2009

Mark Emblidge is Elected Vice Chair of Southern Regional Education Board (June 22, 2009)

LANSDOWNE, Virginia — Mark E. Emblidge, president of the Virginia Board of Education, was elected the vice chair of the Southern Regional Education Board at the organization’s Annual Meeting here today.

West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin III was elected the chair, succeeding Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, who had served since 2008.

Emblidge, who joined the SREB Board in 2004, also serves as affiliate professor and director of The Literacy Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond . He most recently was active on SREB’s Committee to Improve Reading and Writing in Middle and High Schools, a regional initiative to improve adolescent literacy chaired by Governor Kaine. The Committee called for the 16-state SREB region to make reading the number one issue in public education in its May 2009 report A Critical Mission: Making Adolescent Literacy an Immediate Priority in SREB States, which drew national attention.

State Senator Jack Gordon of Mississippi was elected the treasurer of the Board. Gordon’s association with SREB since 1981 includes service on the Board and on the SREB Legislative Advisory Council, the largest standing advisory group to the Board.

The Southern Regional Education Board, or SREB, based in Atlanta, was created in 1948 by Southern governors and legislatures to help leaders in education and government work cooperatively to advance education and improve the social and economic life of the region. SREB has 16 member states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. More information is available online at www.sreb.org.

For additional information, please e-mail: communications@sreb.org