He was appointed to the board of directors of TCF Financial Corporation upon completion of the merger between Chemical Financial Corporation and legacy TCF Financial Corporation on August 1, 2019. Torgow previously served as chairman of the board of directors of Chemical Financial Corporation from August 2016 to August 2019. He also served as chairman of the board of directors of Talmer Bancorp, Inc. from December 2009 to July 2016.
Prior to his work with Talmer Bancorp and Chemical Financial Corporation, Torgow founded and chaired Sterling Group, a real estate, development, and investment company based in Michigan.
Gary serves as the President of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit[11] and of the Yeshiva Beth Yehuda.[12]
Torgow has served as chairman of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation,[13] the Michigan Civil Rights Commission and First Place Bank.[14] On Jan 25, 2019, Governor Gretchen Whitmer designated Torgow as one of her emergency interim successors.[15]
He has received a number of honors and awards including the NAACP Fannie Lou Hamer Award,[16] the Urban League of Detroit Distinguished Warrior Award,[17] the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit's Frank Wetsman Young Leadership Award,[18] the NAACP James Weldon Johnson Lifetime Achievement Award,[19] and the Wayne State University School of Law Outstanding Alumni Award.[20]
He is the author of "Raising the Bar",[21] and "Holy Warrior",[22] and has given numerous talks[23] and lectures throughout the country.[24][25]
