Lembke, Smith appointed to State Board of Higher Education in N.D.

Gov. John Hoeven today appointed Claus Lembke of Bismarck and reappointed Richard Smith of Wahpeton to serve on the state Board of Higher Education.

Lembke is a Bismarck Realtor who served as Burleigh County commissioner for 20 years, including eight years as its chairman. From 1979 until 2007, he served as executive vice president of the North Dakota Association of Realtors, and currently serves as the part-time government affairs director. He has also served as an assistant executive officer of the Fargo-Moorhead Builders and Realtors Association, and a former CEO and committee chair of the North Dakota Association of Realtors.

In addition, he has served on the North Dakota Committee of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission and the North Dakota Supreme Court Committee for Indigent Rights. He is a former president and executive committee member of the North Dakota Association of County Commissioners and a chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bismarck-Mandan Development Association. In 2006, he was inducted into the North Dakota County Commission Hall of Fame.

Smith, who was first appointed in 2005, is an attorney with Smith, Strege and Fredericksen in Wahpeton and has practiced law across the state for more than 25 years. Throughout his career, he has worked with various businesses. Smith has served as a member and president of the North Dakota State College of Science Foundation; the North Dakota Disciplinary Board; and the North Dakota Inquiry Committee. He currently serves as president of the Richland County Bar Association; and as a member of the North Dakota State Bar Association; the U.S. Supreme Court Bar; the Federal District Court Bar; and the North Dakota Council of School Attorneys.

Tags: higher ed, state board of higher education, lembke, smith, hoeven