Former Granville Schools Superintendent Named To Vance-Granville Board Of Trustees

Gov. Mike Easley has appointed Dr. G. Thomas Houlihan as a member of the Vance-Granville Community College Board of Trustees.

Houlihan became a member of the board on March 8, replacing John K. Nelms, who had served Vance-Granville more than 30 years as a representative from Granville County.

Houlihan, who lives in Oxford, is currently executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, a nonprofit association dedicated to the improvement of education. He served as superintendent of Granville County Schools from 1985 to 1990. During that time he was named Superintendent of theYear in North Carolina and was one of four finalists for National Superintendent of the Year.

Following his service in Granville County, Houlihan was president/CEO of the North Carolina Partnership for Excellence and senior education advisor to Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. He was the first educator in history to hold cabinet-level status in a North Carolina governor’s administration.

Dr. Houlihan serves on several national education boards and commissions, and he is chair of the Friday Institute for Educational Improvement at N.C. State University and is on the National Board of Visitors for Indiana University, from which he received a B.S. in history and psychology in 1972. He earned a Master’s in Education from N.C. State and a doctorate in education from UNC-Chapel Hill.

VGCC President Randy Parker said he is thrilled and excited to have Dr. Houlihan serving on the Vance-Granville Board of Trustees. “We look forward to the leadership and expertise in education that Dr. Houlihan brings to our board, and we know he will be a great deal of assistance as we move this college forward in training our students to compete in the global economy.”

Vance-Granville Community College Board of Trustees Chair Donald C. Seifert Sr., left, and President Randy Parker, right, welcome Dr. G. Thomas Houlihan as the newest member of the VGCC Board of Trustees.