Gaston Caperton
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William Gaston Caperton III (born February 21 1940) was the governor of the U.S. state of West Virginia from 1989 until 1997 and is currently (as of 2003) the president of the College Board, which administers the nationally-recognized SAT tests. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Caperton was born in Charleston, Kanawha County, West Virginia. After attending Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, and the University of North Carolina, he returned to Charleston to manage a family-owned insurance firm. He soon became its principal owner and, through his leadership, it became the 10th largest privately owned insurance brokerage firm in the nation. Caperton also owned a bank and mortgage banking company and was active in many community projects. Caperton was elected governor in his first attempt to seek public office in 1988.
In the 1988 gubernatorial election, Caperton defeated the Republican Party incumbent, Arch A. Moore, Jr. He raised taxes and supported the passages of ethics, road-building and education bills. He was embarrassed when his wife divorced him and ran for state treasurer. In 1992 he faced a competition in the Democratic primary from Charlotte Pritt, a coal miner's daughter, but defeated her in the end. He defeated the Republican candidate, state agriculture secretary Cleve Benedict in the 1992 general election. He was constitutionally prohibited from running for reelection in 1996.
In 1988, he began the first of two highly successful terms as governor of West Virginia. As the state's 31st governor, he brought West Virginia back from the brink of bankruptcy with more than $500 million in debts and transformed it into a state with a $100 million surplus. The sound financial management approach that he initiated led Financial World magazine to call the state the most improved in the nation.
West Virginia's improvement in education has been revolutionary. Caperton's comprehensive emphasis on the use of computers and technology in West Virginia public schools, called the West Virginia Basic Skills Computer Program, began with kindergarten and extended through sixth grade. The push for computers in every classroom since has been expanded to include grades 7-12.
Caperton's aggressive school building program has prompted $800 million in investments for 58 new schools and 780 school renovations to benefit two-thirds of West Virginia's students. Caperton raised teacher's salaries from 49th to 31st in the nation and trained more than 19,000 educators through a statewide Center for Professional Development to ensure technology's best use in West Virginia's classrooms.
In January 1997, West Virginia received national acclaim in education and the use of technology by Education Week as part of its detailed study of the nation's education system. In 1996, West Virginia's advances in education technology gained national recognition when Caperton received the Computerworld Smithsonian Award. Award sponsors called Caperton a "visionary" who "fundamentally changed the education system in America" by using technological innovations. Information about Caperton and his work is included in the Smithsonian's Permanent Research Collection.
Caperton realized, however, that West Virginia's economic success also depended on modern roads and infrastructure, secure prisons and jails, a clean and respected environment, better health care and responsible government management. In every area, West Virginia improved immeasurably during his eight-year tenure and the state's economy followed. West Virginia's unemployment rate dropped from 9.8 percent when Caperton took office to a low of 6.2 percent. This was accomplished by creating more than 86,000 new jobs.
Among Caperton's most visionary accomplishments is Tamarack: The Best of West Virginia, a unique facility that showcases West Virginia's best products and organizes the state's "cottage industry" as never before. Tamarack is the center of an integrated distribution and marketing network for products by more than 1,200 West Virginia artists. Not only has it attracted the attention of several other states, but also Caperton was named the 1997 Humanitarian of the Year by The Rosen Group, publisher of Niche magazine, for creating a progressive market for the state's cottage industry.
Caperton was the 1996 chair of the Democratic Governor's Association, served on the National Governor's Association executive committee and was a member of the Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee on U.S. Trade. He was chairman of the Appalachian Regional Commission, Southern Regional Education Board and the Southern Growth Policy Board. Caperton has received numerous state and national awards and special recognition, including six honorary doctoral degrees.
In the spring of 1997, Caperton taught at Harvard University as a fellow at the John F. Kennedy Institute of Politics. He founded and now runs the Institute on Education and Government at Columbia University. Caperton, an advisor to MaMaMedia Inc., the award-winning kid's Internet destination, became President and CEO of the College Board on July 1, 1999.
The New York City based College Board is a nonprofit membership association of more than 4,200 schools, colleges and other educational institutions throughout America. Its mission, as expressed by Governor Caperton, is to prepare, inspire and connect students to college success, with a focus on excellence and equity.
The College Board is best known for it SAT College admissions exam and for its Advanced Placement Program, which offers high school students access to quality, college-level course work. Since taking the helm of the College Board, Governor Caperton has moved quickly to enhance the standing and expand the reach of these two programs and to also launch a sweeping series of other initiatives that better enable the College Board to fulfill its mission and to serve its clients: the nation's schoolchildren.
Under his innovative leadership, the Board has strengthened its core programs, successfully bringing AP courses to a greater number of inner city and rural students as well as promoting the College Board system of products and services. Deeply concerned about the persistent problem of unequal educational opportunity, Governor Caperton has led a national effort to reach down into middle schools to encourage and inspire more young people, particularly those from the least advantaged households and schools, to make college a part of their future. His efforts prompted USA Today to label him an "education crusader". The publication also named him one of the most influential people in America in its feature, "People to Watch: 2001".
More recently, Governor Caperton mounted a successful campaign to create a new SATI, the Board's highly regarded flagship product. Acting in response to a request from the Board's trustees, he led the effort to research and change America's premier college admissions exam, introducing a set of changes that include a writing test, more critical reading and advanced math so that the new SAT I closely reflects the course work that the nation's students are taking in high school while at the same time maintaining the test's reputation for rigor and excellence. The new SATI will be administered for the first time in March 2005.
External links
- College Board (http://www.collegeboard.com/about/association/president.html)
- West Virginia Culture (http://www.wvculture.org/history/caperton.html)
- West Virginia Democratic Legislative Council (http://www.wvdlc.org)
- National Governors Association (http://www.nga.org/governors/1,1169,C_GOVERNOR_INFO%5ED_229,00.html)
- Education Update Article (http://www.educationupdate.com/archives/2003/oct03/issue/cov_caperton.html)
- Forbes Article (http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromMktGuideIdPersonTearsheet.jhtml?passedMktGuideId=476518)
| Preceded by: Arch A. Moore, Jr. | Governor of West Virginia 1989–1997 | Succeeded by: Cecil H. Underwood |