[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 18 (Friday, February 9, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E191-E192]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO JOHN LAWRENCE, EDUCATOR

                                 ______


                          HON. CARRIE P. MEEK

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, February 9, 1996

  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker. I rise to pay tribute to one of 
Florida's preeminent educational leaders upon his retirement from a 

[[Page E192]]
33-year-long career. A native of Durham, NC, Mr. John Lawrence began 
his professional career in 1963 after graduating from North Carolina 
Central University with a bachelor's degree in biological science.
  While serving full-time as a teacher mentoring countless students at 
several high schools, Mr. Lawrence juggled his time to earn a master's 
degree in administration and supervision, while furthering his studies 
in marina biology at Florida State University and getting another 
master's degree in adult education at my alma mater, Florida A&M 
University.
  In 1978 he joined the Florida Department of Education as program 
director of the adult and community education section. His stint in 
this endeavor proved to be one of the most productive enterprises of 
his professional career, resulting in his being named chief of the 
State Bureau of Adult and Community Education.
  During his tenure Mr. Lawrence upgraded Florida's adult and community 
programs, raising them to preeminent prestige and innovation. He was 
awarded numerous accolades for his visionary leadership and educational 
entrepreneurship. His advice and counsel were sought by many national 
school boards and educational councils, giving incisive lectures on the 
subject of adult and community programs throughout the length and 
breadth of the educational spectrum. Most prominent among his varied 
roles was that a serving as a premiere consultant in the World Council 
on Adult Education in the then-Federal Republic of West Germany.
  In 1990 the Council of State Education of Adult and Community 
Education chose him to serve as chairman. In this capacity the First 
Lady, Barbara Bush, tapped his expertise in her national adult literacy 
initiative, taking him regularly to the White House for consultation.
  Despite his all-out involvement with Florida's educational 
initiatives, Mr. Lawrence found time to serve on the Teachers' Credit 
Union in Leon County, as well as fulfill chairmanships on the Code 
Enforcement Board of the city of Tallahassee, National Adult Education 
Professional Development Consortium, National Association of Secondary 
School Principals, and the National Advisory Committee of the GED 
Testing Program.
  Throughout his career, Mr. Lawrence demonstrated the knack to 
solidify long-lasting friendships in his professional, civic, social 
and religious circles. Standing by him in his multifaceted endeavors is 
Virginia Landers Lawrence, his wife and confidante of 30 years. As 
proud parents they have instilled into their two sons, John Edward II 
and Jason Earl, the unerring standard of personal responsibility and 
moral commitment to the highest sense of self-worth and respect for 
their fellow human beings.
  Mr. Lawrence is indeed the epitome of utmost dedication to the well-
being of his family and his church, and personified a dogged 
determination in enhancing the educational initiatives in his chosen 
profession. He has become the trailblazer par excellence of our 
Nation's adult and community education, and his wise counsel in this 
arena will be sorely missed.
  His retirement brings to a close the genuine dedication of one of 
Florida's unsung public servants. On this occasion I would like to 
extend my fellow Floridians' utmost gratitude to Mr. John Lawrence for 
a job well-done and a sterling achievement rarely matched among our 
Nation's visionaries in educational leadership.

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