University of Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman (right) was the keynote speaker at last week’s luncheon at the JW Marriott honoring the Grand Rapids Business Journal’s 50 Most Influential Women. There were more than 130 nominees for the distinction from a three-county area. The program to identify top female talent in West Michigan began in 1997 when the Business Journal teamed with Crain’s Detroit Business to create a statewide list of women who should be considered for the boards of public companies and financial institutions or whose expertise could be contributed to regional and state policymaking and other leadership roles. That remains the point of continuing nominations of influential women every other year, though, since 2000, the two publications have published “east” and “west” versions of the list.