James B. Hunt, Jr.
Jim Hunt is a nationally recognized leader in education and
has led his state through twenty years of dramatic economic
change. Serving a historic four terms as Governor, Hunt has
been at the forefront of education reform in his state and
in the nation. The Rand Corporation reports that North Carolina
public schools improved test scores more than any other state
in the 1990s. Governor Hunt wants them to be first in America
by 2010.
Hunt is currently a partner in the large Southeastern U.S.
law firm of Womble Carlyle Sandridge and Rice practicing in
the Raleigh, North Carolina office. He also chairs the board
of the James B. Hunt, Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership
and Policy. Part of the University of North Carolina system,
the Institute was established in 2001 to work with current
and emerging political, business and education leaders on
a national level to improve public education.
As Governor, Hunt focused on early childhood development
and improving the quality of teaching in America. His Smart
Start program is a nonprofit, public-private partnership rooted
in each of the state’s one hundred counties providing quality
child care, health care, and family support for each child
who needs it. It is funded primarily by the state but is also
supported heavily by private corporations and individuals.
Smart Start has been visited and studied by early childhood
leaders from all fifty states and many foreign countries.
It received the prestigious Innovations in American Government
Award from the Ford Foundation and the John F. Kennedy School
of Government at Harvard University.
Governor Hunt has devoted much of the last fifteen years
of his life to excellence in teaching in the United States.
In 1985 he co-chaired with David Hamburg the "Committee of
50" which led to the Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy
and eventually, to the National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards. He served in that capacity for ten years, developing
standards for what accomplished teachers in America need to
know and be able to do and assessments to "board certify"
them. Governor Hunt also serves as the chairman of the National
Commission on Teaching and America's Future at Teachers College,
Columbia University. Its report in 1996, What Matters Most:
Teaching for America's Future, is stimulating major changes
in teacher education programs and public policies that advance
teaching. Governor Hunt also serves on the Board of Trustees
of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
A strong supporter of high standards in public schools, Governor
Hunt has served as chairman of the National Education Goals
Panel and vice chairman of the board of Achieve, Inc. He has
put into place in North Carolina one of the nation's most
rigorous approaches to measuring student performance, requiring
mastery of promotion and graduation and providing assistance
to turn around failing schools.
His state's economic gains from educational improvement have
been impressive. North Carolina has regularly led the nation
in new job creation per capita and in foreign investment.
He has focused on new technologies by establishing the North
Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, the Microelectronics
Center of North Carolina, and the North Carolina Biotechnology
Center. In higher education, he serves as chairman of the
National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education located
in San Jose, California.
His work has been recognized with numerous national awards:
- The Education Commission of the States "James B.
Conant Award"
- The Horace Mann League's "Friend of Education Award"
- The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education
- The National Mentoring Partnership "Award for Public
Leadership"
- The Children's Defense Fund Award
- The Columbia University Teachers "College Medal for
Distinguished Service"
- The Women Executives in State Government's "Breaking
the Glass Ceiling Award"
- The American Academy of Pediatrics "Child Health
Advocate Award"
- The National Secondary Schools Distinguished Service Award
- The National State Boards of Education "Policy Leader
of the Year Award"
- The Council of Chief State School Officers "Distinguished
Service Award"
- The National Education Association "Friend of Education
Award"
- The National 4-H "Outstanding Alumnus Award"
- The National Wildlife Federation's "Conservation
Achievement Award"
- The Honor Award from the Soil Conservation Society of
America
- The National Religious Heritage Award
Governor Hunt holds B.A. and M.S. degrees from North Carolina
State University and a J.D. degree from the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
He and his family lived in Katmandu, Nepal, from 1964-1966
where he served as a Ford Foundation Economic Advisor to His
Majesty's Government. He has served on the Commission on US-Japan
Relations for the 21st century and working with the Asia Society,
co-chairs the National Commission on Asia in the Schools.
Governor Hunt and his wife, Carolyn, live on their beef cattle
farm in eastern North Carolina. They have four children and
ten grandchildren.
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