Michelle Dunkerly, Laboratory Director
Michigan State Police Forensic Science Division
“I started at SVSU while I was working at an entry-level position at a crime lab,” explains Bridgeport native Michelle Dunkerly. “But in order to move up the ladder, it was a requirement that I get my Bachelor’s Degree.”
Michelle graduated from SVSU in 1990, and is now Laboratory Director for the Michigan State Police Forensic Science Division in Lansing (pictured at right), the state’s largest crime lab.
“SVSU’s Criminal Justice program was perfect for me because I was working 40 hours a week, and it was so easy to fit the classes I needed into my schedule. I was working in Bridgeport at the time, so the fact that SVSU was close to home was essential.”
Now, Michelle oversees all of the day-to-day operations of the largest of Michigan’s seven state crime labs, which provide law enforcement with latent print analysis; drug analysis; polygraphs; analysis of firearms and tool markings; questionable documents forensics; toxicology; microchemistry; and DNA analysis. She started out as a bench level analyst and has worked at crime labs in Sterling Heights and Bridgeport.
“I had taken classes at another university that is approximately the same size as SVSU, but the experience was completely different – at SVSU, it’s much more hands-on, with smaller classes, opposed to big lecture halls. The professors here are friendly, flexible and very helpful. I was especially grateful when professors were understanding during those inevitable times when my job became extraordinarily hectic.”
“SVSU really enhanced my career.”