Congresswoman Virginia Foxx represents North Carolina’s 5th District in the U.S. House of Representatives. In December 2016, she was selected by her colleagues to serve as chairwoman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce. She has served on the committee since coming to Congress in 2005. She is the first Republican from North Carolina to chair a standing committee of the House of Representatives in more than 65 years.
Prior to serving as chair of the full committee, Foxx served as chair of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over higher education and workforce development. Under her leadership as subcommittee chair, in 2014, Congress passed the first comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s workforce development system in more than a decade. The law, known as the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, is helping Americans workers succeed through more efficient, effective, and accountable workforce development policies.
Before serving on Capitol Hill, Foxx spent 10 years in the North Carolina State Senate. An educator by trade, she spent most of her career as a teacher and administrator in North Carolina’s higher education system, holding positions including assistant dean of Appalachian State University’s General College and president of Mayland Community College. Her first foray into public office was service on her local school board.
Foxx is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in English and a Master of Arts in College Teaching in sociology. She also holds a Doctor of Education degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Prior to entering Congress, she operated an independent nursery and landscaping business with her husband Tom. She enjoys reading, gardening, and most of all, being a grandmother to two.
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