Jamie Robert Vollmer

Jamie Vollmer is the 2010 recipient of the "Learning and Liberty" award presented by the National School Public Relations Association for his outstanding collaborative efforts with America's educators to increase student success.

He is president of Jamie Vollmer, Inc., a public education advocacy firm working to increase student success by strengthening public support for America’s schools. He is a businessman and attorney, although he is pleased to report that he no longer practices law.

He worked in the Washington D.C. law firm of United States Congressman William Cramer until 1985, when he left to become in-house council of the Great Midwestern Ice Cream Company, in Iowa. The company was proclaimed by People magazine to make the “Best Ice Cream in America!” He ultimately became the company’s president.

In 1988, Jamie became a founding member of the Iowa Business and Education Roundtable. He served as a volunteer for two years until becoming the Roundtable’s Executive Director in 1990, a post he held for three years. He has served on the board of directors of the National PTA and the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory.

Once a harsh critic, he is now an articulate champion of America’s public schools. Over the last twenty years he has worked with hundreds of school districts, chambers of commerce, and education associations and foundations to improve student success. His presentations have been praised coast to coast as both practical and energizing. He uses statistics, logic, and humor to deliver a positive message regarding the future of our schools. He has created a simple, inexpensive, step-by-step program called The Great Conversation that any group can use to develop build schools that give all students the opportunity to unfold their full potential.