H. Martin Lancaster took office as president of the North Carolina Community College
System in 1997and retired April 30, 2008. With 58 institutions and almost 800,000 students, the System is one of the largest in the country. It is the State's primary agency for delivery of job
training, literacy and adult education.
President Lancaster's major initiatives were to increase
state and private funding for facilities, equipment, faculty salaries and
instruction and to strengthen the system's essential role in workforce and
economic development. He led community college participation in the
successful Higher Education Bond referendum of 2000, which included $600 million
for community college construction, repair and renovation. He focused
particular efforts on increasing the role of community colleges in preparing
"home grown teachers" for public schools and in workforce training for
biotechnology and other high-tech industries. In the summer of 2003, he was elected
Chair of the National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges.
President Lancaster is recognized internationally as
ambassador for the North Carolina model of workforce and economic development.
He has done major speeches as the guest of the European Union, and he has consulted
with government and education leaders in the United Kingdom and Thailand to
assist them with skills training programs. In June 2005, the University of
Ulster in Northern Ireland awarded him an honorary degree, Doctor of the
University, in recognition of his "outstanding contribution to education on
the national and international arena." He also holds honorary degrees
from Sandhills Community College and South Piedmont Community College.
Previously Mr. Lancaster served as Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) from January 1996 until June 1997.
Before that, he served as the Special Advisor to the President on Chemical Weapons. Mr. Lancaster's other public service includes his serving as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1987 until 1995 and
as a Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives for the preceding
eight years.
Born and reared on a tobacco farm in Wayne County, North Carolina, Mr. Lancaster graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with undergraduate and law degrees. In 1967 he became a Judge Advocate in the U.S. Navy, serving three years on active
duty and continuing to serve as an active Reservist until his retirement as a Navy Captain in November 1993.
After release from active duty, Mr. Lancaster returned to his hometown of
Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he was engaged in the private practice of
law, served as a member of the General Assembly and in a variety of
additional community leadership roles until his election to
Congress.
Mr. Lancaster and his wife, Alice, are the parents of two adult daughters, Ashley Lancaster Templer (Mrs. Trent James Templer) and Mary Lancaster Lehrman (Mrs. Christopher Lee Lehrman). They have two grandchildren, Ella Kathryn Templer and Elizabeth Pate Templer.
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