Former basketball referee. Movie star. News junkie.
Patrick Lloyd “Pat” McCrory was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1956 and raised in Guilford County, N.C. He attended Jamestown Elementary, Millis Elementary, Jamestown Middle School, and Ragsdale High School in Jamestown, N.C. He attended Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C. where he was elected president of the student body and graduated with degrees in political science and education in 1978. During this time, he also worked nights and weekends as a basketball referee. Once in 1984, McCrory called Michael Jordan for traveling in an ACC All-Star game. After receiving his N.C. teaching certificate, he decided instead to work for Duke Energy in Charlotte, N.C. where he climbed the ladder to eventually become an economic development executive.
McCrory’s political career began in 1989 when he was elected as an at-large city councilman. In 1995, he was elected mayor of Charlotte and was the city’s longest serving mayor. As mayor, he founded the Mayor’s Mentoring Alliance and personally served as a mentor to Charlotte youth. After losing the 2008 gubernatorial election, McCrory announced that he would not seek an eighth term as Charlotte mayor and joined his brother’s sales consulting firm, McCrory & Company. In 2010, McCrory was named a Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives for Charlotte-based law firm Moore & Van Allen PLLC. McCrory was elected governor of North Carolina in 2012. As governor, he reconvened the North Carolina Education Cabinet and created a Teacher Advisory Committee for input on educational issues. Governor McCrory has helped to establish the Center for Safer Schools to protect North Carolina students and signed a bill into law focused on vocational training.
He and his wife, Ann, have been married for about 25 years and have a Labrador retriever mix named Moe. His sister, Linda, is a Raleigh schoolteacher. His favorite book is “1984” by George Orwell, and he likes to listen to The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and The Guess Who. His favorite movies include “The Godfather,” “Animal House,” and “The Ultimate Gift,” a movie where he played himself as mayor, released in 2006. Governor McCrory describes himself as a “news junkie” and tries to read and learn something new every day.
Editor’s Note: EdNC will be posting leadership profiles on the policymakers influencing education in North Carolina. Recently, I met with a member of our General Assembly. He noted that upon becoming a legislator people started treating him like an object. I come from a family that values public service, period. You know our policymakers as politicians. I hope our profiles help you know them better as people. EdNC wants you to be comfortable walking into the legislature, interacting with the legislators, and participating in state government – it is your government after all.
