Nelson Awarded Highest North Carolina School Board Honor

Nov. 30, 2012 - PRLog -- Vidant Chowan Hospital pharmacy manager Wallace Nelson recently earned the Raleigh Dingman Award at a North Carolina School Board Association conference in Greensboro.  The award is the highest honor bestowed on a North Carolina school board member.    

Nelson, a Perquimans County resident, serves on the Perquimans County School Board.  Nelson first served on the board beginning in 1992 and continued through 2000.  He returned to the board in 2006 and continues to serve today.  

During his acceptance speech he said that his and other school board member’s work is all about the children.  “It is never about us,” he told hundreds of other school board members from around the state.  

“Wallace Nelson exemplifies the definition of what a public servant should look like and the impact their life should have in service to others,” said Perquimans Superintendent Dr. Dwayne Stallings. “Beginning early on, he dedicated his life to make our community a better place for all. He has served on numerous boards, spent countless hours assisting those who are less fortunate or who have made the wrong choices in life and has been a consistent and effective leader in all endeavors. He accomplishes each of these activities without yearning for accolades or recognition. He does these things because he cares for others and their well-being.”

“He gave God the glory for all he is and all his life represents,” said Brenda Lassiter, public information officer for Perquimans County School when speaking of Nelson’s award acceptance.

His past service has included both chairman and vice chairman of the board of education.
He also served four years as a county commissioner, and currently serves on the county planning board and member of the Albemarle Regional Health board. He also served 12 years as a member of the College of the Albemarle Board of Trustees including two years as chairman.  Nelson has served 10 years on the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy.

“Wallace’s service on the board was conspicuously important to the people of North Carolina,” noted Jay Campbell, executive director of the state board of pharmacy.  “He brought a particular expertise that is often under represented on the board and that expertise time and again service to protect the public health and safety. Wallace’s tenure on the board was also noteworthy for his progressive attitude about regulatory matters – a constant striving to identify new and better ways of ensuring that pharmacy regulation does not place artificial barriers to practice innovation, while still ensuring that the public is property protected.”  

The Raleigh Dingman award began in 2003 and is named in honor of Raleigh Dingman, North Carolina School Board Association’s first full time executive secretary.  Earning the award will allow Nelson to serve as ex-officio member of the North Carolina State board of Education and the North Carolina School Board Association’s Board of Directors.

Nelson has been with Vidant Chowan Hospital for 34 years.  He is married to the former Freda Godwin and they have two children, Ethan and Lauren.  In addition to the many boards he serves on, Nelson is active in his church and is a long time leader in prison ministry.    

Cathy Wilson, staff writer at the Perquimans Weekly contributed to this release.