William David Pearson

Class of 1962. David, as he is known by his friends, has excelled in the field of education as a teacher, principal and member of the Hampton City School Board. His classmates say he has been one of the stalwarts who have kept the Phenix Spirit alive at reunion and alumni activities.

After graduation from Phenix he attended Hampton Institute where he received a B. A. in 1966 with a Major in Biology and Minor in Chemistry. In 1973 he would receive his M. A. from Hampton Institute in Secondary Education and Certification in Supervision and Administration.

After graduating from Hampton Institute he served two years in the Army from 66-68 as Pharmacy Assistant and Laboratory Technician at DeWitt Army Hospital, Ft. Belvoir, VA. Upon his return to Hampton be began teaching in 1969 as a Life Science and Earth Science teacher at Thorpe Jr. High.

That would be the beginning of a steller career as he quickly rose to assistant principal positions at Thorpe Jr. High, Jones Jr. High, Eaton Fundamental School, Kecoughtan High School, and then he became principal at Davis Middle School and Bethel High School. At Davis he selected the first female assistant principal on the middle school level.

While at Davis Middle School, under his leadership, the school became a Vanguard School by the Virginia Department of Education.  He was selected as principal of the Year by the Hampton Council of PTA’s in 1999.

He served as president of both the Peninsula District and Eastern Region Principals Association. He received the Flame Bearer of Education Award by the United Negro College Fund. Mr. Pearson retired from the Hampton School System in 2000 with 32 years of service.

He then served for the Virginia State Department of Education as a consultant evaluating public schools. He served for the Hampton School System as Teacher Recruiter. He served as Assistant Director for the NASA Langley Pre-service Teacher Program and served as coordinator of the Summer Institute.

In 2007 he was appointed by the Hampton School Board to fill an unexpired term. He was then re-elected in 2008 and 2012, having been selected as Vice-Chairman his final two years. In 2016 he decided not to seek re-election.

He is married to Elaine and they have four grown children.