Dennis W Archer

Dennis W. Archer earned his Bachelor of Science and Education degree at Western Michigan University and shortly after graduating, began his career teaching learning disabled students at Bunche Elementary School. While teaching, he began working on his law degree at Detroit School of Law and later, practiced as a trial lawyer and taught as an associate professor at the Detroit College of Law. He was also an adjunct professor at Wayne State University Law School. In 1986 he was appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court and stepped down in 1990 to focus on helping the city of Detroit. Among his many accomplishments, he was the first person of color to become president of the 400,000-member American Bar Association, as well as the State Bar of Michigan, which once banned African Americans from joining. After stepping down, he went back to work in private practice and shortly after, began working on his mayoral campaign. In 1993, Archer succeeded Coleman Young to become Detroit’s 59th mayor. After his two terms as mayor, Archer returned to the practice of law at one of Detroit’s most prestigious law firms, Dickinson Wright. Dennis Archer and his wife, Judge Trudy DunCombe Archer, have two sons, Dennis W. Archer, Jr. and Vincent DunCombe Archer