2024 International Awards: Peter Lemmer

Glen L. Taggart Award for Community Contributions to International Understanding

Published: Tuesday, 26 Mar 2024   Author: Jonathan Gibson

Peter Lemmer is the 2024 recipient of the Glen L. Taggart Award for Community Contributions to International Understanding, which is given to one or more residents of the state of Michigan who have made a distinct and sustained contribution to international understanding in their respective communities or in the state at large.

Lemmer is executive vice president and chief legal counsel for GreenStone Farm Credit Services, where he provides advice and counsel on legal, regulatory, or legislative matters, and acts as the chief in-house legal advisor for the organization.

Lemmer joined GreenStone in 2008 and has more than 40 years of experience as an attorney. Through his role at GreenStone, Lemmer has supported the Professional Fellows Program at MSU by hosting and mentoring fellows, as well as maintaining relationships with program alumni. In 2020, he helped a group of Ugandan alumni form and register a local savings and credit union to provide financial resources to small-scale farmers. In 2023, he introduced alumni in Zambia and Zimbabwe to a farm in Michigan that is interested in sourcing eggs from Africa.

Lemmer attended the United States Air Force Academy, graduated from Villanova University, and obtained a Juris Doctorate from Thomas M. Cooley Law School. In 2013, Lemmer was presented with the Phelps-Martin Award for Community Service for his volunteer work with local youth and refugee groups and he served on the Michigan Public Service Commission for eight years. He is also an active member of the Michigan Bar Association.

Lemmer was nominated by Derek Tobias, program manager for the Alliance for African Partnership. “In more than 10 years working at the nexus of international development and education, I have never collaborated with someone from the private sector who is more generous with their time or more committed to service than Peter Lemmer,” said Tobias.