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R-CCC Trustee Spotlight – Albert Vann
R-CCC Trustee Spotlight – Albert Vann
(Third in a series of columns about the college trustees)
Albert Vann was appointed by the Governor of North Carolina in 2010 to serve as a Trustee of Roanoke-Chowan Community College to represent Northampton County. He is now in his third term of service as a governor appointee.
“I have always loved this college,” says Vann, who was born and raised in Northampton County. “I attended the college and also taught a course here.”
Vann, a licensed electrician, and contractor, retired from Georgia-Pacific after 41 years serving as electrical and maintenance superintendent at their hardboard plant in Conway.
“We worked with R-CCC to help design a maintenance plan for Georgia-Pacific when I was there,” says Vann. “Employees could take job-related courses at the college and if they passed, the company would pay for them. R-CCC even sent instructors to teach classes on-site.”
Before starting his career at Georgia-Pacific, Vann graduated from Conway High School and served a tour of duty in the United States Air Force from 1956 – 1960. He was trained in radar surveillance and since our country was still in the ‘cold war’ with Russia, he was stationed in Newfoundland for a year doing military radar surveillance of all aircraft approaching the United States from Europe.
“This was before we had satellites and we were located on the top of a mountain in Newfoundland,” explains Vann. “I was working the day the airplane bringing former premier of the Soviet Union Nikita Khrushchev to New York for a United Nations meeting came into our territory and and we had to identify the plane.”
After the Air Force, Vann returned to Northampton County to pursue his interest in becoming a licensed electrician. He married Linda Ellis Vann, from Murfreesboro, in 1962 and they lived in Murfreesboro when first married. Wife Linda retired from a long career with the NC Department of Transportation (DOT) and their two children, Neil, and Wendy, are now successful in their own careers. Neil is employed by the NC DOT and Wendy, a schoolteacher, is married with two sons. Vann enjoys spending time with his grandsons, one who is at NC State University studying electrical engineering, and one who is a senior in high school.
“Since I retired, I enjoy life and serving my church and community,” says Vann who is the Vice Chairman of the Board of Deacons at Ashley’s Grove Baptist Church near Conway. “I persuaded Linda to move back to Northampton County to the family farm where I grew up.”
Staying busy, Vann serves as the chairperson of the Northampton County Planning Board, the chairperson of the board at Pine Forest Rest Home in Potecasi, and still does some electrical work from time to time. He is a team leader of the administrative support team of the West Chowan Baptist Association in Ahoskie. Over the years, he and Linda traveled throughout the country with Georgia-Pacific from Atlanta to Minnesota.
“When I attend the annual North Carolina Electrical Institute meetings, I always hear about the need in our state to train more students to be electricians, and training is needed in heat and air conditioning, construction, and automotive repair,” says the trustee. “I am glad that R-CCC is increasing continuing education for these technical skills that are so needed.”
Serving on the executive committee on the board and chairing the building and grounds committee, Vann has seen many changes at the college including leadership.
“I am pleased with the recent results of the Southern Association of Colleges’ (SACSCOC) visit for accreditation and the compliments they shared with us about Dr. Williams and the progress our college has made,” states Vann. “Trustees serve as advisors to the college, and it is our role to guide and advise the president when she brings items for us to consider.”
“I enjoy serving as a trustee for the college. We are like a family,” he concluded.
Members of the Roanoke-Chowan Community College Board of Trustees are appointed to the board by the Governor of North Carolina, the Hertford County Board of County Commissioners and Hertford County Board of Education