Bev Perdue

Bev Perdue is a former public school teacher, a former governor of North Carolina, and the founder of digiLEARN, a national nonprofit dedicated to accelerating digital learning for all ages with a goal of increasing personal learning options for students and expanding instructional opportunities for teachers. Bev Perdue was elected North Carolina’s 73rd governor in 2008, the first woman to serve as chief executive of the state. Gov. Perdue’s pioneering efforts in education innovation and reform are the hallmark of her more than 25 years in public service. Her “Career & College: Ready, Set Go!” agenda was a comprehensive approach to keeping students on grade level, improving graduation rates and increasing the number of students seeking college degrees or career training after high school. At the end of her tenure as governor, North Carolina’s graduation rate topped 80 percent for the first time ever. Gov. Perdue invested in education technology and created public-private partnerships to fully integrate technology into the state’s education system. That included creating North Carolina’s statewide broadband education network for public schools, universities and community colleges. Since retiring from public service, Gov. Perdue founded and is chair of DigiLEARN, a non-profit institution designed to accelerate digital learning opportunities for all ages. She serves as an advisor to Rosetta Stone, is a member of the Hanban Chinese Confucius Schools Board of Trustees and she is Managing Director of the Perdue Strategy Group. She served as a Resident Fellow at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, located at John F. Kennedy School of Government, and she served as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. She earned a B.A. degree in history from the University of Kentucky, as well as a master’s in community college administration and a Ph.D. in Education Administration, both from the University of Florida.