Dr. Leon Rouson was appointed to the Norfolk School Board on December 15, 2021 and his term will expire on December 31, 2022. He is representing the Ward 4 area of Norfolk which includes the areas around and near the Norfolk State University community.
Dr. Rouson has more than 35 years in education as a public school teacher, a professor in the Department of Early Childhood, Elementary and Special Education, and as a former interim dean of the School of Education at Norfolk State University. He has received over 5 million dollars in grant funding from the United States Department of Education since 2010 for teacher preparation and outreach TRIO Programs.
He has published research articles in refereed journals and has written book chapters. His research focuses on issues of diversity and social justice - and most often centered around urban Black males, child development and school culture. He is active in a number of professional organizations such as the Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development, International Literacy Association and the National Association for Blacks in Higher Education.
Dr. Rouson completed both his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from North Carolina Central University in Durham, N.C., and his Ph.D. from Old Dominion University. He has done further studies and/or research at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC and the University of North Carolina at Chapel-Hill.
He has received several awards in teaching which included the National Black Teacher of the Year in 1990, while being a statewide celebrated pubic school teacher in North Carolina in (1988-89). He also earned the Norfolk State University Outstanding/Distinguished Professor Award in 2016.
Dr. Rouson is committed to continuous improvement to ensure that all students receive equitable opportunities to succeed.