Paul Ollila Named to Michigan Tech Board of Trustees

Paul Ollila, the former superintendent of the Copper Country Intermediate School District, has been appointed to an eight-year term on the Board of Trustees of Michigan Technological University, Governor Jennifer Granholm has announced.

Ollila fills the seat vacated by outgoing Board Member Rodger Kershner, whose term expired Dec. 31.

"I'm very pleased and proud to be asked to serve," said Ollila, a 40-year resident of Painesdale. "I've always been very interested in Tech, so I view this as both an honor and an opportunity."

In 1964, Ollila started the first special education senior high school program in the Copper Country, located at Jeffers High School in Painesdale. He accepted a position as a consultant with the Copper Country ISD in 1969, placing handicapped students in jobs throughout the area.

In 1975, he was appointed CCISD's director of special education, with responsibility for personnel, collective bargaining, federal projects, curriculum development and compliance. He was named assistant superintendent in 1979 and in 1993 became superintendent of the CCISD, retiring in 2004.

Since then he has served briefly as the elementary principal for the Ontonagon Area School District, following the previous principal's death, and as acting superintendent of the Adams Township School District, following the retirement of the superintendent.

Ollila is a member of the Portage Health Foundation Board, the Keweenaw Community Foundation Board, the Finlandia Community Advisory Committee, the Range Lions Club and the Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance. In addition, he serves on the board of the Michigan Tech Employees Federal Credit Union as secretary/treasurer.

Ollila has earned a bachelor's degree in social work/sociology and economics and psychology, a master's in special education/educational administration, and an EdS in educational administration, all from Northern Michigan University.

The Board of Trustees is responsible for the general supervision of the institution and the control and direction of its funds. It also determines compensation for services and property, confers degrees, fixes tuition and other fees and charges and promotes the purposes of the institution.

Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.