DR. BRYAN SETSER

Chief Executive Officer of North Carolina Virtual Public School

"Increasingly, American economic leadership is based on our ability to maintain an edge in innovation. And that ability to innovate derives from the quality of our education system and the critical thinking ability of the next generation. Bryan Setser is one of the few leaders out there lighting the way for a brighter future for our country by daring to challenge assumptions and help educators take full advantage of the information age. I am proud that he chose North Carolina as the place to begin. He is a state and national asset."
-Richard Boyd, Chief Architect, Lockheed Martin Virtual Labs

Since his hire in December of 2007 by the State Board of North Carolina, Dr. Setser's innovative practices and transformative leadership style have tripled online enrollment to over 65,000 students, and standards and test scores have risen dramatically in all subject areas. Dr. Setser continues to provide a vision that firmly establishes North Carolina Virtual Public School and Learn and Earn Online as national models for e-learning as the North Carolina Virtual Public School was ranked 8th in the nation in 2008-2009 by the Center for Digital Education and recognized as the 5th largest virtual school in the nation by the Keeping Pace Report in 2009-2010.

Dr. Setser serves on the National Digital Literacy Council, the International Association for Online Learning's State Committee, The National Virtual Leaders Alliance, and the Leadership for Innovation Committee of the North Carolina State Board of Education. Moreover, he has been twice appointed by Governor Easley and Governor Perdue to the North Carolina School Technology Commission and by Lt. Governor Perdue and Lt. Governor Dalton for seats on the E-learning Commission for North Carolina. He has served on the National Advisory Boards for Wimba and NBC Learn, and as a Southern Association of Colleges and Schools evaluator. In addition, he has also been selected for two terms as a Baldrige National Examiner of world class organizations for the United States Department of Commerce.

A sought after state and national speaker, Dr. Setser regularly appears at state and national conferences, such as the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the American Educational Research Association, the National Virtual School Symposium, Apple's Executive Academies, the Southern Regional Education Board, the National Special Education Consortium, and the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference to name a few. Dr. Setser blogs extensively and his work has been published in print  and media on several occasions throughout his career. Dr. Setser also serves as a consultant for  http://www.blegroup.com/ and http://www.erdius.com/.

Notable accomplishments include:

• Centennial National High School English Teacher of the Year by Philadelphia University
• A three time high school soccer conference and regional coach of the year
• Awarded the Jack McCall Leadership Award from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill by the Principals' Executive Program
• Principal of the Year - Union County Public Schools
• During his tenure as Chief Quality Officer for the Iredell-Statesville School district, the district was one of the first thirty in the Southeastern United States to receive SACS district accreditation.
• Setser's work with the America Quality and Productivity Council established the district as a national best practice site for staff development
• Holds a doctorate from University of North Carolina at Charlotte, an educational specialist degree from UNC-Charlotte, a master's degree in educational leadership from Winthrop University, and a bachelor's degree in English from East Carolina University.
• Adjunct professor - North Carolina State University
• Dr. Setser lives in Raleigh , North Carolina. He is married to Robin Marcus, STEM Director for the North Carolina New Schools Project. He has two children, Sydney (13) and Sims (7), and Ben on the way in August of 2010.

NCVPS - Learn and Earn Online Staff Bios
(pdf, 329kb)