VEA Mourns Passing of Former Executive Director David Johnson
April 25, 2024
April 25, 2024
David Lewis Johnson, longtime VEA executive director, former member of the Virginia Board of Education, and a widely respected educator and leader, died in January. He first joined the VEA staff in 1966 as Director of Field Services and later became Assistant Executive Director before his tenure as Executive Director from 1973 to 2000.
A graduate of Fluvanna County High School (where he later taught history and coached basketball), Lynchburg College (now the University of Lynchburg), and the University of Virginia, Mr. Johnson received numerous accolades for excellence through his career, including being named the Executive of the Year and winning the Distinguished Alumni Award, both from Lynchburg College.
Just a few highlights of Mr. Johnson’s time as Executive Director: leading a march of 7,500 educators to the State Capitol to save the state teachers retirement system, helping build the support necessary in the General Assembly for several large increases in basic aid to schools, and expanding services to educators throughout the Commonwealth.
“Dave’s success, I believe, was supported by his having been a public school teacher, guidance counselor and administrator,” says former VEA President Robley S. Jones, who worked with Mr. Johnson both during his presidency and later as Director of Government Relations. “The counseling skills proved exceptionally useful as he worked with everyone from governors to part-time staff. He was unparalleled as a boss, and one thing that made him unique was that he possessed a remarkable, often self-deprecating, sense of humor. Even when he served on the Virginia Board of Education after his retirement, which I always called the Bored of Education because the meetings are so dry, Dave would have his fellow board members in stitches and the audience guffawing as he used his humor to gently expose the flaws of a policy proposal.”
Mr. Johnson, who was appointed to statewide education leadership positions by two Virginia governors, received VEA’s highest honor, the Friend of Education Award, in 2000.
According to a American Library Association survey, 67% of voters oppose banning books from school libraries?
Learn More
