Ex-FDIC chairman L. William Seidman dies

ALLENDALE, Mich. -- L. William Seidman, former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. died Wednesday at the age of 88, according to Grand Valley State Universtity.

Seidman joined President Gerald R. Ford's administration in 1974 as an economic adviser.

Seidman chaired the FDIC from 1985 to 1991. He also served as head of the Resolution Trust Corp. in the aftermath of the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s.

The Grand Rapids, Mich., native was the managing partner of Seidman and Seidman, an international accounting firm.

He was a principal founder of Grand Valley State, a state-funded university in Allendale, about 15 miles west of Grand Rapids. He also had been president of WZZM, a Grand Rapids TV station that he helped found.