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Cooley Law School Founder Thomas Brennan Dies At Age 89

Thomas Brennan
Facebook/Cooley Law School
Thomas Brennan, a former Michigan Supreme Court justice and founder of Cooley law school

Thomas Brennan, a former Michigan Supreme Court justice and founder of Cooley law school, has died. He was 89.

The law school says Brennan was surrounded by family when he died Saturday in Lansing. The cause wasn't disclosed.

Brennan was just 37 years old when he was elected to the Supreme Court in 1966. He resigned in 1973 to run the young law school, which is now known as WMU-Cooley Law School. Brennan was president for more than 20 years.

More than 20,000 students have graduated from Cooley since 1972. Lawrence Nolan, chairman of Cooley's governing board, says "there were no limits" to Brennan's dreams.

Brennan was Richard Headlee's Republican running mate in the 1982 race for governor, an election that was won by a Democrat, James Blanchard.

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