President-elect Elected

Ken Willard, a member of the Kansas State Board of Education, has been voted president-elect of the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE). Willard will begin his term of office in January 2008 and then serve as president of the association in the following year. The membership also elected four state board of education members to the organization’s board of directors. Their two-year terms will also commence in January.

 

“Ken Willard is a seasoned state education policymaker with local experience and a national perspective. We appreciate the willingness and dedication of Ken and the board of directors to contribute their time and efforts to lead their national organization. These officers provide the combination of experience, wisdom, and diversity of opinion necessary to sustain and support NASBE and its broad-based membership’s work in improving each state’s public education system,” said Brenda Welburn, NASBE Executive Director.

 

Ken Willard is serving his second four-year term on the Kansas State Board of Education after winning re-election last November.  Willard serves on the state board’s communications committee, with past experience as the board’s Legislative Coordinator and as chair of the policy committee. Previously, he was president of the Nickerson/Hutchinson Board of Education. A former U.S. Navy Vietnam veteran, he is a manager with American Family Insurance in Hutchinson, Kansas. Willard was appointed to the NASBE Board of Directors in 2005 to complete the partial term of a vacant position and was subsequently elected to a full two-year term representing the central region in 2006.

 

Also elected to two-year terms to the NASBE Board of Directors were:

·         Allan Taylor, Connecticut State Board of Education (Northern region);

·         Isis Castro, Virginia State Board of Education, (Southern region);

·         Clinton Waara, South Dakota State Board of Education, (Central region); 

·         Randy DeHoff, Colorado State Board of Education, (Western region); and,

·         Greg Haws, Utah State Board of Education, (Secretary-Treasurer).