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Rocky Mount, N.C.—North Carolina Wesleyan College President Ian Newbould is pleased to announce that Dr. William B. Pittman, a Rocky Mount physician, has been elected chairman of the College’s board of trustees. He has served as vice chairman of the board since 2001.

He succeeds Thomas A. Betts, Jr., of Rocky Mount, who had served in that capacity since 2001.

"The entire board is thrilled with Dr. Pittman’s acceptance of this important task," said Newbould. "Tom Betts provided inspired leadership at a critical time in the College’s history, and I look forward to Will Pittman applying his many talents to provide equally important leadership. Rocky Mount is fortunate to have two such capable citizens take leadership roles."

Pittman has practiced internal medicine and gastroenterology with Boice-Willis Clinic in Rocky Mount since 1979. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1967 with honors in English at the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Scholar. He earned his M.D. degree in 1971 from the UNC School of Medicine, where he also received a Morehead Fellowship in medicine.

Pittman served in the U.S. Army from 1970 to 1979, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He interned at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and was a resident in internal medicine at Brooke Army Medical Center, where he later was a fellow in gastroenterology. His military assignments included service in Texas, Washington, D.C., West Germany, and North Carolina, where he was chief of internal medicine and gastroenterology at Womack Army Hospital at Fort Bragg.

Pittman and his wife, Celeste, are members of The First United Methodist Church in Rocky Mount.

Velma Harrison Johnson of Rocky Mount was elected at the same time as vice chair of the board. She earned her bachelor’s degree in 1969 from Duke University, with additional study in Duke’s Non-Profit Management Program. Her career has included service as a regional representative for the Easter Seal Foundation, a social worker with the Edgecombe-Nash Mental Health Center, and executive director of the Nash-Rocky Mount Mental Health Association. She was a partner in Johnson and Pittman Associates, an event planning company. She has volunteered with many area organizations including the YWCA, the Women’s Network of Eastern North Carolina, the Historic Preservation Commission of Rocky Mount and Preservation Rocky Mount. She is a member of Lakeside Baptist Church in Rocky Mount. In 2004, Wesleyan awarded her the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, the highest honor the College bestows for service to the College and the region.

Three new trustees also have joined Wesleyan’s board. Will H. Lassiter III is an attorney with Keel, Lassiter and Duffy in Rocky Mount; Paul L. Leeland is a 1971 graduate of Wesleyan who is assistant to the bishop and director of ministerial relations for the Raleigh area of The United Methodist Church; and Elbert H. Wampler, Jr., is a 1975 Wesleyan graduate who is a senior sales representative and member of the advisory board for product development with Pulaski Furniture Corporation in Coral Springs, Florida. 

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