Larry Powell

On June 6, 2006, Larry was elected Superintendent of Fresno County Schools and took office on August 2, 2006.

From 2001 to 2005, Larry was the Superintendent of the Central Unified School District. Under his leadership, Central Unified rapidly became one of the districts of choice by families moving to the Fresno area. He has held numerous administrative jobs and has taught many different classes over the years and loves inspiring students. He is very active in community and civic groups as well as many professional organizations.

Larry has served on 12 non-profit boards and serves as a Member of the Board of Trustees for Fresno Pacific University where he also taught as a member of the Adjunct Graduate Faculty. He is on numerous advisory boards for California State University, Fresno. He has served as the Chair of California’s Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team (FCMAT). He is a member of the National Advisory Board for Rachel’s Challenge. Previously, Larry has served as a member of the State Board of Directors for the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) and the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA).

He has won many awards including the 2003 Superintendent of the Year for ACSA Region 9. One of his favorite awards came from CSU, Fresno in 2007 when he was named “Top Dog” as an Outstanding Alumni of the University. In 2010, he received the Distinguished Citizen Award by the Sequoia Council of the Boy Scouts. In 2011, he won the Horizon Award for his work in promoting “The Arts.”  California County Superintendents selected Larry for the Justus A. Prentice Executive Leadership Award for California for 2011. He was also selected as one of twenty Americans of the Year by Esquire Magazine for 2011 and appeared in the December 2011 Issue.  In 2012, he was honored as “Humanitarian of the Year” by the Big Fresno Fair.

Larry is in great demand and has presented thousands of speeches and seminars up and down the San Joaquin Valley, the State of California, and throughout the United States at various school districts, Honor Societies, civic groups, association conventions, service clubs, conferences, Universities, and churches. Struck with Polio at the age of 15 months in 1949, Larry is an inspiration to everyone he meets. He was a champion wrestler and coach, an avid golfer with a 5 handicap, a swimmer and gymnast. His bench press record is 320 pounds when he weighed only 129 pounds. He holds high school records for rope climb (20 foot rope in 1.8 seconds) and pull-ups (44).

He strongly believes that the only things you cannot do are the things you do not attempt. Hard work and determination lead to success. His wife, Dot, is the Executive Director of SALTFresno, a non-profit agency which provides mentoring services to students, parents, teachers, and administrators.

Most people have never seen Larry without a smile. Larry has made equity and access a hallmark of his career and works to provide equal opportunity to everyone.  He is passionate about “The Arts,” Preschool, and Rachel’s Challenge, a national anti-bullying program.

In addition to being Fresno County Superintendent, Larry is a minister, motivational speaker, singer, and songwriter. His favorite pasttimes include: family, church, golf, music, and yo-yos. Larry is affectionately referred to as Reverend Superintendent by his colleagues.