Alumna Reappointed to UMW Board of Visitors

Princess R. Moss, an education executive and 1983 Mary Washington graduate, has been reappointed to University of Mary Washington’s Board of Visitors. Moss, who previously served on the BOV from 2007 to 2011, is vice president of the National Education Association (NEA), the nation’s largest professional organization, representing three million teachers across the country.

She takes over a four-year BOV term set to expire June 30, 2024, succeeding Sharon Bulova of Fairfax, who has been appointed to Gov. Northam’s new committee on passenger rail.

An advocate for the arts in schools, Moss taught in the classroom for 21 years as an elementary school music teacher, while simultaneously championing children and public education at the local, state and national levels. For nearly four decades, she has supported the NEA’s mission to ensure that students receive well-rounded educations. As secretary-treasurer, a role to which she was appointed in 2014, Moss oversaw the organization’s multimillion-dollar budget and ensured its fiscal integrity.

After being elected NEA’s vice president last August, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Moss said her goal is to provide safe learning spaces for all students and to address inequities in public schools that have been laid bare by the crisis. Last summer, she joined UMW College of Education (COE) Dean Pete Kelly and Spotsylvania County Schools Director of Human Resources Melanie Kay-Wyatt ’92 to teach “The Pandemic’s Impact on K-12 Education,” the final installment of UMW’s free eight-week online “COVID-19 in Context” course.

Moss served two terms as president of the NEA-affiliated Virginia Education Association, advocating on behalf of the organization’s 62,000 members for greater investment in public schools; she also spent over a decade on the boards of directors for NEA and VEA. Virginia Governors Mark Warner and Tim Kaine both tapped her to serve on the Commonwealth’s P-16 Education Council, which coordinates education reform from preschool to higher learning.

Hailing from Louisa County, Virginia, Moss earned her bachelor’s degree in music education from Mary Washington as well as a master’s degree in secondary administration and supervision from the University of Virginia. She was the recipient of UMW’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2006 and currently serves as a member of COE’s Advisory Board.