Candidate Biography (submitted by campaign):

Born in Pinehurst and reared in Candor, Ron graduated from East Montgomery High School in Biscoe.  He earned degrees from East Carolina (B.A., M.A.) and N.C. State (Ph.D.) Universities. At East Carolina he was an honors student and began conducting graduate research his junior year.  Ron participated in foreign study in Costa Rica authoring a research report on religions there.  The faculty invited his application to graduate school when he returned and awarded him the prestigious faculty scholarship. 

Following completion of the master's degree, Ron accepted employment with the North Carolina Department of Correction where he worked at Central Prison's mental hospital and developed an interest in neuropsychology. 

Three years later he entered the doctoral program in school psychology at N.C. State University where he pioneered the use of computers for analysis of psychological data.  Partly due to this research he was awarded a fellowship at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

From Baltimore he accepted a post as senior psychologist at South Florida State Hospital where he developed and managed therapy programs.  Several years later he accepted an appointment at St. Mary's Hospital in West Palm Beach establishing psychosocial treatment programs for chronically ill children. There he also became involved in Children's Medical Services where he served the needs of children having chronic. 

During this appointment he wrote two graduate textbooks as he developed an internship training program in pediatric neuropsychology, founded the World Conference on Pediatric Neuropsychology, and co-founded The American Board of Pediatric Neuropsychology. 

He retired this practice in 2002 and accepted an appointment with Moore County Schools near his family farm outside of Candor.  Throughout his life he has actively participated in community and political affairs, serving on numerous boards, and charitable organizations.  He was elected to the Candor City Council and Moore-Montgomery COC-USDA. 

I'm honored to run for this senate seat.  I have benefited from being born and reared in Montgomery and Randolph counties.  I anticipate returning to members of these communities some of the love, support and guidance I have received over the years.  My life has been guided by two principles.

Stewardship is God's commandment that connects us with our environment.

and

Hard work trumps brilliance.

Plato said the state should protect rights and preserve justice.  Contemporary state institutions strive to meet these ideals in two ways, (1) protection and (2) service delivery.  Protection is the most basic service and contains two aspects, regulation and coordination.  Regulation strives to ensure that individuals, businesses, and local governments deal with citizens fairly and impartially. 

Direct services include funding for public safety institutions (such as police, fire, and judicial support), education, intrastate transportation and infrastructure construction.  Of these, public safety is most important. 

As is evident in Iraq, all other benefits of good government suffer when citizens fear for their personal safety.  Therefore, supporting and coordinating police activities, providing institutions for dangerous and unmanageable people, and securing a responsible unbiased judiciary constitute the basic building blocks of our society. 

Once states become secure, prosperity is determined by the level of citizen education.  State governments must coordinate and support public schools, community education programs and universities.  Otherwise the talented poor would pursue criminal activities and society would be deprived of their talents.  Without an educated society other sectors of government fail due to incompetence, corruption and graft.  Without an educated population economies falter. 

State governments must also provide means for intrastate commerce.  Where possible, government should assist in developing inexpensive public transportation.  Communities thrive when citizens have inexpensive access to employment.  Business organizations excel when they have open access to markets and workers.