Conference Speakers Keynote and Special Speakers Dr. William C. Harrison, Ed. D., — Chairman, State Board of Education Dr. Harrison was appointed to the State Board of Education by Governor Beverly Perdue in March 2009. A native of Pennsylvania, Dr. Harrison has served North Carolina public schools throughout his career. In addition to more than 11 years as Superintendent in Cumberland County, he also has served as Superintendent in Orange County and in Hoke County. He has also served as an Assistant Superintendent in Brunswick County Schools and as a principal and teacher. Dr. Harrison is an adjunct assistant professor at North Carolina State University. His experience includes serving on numerous state commissions, most recently as Co-Chair of the Education Lottery Oversight Committee and as Vice-Chair of the Military Child Education Coalition. Dr. Harrison holds a bachelor’s degree in Intermediate Education from Methodist College - Fayetteville, a master’s degree in Educational Administration and an Education Specialist degree in Education Administration from East Carolina University, and an Educational doctorate in Education Administration from Vanderbilt University.
Thom Tillis — Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives Thom Tillis, age 51, and his wife of 24 years, Susan, and their children Lindsay and Ryan, have lived in the North Mecklenburg area for 13 years. Thom and his family relocated from Fairfax, Virginia to Cornelius in 1998. Thom’s management consulting career has provided him with a deep understanding of fiscal management, policy making, and transformation of complex organizations. Thom was a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the world’s largest accounting and management consulting firms, which sold its management consulting practice to IBM in 2002. In 2006, Thom was elected by the 98th District to the North Carolina House of Representatives, and was re-elected in 2008. Thom left IBM in 2009 to focus his attention on serving in the North Carolina House of Representatives and leading the 2010 House Republican Caucus Campaign Committee as the Chairman. Thom’s efforts as Committee Chairman helped Republicans win a majority in the NC House for the first time in over a decade. After the 2010 elections, Thom was elected Speaker-Designate by the members of the House Republican Caucus. When the House convened in January 2011, Thom was elected the Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives. He is only the second Republican to serve as House Speaker. He led the House to one of the most efficiently productive sessions in recent memory, and led the fight in the House for removal of the cap on our schools.
Kate Walsh — President, National Council on Teacher Quality Kate Walsh has served as the president of the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) since 2002. Before coming to NCTQ, she worked for The Abell Foundation in Baltimore, the Baltimore City Public Schools, and the Core Knowledge Foundation. Her work has tackled a broad spectrum of educational issues, with a primary focus on the needs of children who are disadvantaged by poverty and race. Among her accomplishments, she started and ran a boarding school in Kenya, East Africa to educate at-risk boys from Baltimore and also developed one of the nation’s premier programs in mathematics and science for middle and secondary public school students, a program that has yielded numerous Intel Talent Search winners. She also started the first alternative certification program for teachers in Maryland, a project which led to her strong interest in teacher quality. Walsh has since authored many papers on teacher quality, with a particular interest in the impact of the policies and practices of institutions, including states, unions, districts and teacher preparation programs, on the teaching profession. A long-time resident of Baltimore, Ms. Walsh also serves on the Maryland State Board of Education.
Pat McCrory — Former Charlotte Mayor and candidate for NC Govenor Pat McCrory was raised in Guilford County and attended Catawba College in Rowan County, where he earned degrees in Education and Political Science. Pat was elected Mayor of Charlotte in 1995 and went on to serve a record seven terms. When Pat was elected as Mayor, Charlotte was on the cusp of an explosion of growth, and he was just the visionary needed to help take Charlotte to the next level to become one of America’s great cities. Mayor McCrory tackled and showed great leadership on Charlotte’s major issues like economic development, infrastructure, transportation, public safety, and education. Pat has testified before Congress and has been an expert guest on several national media broadcasts, including National Public Radio, ABC World News, Lehrer News Hour, CBS This Morning, MSNBC News, CNN, CNBC and Fox News, among others. Pat works for the firm Moore & Van Allen on energy issues, economic development, and strategic initiatives and serves on the corporate boards of Lending Tree and Kewaunee Scientific Corporation. He resides in Charlotte with his wife Ann and their dog, Mo.
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NC Charter Schools Conference - 2012