Board Member And Student Leader To Address VGCC Summer Graduates
Dr. G. Thomas Houlihan will be the principal speaker for Vance-Granville Community College summer graduation on Tuesday, Aug. 9.
About 307 graduates are expected to receive degrees, diplomas and certificates in ceremonies to begin at 6 p.m. in the Civic Center on the main campus in Vance County.
John Williamson of Oxford, who will graduate from the Welding Technology program Aug. 9, will be the student speaker at graduation.
Dr. 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.
John Williamson has previously completed the Automotive Systems, Carpentry, Electrical/Electronics Technology, and Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration programs at Vance-Granville. He earned the Multi-Skilled Technician certification for completing more than one vocational program.
In addition to Welding, Williamson is enrolled in Industrial Systems Technology and operates a carpentry and home maintenance business.
He served as president of the Vance-Granville Student Government Association during the 2004-2005 school year, and was the student representative to the Board of Trustees. He has been selected as a student Ambassador for the school.
