June St. Clair Atkinson was elected North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction on November 3, 2004, in a race that was decided by the North Carolina General Assembly on August 23, 2005. Dr. Atkinson is the first woman elected to the post of State Superintendent, and is also a member of the North Carolina Council of State. As State Superintendent, Dr. Atkinson heads the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, an agency which she served for nearly 28 years (1976-2004) as a chief consultant and director in the areas of business education, career and technical education, and instructional services. A former business education teacher, Dr. Atkinson has been involved in instruction and curriculum development throughout her career. Dr. Atkinson has made presentations to business and other educational groups in 43 states and throughout North Carolina. She is past president of the National Business Education Association, and past president of the Southern Regional Education Board's High Schools that Work in 1995-96 and 1996-97. Dr. Atkinson was elected by her colleagues to represent them as President of the National Association of State Directors of Career and Technical Education Consortium for 2001-2003. She has received numerous awards for her contributions and service to education. Dr. Atkinson grew up in rural Bedford County, Virginia, where she attended public schools and graduated from Staunton River High School, Moneta, Virginia, in 1966. She received a B.S. in Business Education from Radford University in 1969, an M.S. in Vocational and Technical Education from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1974, and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy from North Carolina State University in 1996. After graduating from Radford, Dr. Atkinson taught high school in Roanoke, Virginia, and Charlotte, North Carolina. In Charlotte, Dr. Atkinson's teaching assignment required that she work with business people to find meaningful employment for her students. Seeing that her students were prepared for both further education and work became her passion – a passion that she has carried forward in her work for North Carolina's 1.3 million public school students. Dr. Atkinson is married to Dr. William Gurley, a Cary, North Carolina orthodontist and former assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Dentistry. She has one sister, two nephews and one niece. She is a member of The United Methodist Church.
