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G04 Halle Library
734.487.2133
Ypsilanti, MI, USA 48197
The mission of Holman Learning Center is to provide instruction and services that will support students in the development of skills necessary for their effective performance and positive adjustment to the learning environment.
Carol Cain, Business & Politics, as featured in the Detroit Free PressEMU alum gets diploma, helps school
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Talk about patience.
It took 34 years, but Bob Holman finally got a chance to walk across the stage during graduation ceremonies last weekend to receive his diploma from Eastern Michigan University.
Holman, who finished the coursework for a bachelor’s degree in business in 1974, was so overbooked at the time, that he took his last exam in trigonometry and immediately drove to Scottsdale, Ariz., where his new job with Discount Tire Co. was located.
Discount Tire was founded in 1960 when Bruce Halle (another EMU alum) rented a building on Stadium Boulevard in Ann Arbor. The retail chain grew, eventually moved to Scottsdale and today has more than 700 stores. The store posted annual sales of more than $2.5 billion in 2007.
Holman did extremely well at the company, starting in its accounting department and retiring in January with the title of executive vice president and chief administrative officer.
Holman was so busy through the years, he didn’t make much of the fact he never got to talk across the stage with other EMU graduates to receive his diploma. That changed April 26, when he joined 2,100 graduates on hand who also received their diplomas.
Through the years, Holman and Halle have continued to be strong financial supporters of the university.
There is the Holman Learning Center, now housed inside the Bruce T. Halle Library which opened in 1998 on EMU’s campus.
“I was a pretty average student, working all the time, and I wanted to give back and help the other average students,” Holman said in making the donation for the center.
