Research Triangle Park, N.C.  The North Carolina Humanities Council this week has added National Humanities Center vice president Richard Schramm to its board of trustees. Schramm, who oversees the Center's Educational Programs, joins the NCHC board as one of four new trustees. The North Carolina Humanities Council's mission in many ways parallels that of the National Humanities Center as it seeks to promote awareness of and conversations surrounding the fundamental questions of how people live.

Since 1972, the Humanities Council has awarded more than $13 million to North Carolina communities in all 100 counties to undertake public humanities programs. The Humanities Council's monies are matched by citizen dollars and volunteer participation to encourage greater appreciation for the humanities across the state.

Richard Schramm joins other cultural, political, and business leaders from North Carolina who guide the Council's efforts. Schramm, who has worked as an executive at the Center since 1984, has overseen the development and implementation of the Center's programs to enhance professional development and classroom teaching in America's secondary schools. Prior to joining the Center he worked as an adjunct assistant professor of English and as a coordinator for the Program in the Humanities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Schramm has written on southern literature and on such educational issues as school-university partnerships, teacher retention, and professional development. He holds three degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: a B.A. and M.A. in English, and a Ph.D. in American Literature.

To learn more about the National Humanities Center and its Education Programs, please contact Don Solomon (dsolomon@nationalhumanitiescenter.org) or visit the Center's Web site at nationalhumanitiescenter.org.

For more information about the North Carolina Humanities Council, visit its Web site at www.nchumanities.org/.

The National Humanities Center is the leading major independent American institute for advanced study in all fields of the humanities. Privately incorporated and governed by a distinguished board of trustees from academic, professional, and public life, the Center provides a national focus for the best work in the liberal arts, drawing attention to the enduring value of ancient and modern history, language and literature, ethical and moral reflection, artistic and cultural traditions, and critical thought in every area of humanistic investigation. By encouraging excellence in scholarship, the Center seeks to ensure the continuing strength of the liberal arts and to affirm the importance of the humanities in American life.