Gov. Jay Nixon on Thursday appointed Cape Girardeau lawyer Michael Ponder to the State Board of Education.

Ponder, 45, is a partner with Cook, Barkett, Maguire and Ponder LLC in Cape Girardeau. Ponder was appointed to an eight-year term that will end March 17, 2017. Ponder replaces Shirley L. Hindman of Harviell, Mo.

Ponder said Thursday he had not sought the appointment but that he has made his concerns about educational achievement in Southeast Missouri known to Nixon.

"I have known the governor for quite some time quite simply because we are both lawyers," Ponder said. "I can't claim to be very close to the governor, and quite frankly this appointment has come as a complete surprise to me."

As part of his work as a lawyer, Ponder said his firm hires consultants to provide demographic profiles in advance of jury trials. A recent survey showed some discouraging data, he said.

"We did a survey of all of Southeast Missouri," he said. "We are not only poorer than most of the rest of the state, we are also less well educated, and this is an opportunity to do something about it."

Ponder is a supporter of Nixon and, along with family members and his law firm, have made several political contributions to Democratic candidates in the past two years. But Ponder himself did not contribute to Nixon's campaign as the then-attorney general raised millions for his 2008 effort.

The first major issue facing Ponder as a board member will be the hiring of a replacement for the late D. Kent King, the commissioner of education who died Jan. 7. Other issues facing the department that Ponder said he must study include accreditation problems in the St. Louis public schools and budget cuts to teacher development programs.

"I am very interested in improving the quality of life in Southeast Missouri," Ponder said. "Education is the path to doing that for all of us."

Ponder is a 1986 graduate of Central Methodist University and a 1990 graduate of the University of Missouri School of Law.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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Pertinent Addresses:

715 N. Clark Ave., Cape Girardeau, Mo.