DEVELOPMENT
SUE SEGER, KORY KRUEGER ’10, MARTHA SEGER
The sisters can proudly trace their strength and spirit of involvement to earlier generations of women (and men) in their family. “For [them] it was no big deal to be involved. It was, quite simply, the right thing to do,” Sue Seger notes. In fact, her grandmother would go on to be the first woman president of the area school board, and her uncle, a Michigan legislator, would impact the acceptance of women into U of M in the late 1800’s. Martha and Sue clearly embrace the Seger family belief in education. One of their key interests is to improve education for all. They acknowledge that, “Many of the 20-somethings don’t get that they have clearly benefitted from those who came before them.” Martha and Sue are both among those who “came before” and they have shown just how to make a difference. Living the family belief in education, Martha holds three degrees from the University of Michigan. She is a true example of a woman blazing trails and finding success in an otherwise man’s world. She was one of the first women officers at Detroit Bank & Trust (now Comerica), and would eventually be appointed by President Reagan in 1984 to serve as a governor on the Federal Reserve Board. Ironically, the Adrian native recalls a very different goal. “The truth is, I wanted to be an engineer, but my uncle questioned who wants to hire a woman as an engineer?” Despite her altered career path, Martha 32
C O N TA C T
acknowledges the attention that is given when any woman is the first to serve in a given capacity. “When you are the first, it is all eyes on you. You have to cut through the bias and pave your own way. You can’t be a sissy.” Fittingly, in 1976, Business Week Magazine selected Martha as one of the Top 100 Corporate Women in America. Having had so much recognition, Martha still recalls that, without the assistance of one of her professors, she may never have been allowed to enroll in the disciplines of business and economics. Martha honored
WHEN YOU ARE THE FIRST, IT IS ALL EYES ON YOU. YOU HAVE TO CUT THROUGH THE BIAS AND PAVE YOUR OWN WAY. YOU CAN’T BE A SISSY. that fact by taking on the roles of teacher and mentor at the University of Michigan, Oakland University, and the University of Windsor. She has never stopped admiring and enjoying the role and impact of a teacher. Sue Seger served as a librarian in the School of Dentistry at the University of Michigan, and as a credentialed dental hygienist. Sharing her sister’s strong academic passions, Sue excelled in her career as well.
However, Martha teases, Sue may have held critical jobs, but was able to avoid the “hard-time” that she was given in her career path. But both sisters express concern for the current rising costs of education. This concern led the Segers to establish a scholarship at Adrian College to help students who demonstrate a strong work ethic and are serious about their education. The Fred Seger Scholarship is in memory of their grandfather. Sue shared, “One of the first students [impacted by the scholarship] was found through a Wednesday/Saturday Farmer’s Market in Ann Arbor. The young man,* then 8 years old, was busy making signs for his grandfather’s booth at the market. He was selling black walnuts in jars. After his grandfather passed, the young man kept returning to the market with his basket of walnuts and other small crops. When he grew up and graduated from high school, he attended Adrian College with the support of the Fred Seger Scholarship.” He later graduated from the Michigan State Police Academy. The sisters honored him a few years ago when they were selected as winners of one of the Down’s Hall commemorative ornaments.
* Pictured above, Kory earned his B.A. in Criminal Justice in 2010.