members of the Dexter Wellness Coalition, village officials, board members of the Chelsea-Area Wellness Foundation and local business owners. The center is expected to open by summer 2013.

• "Five Mistakes Companies Make with Ergonomics" is a new e-book released by Ann Arbor-based Humantech Inc. The 16-page free publication, written by Ergonomics Engineer and Vice President Walt Rostykus, boils down the top five lessons learned from companies of all sizes, industries, and locations and identifies what has made them successful, or not so successful, in managing workplace ergonomics. The book can be downloaded free from the firm's website: http://www.humantech.com/resources/five-mistakes-e-book-for-linkedin.

• NSF International, based in Ann Arbor, has been chosen as the independent laboratory for ballast water management system testing by the United States Coast Guard. NSF will evaluate and test technologies designed to treat ballast water on ships in order to prevent the spread of non-native aquatic species in lakes, rivers and coastal waters.

• Con-way Freight, a less-than-truckload carrier and subsidiary of Con-way Inc. that's based in Ann Arbor, announced Sept. 11 that its Newark, N.J., facility was presented with the "Patriotic Employer Award" for its support of the National Guard and Reserve. The award ceremony was held at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Patriot Award was created by Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve and the Department of Defense to recognize employers who support the National Guard and Reserve through programs and services that encourage employees to participate in the guard and reserve. Con-way Freight was nominated for the award by Army Reserve Specialist Oliver Cunningham, a freight operations supervisor at the company's Newark location. SPC Cunningham serves with the HHD, 436th Transportation Battalion (MC), Ft. Wadsworth, Staten Island, N.Y.

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