Mary Catherine Swanson

AVID Founder and Executive Director
San Diego, California

Mary Catherine taught high school English for 20 years before she developed AVID, a secondary school program which prepares disadvantaged students for four-year college entry. Today more than 85,000 secondary students in 21 states and 15 countries are enrolled in AVID, and more than 95% of these students enroll in college.

Mary Catherine is a recipient of the 2001 Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education for her commitment to closing the achievement gap. Swanson was also recently named “America's Best Teacher” by Time Magazine and CNN, “for turning thousands of average students into college scholars.” Among other awards and recognition she has received are the A+ Award for Reaching the Goals of America 2000 from the U.S. Department of Education, EXCEL Award for Excellence in Teaching, and Salute to Excellence from the American Association for Higher Education.

She is listed in Who's Who in America and was the commencement speaker at San Diego State University in 1992, and at the University of San Diego in 2002. She is the only public school teacher ever to have won the $50,000 award for Pioneering Achievement in Education from the Charles A. Dana Foundation in New York. In presenting that award the Foundation cited her for “heeding the teacher's calling at the highest level of professional dedication in developing AVID, an imaginative restructuring of the school day that has given thousands of students the skills, support, and guidance that they need to fulfill their potential-far too tragically overlooked-to prepare for a college education.” Mary Catherine created the AVID Center in 1992. AVID was featured on 60 Minutes II in 2002.

The San Diego-based Swanson has long been recognized as a champion for students. A much-admired educator and innovator, Swanson has served as an inspiration and advisor to educational leaders across the nation.

She has been married for 36 years and is the mother of Tom Swanson, a graduate of Stanford University who teaches high school in Northern California and has begun AVID at his school. Tom's decision to enter teaching is one of Mary Catherine's proudest moments.

Gary A. Woods

Chief
Continuing Education Programs
Department of Defense (DoD)
The Pentagon, Washington D.C.

Mr. Woods received his BA in European History from Wichita State University and MAs in Medieval European History and Education from Wichita State and Chapman University respectively. He was awarded an honorary doctorate in higher education administration by Park University. He is a graduate of Harvard's Institute for Management and Leadership in Education, the Federal Executive Institute, DoD's Senior Executive Leadership Program, and Air War College. He has completed additional graduate work in law and public policy, management economics, management information systems, national security policy, and systems acquisition management.

Mr. Woods has over 30 years of experience in the field of education, to include positions at installations and military headquarters around the world. He is currently responsible for oversight and administration of all adult, continuing, post-secondary, higher and non-traditional education programs for DoD that serve over 1.4 million personnel worldwide. This includes fiscal and regulatory guidance for military education centers, academic testing programs, military tuition assistance, distance education, the Troops-to-Teachers program, overseas DoD education contracts, quality oversight for each of these programs, as well as official liaison with leaders of higher academe and professional education associations, state advisory boards on military education, US Departments of Education and Veterans Affairs, and other state and federal departments and agencies. His office is also responsible for monitoring legislative activities and addressing inquiries on military education and tuition assistance, and for media interviews and congressional testimony on behalf of DoD. He chairs the DoD Interservice Voluntary Education Working Group and the Governing Board for the Military Installation Voluntary Education Review. He serves as Executive Chair and emcee for the triennial DoD World Wide Education Symposium. He has also held positions as a guidance counselor; command counselor; education services officer; Chief of Professional Development; Associate Director of Community Support; and as Director of Education, Training and Career Development. He has set on or chaired several government training and outsourcing panels and has held senior leadership positions in numerous national educational organizations. He has taught US and European history at the graduate and undergraduate levels and has written extensively on education and distance learning. Mr. Woods has received numerous awards for efforts and activities both in and out of government.