In January 2013, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon appointed David Lee Bonner (’07) and Mike LaBeth to the Truman Board of Governors, and the two new members were confirmed by the Missouri Senate. Bonner and LaBeth replace John Hilton (’02) and Ken Read (’73) whose terms ended December 2012.
David Lee Bonner
Bonner is an assistant attorney general with the state of Illinois where he serves in the Civil Trials and Prosecutions unit that litigates cases dealing with personal injury, property damage, collection and labor law. He also serves as a judge advocate in the U.S. Army Reserve and on the Wisconsin Bar Diversity Outreach Committee, a committee that seeks to foster a racially and ethnically diverse State Bar and a legal profession that is conscious of differences in our society.
Bonner graduated cum laude from Truman in 2007 and earned his juris doctor in 2010 from the University of Wisconsin Law School in Madison. Before joining the attorney general’s office, he clerked for the Chicago Corporation Counsel in the Bureau of License Enforcement and served as the director of field operations in Illinois’ Tenth Congressional District. Bonner is licensed to practice law in Wisconsin and Illinois.
Mike LaBeth
LaBeth is a real estate broker for Heritage House Realty Inc., in Kirksville. His previous work experience includes Mark Twain Mental Health Services and the Bruce Normile Juvenile Justice Center, both in Kirksville.
An active member of the Kirksville community, LaBeth currently serves as a Planning and Zoning commissioner and as an Alternate Route 63 safety commissioner. He has been involved with the Adair County YMCA, the Kirksville Baseball and Softball Association (KBSA) and the Kirksville Area Chamber of Commerce, for which he served as vice president in 2009 and president in 2010. A member of the Kirksville Young Professionals Organization, LaBeth received its “Top Five Under 40” Award in 2011. A graduate of William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., he earned a bachelor of arts degree in communications in 1998.
