Saint Paul -- Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced the appointment of Lawrence A. Ellis to the Board of Directors of the Minnesota State High School League. He will serve a four-year term which ends July 31, 2008. Ellis will fill the seat formerly held by Darrell Thompson.

Ellis, of Fridley, currently serves as the Purchasing Charge Card Program Manager at Medtronic in Fridley. Prior to joining Medtronic in 1993, he was a Product Development Manager at Northwest Airlines.

Ellis currently serves on the governing board of Totino Grace High School in Fridley. He previously served as a junior varsity basketball coach at the University of Minnesota under Coach Jim Dutcher.

Ellis received a B.S. in Packaging Technology from Michigan State University where he was a member of the basketball team. He is a graduate of St. Martin de Porres High School in Detroit where he was all-state and all-city in track and field. He is married to Dana and is the father of Jade, a freshman at Duke University.

The Minnesota State High School League is a voluntary, nonprofit association of over 400 public and private schools. Member schools provide opportunities for more than 200,000 Minnesota high school students to participate in athletics and fine arts competitions each year. The League administers the state tournaments for athletics, speech, music and dramatics.

The League provides support for member schools with programs that address sportsmanship, chemical health, and scholarship recognition. The League also oversees more than 4,500 registered contest officials and judges. The Board of Directors for the League consists of 20 members, including four appointed by the Governor.