Miller Canfield Attorney William Danhof Appointed by President Bush to U.S. Holocaust Museum Council
The law firm of Miller Canfield announces that William J. Danhof, a principal in the Lansing office, has been appointed by President George W. Bush to a second five-year term on the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, the governing body of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, effective January 16, 2009. He is one of twelve prominent Americans appointed this year.
Danhof joins a distinguished and diverse list of Presidential appointees, including the U.S. Attorney General, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy, White House Chief of Staff, and a Nobel Peace Prize winner.
“I am honored and humbled to again be selected to be a part of this extraordinary group,” said Danhof, a municipal finance attorney. “As a member of this Council, I represent all Americans and will support the mission of the Museum, to preserve the memory of those involved in the Holocaust and to encourage people to reflect on the moral and spiritual questions raised by the Holocaust and how they apply those lessons of history to questions facing us today.”
Created by a unanimous Act of Congress, the Museum opened in 1993 in Washington, D.C. and is America’s national institution for Holocaust education and remembrance. It has the largest collection of Holocaust history in the world.
Additionally, the Museum houses the Committee on Conscience. Created by the Council in 1995, it works to alert the national conscience, influence policy makers, and stimulate worldwide action to confront and work to halt contemporary acts of genocide or related crimes against humanity. It recently partnered with Google Earth, as part of the Museum’s Genocide Prevention Mapping Initiative, to create “World is Witness,” a visual geoblog of emerging crises that may lead to genocide or related crimes against humanity.
At Miller Canfield, Danhof is a former managing director of the firm, is the founding member of the Lansing office and is co-chair of the Public Law Group. Appointed by the Michigan Supreme Court, he also serves as chairperson of the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board. He is a past president of the American College of Bond Counsel, of which he is a founding member. He is honored as one of the best lawyers in the country in the areas of public finance and banking law in The Best Lawyers in America and Michigan Super Lawyers.
He received his B.A. from Michigan State University and his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.