FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT INFO:
Jane S. Shaw
Pope Center for Higher Education Policy
Phone: 919.828.1400
Former Governor James G. Martin Joins Board of John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy
RALEIGH, November 11, 2009 – Former North Carolina Governor James G. Martin has joined the board of directors of the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy. Dr. Martin is a member of the firm McGuire Woods Consulting in Charlotte, which assists clients with legislative strategies, business initiatives, and health care matters.
The Pope Center, based in Raleigh, is a nonprofit institute dedicated to improving higher education. In addition to a wealth of experience in government and business, Martin brings to the Pope Center a background in education.
Dr. Martin began his career as an educator, earning a Ph.D. in chemistry from Princeton University and later teaching chemistry at his alma mater, Davidson College. During that time, he also served for three terms as a Mecklenburg County Commissioner. Before joining McGuire Woods, Dr. Martin was a corporate vice president of Carolinas HealthCare System in Charlotte (1993-2008).
Dr. Martin served as governor from 1985 through 1993. Before that, he served six terms as a member of the U.S. Congress, representing the Ninth District of North Carolina. He was a member of the House Ways and Means Committee for ten years and chaired the House Republican Research Committee. While in Congress, he became the first elected official to receive the Charles Lathrop Parsons Award, given by the American Chemical Society for outstanding public service by an American chemist.
In addition to James Martin, the Pope Center’s board members are: Arch T. Allen, chairman, a partner with Allen, Moore & Rogers, LLP; J. Edgar Broyhill, president and managing director of the Broyhill Group; Representative Virginia Foxx, U.S. congressional representative from North Carolina’s Fifth District; John M. Hood, president of the John Locke Foundation; Joseph P. Lindsley Sr., co-owner of Milestone Investments in Charlotte; Representative Tim Moore, North Carolina representative from Cleveland County; J. Arthur Pope, president of Variety Wholesalers Inc. and the John W. Pope Foundation; and John W. (Jack) Sommer, Knight Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
The John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, based in Raleigh, promotes excellence in higher education, addressing problems such as rising costs, ideological bias on campus, slipping academic standards, and the loss of a core curriculum.