Thomas Brewster was recently appointed by the Pulaski County School Board to serve as Interim Superintendent of Schools for Pulaski County. He had previously served the school system as  Assistant Superintendent for Administration. Brewster is also a former member of the Virginia State Board of Education.

Brewster’s work in Pulaski County includes leadership in the development of a comprehensive student assistance policy, the implementation of a division-wide threat assessment model, and the design of a coordinated crisis management plan. Brewster also supervises a team of Pk-12 leaders in the areas of assessment, food services, health services, student services, social work, and school leadership. In addition, Brewster shares the responsibility of coordinating school improvement activities.

Brewster has served as a teacher, principal, and university professor. As a university professor, Brewster worked in the areas of assessment, teacher education, and educational leadership.

Governor Tim Kaine appointed Brewster to the nine-member Virginia Board of Education in 2006. His term expired in January 2010. Brewster  currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Career Education Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by former Governor Mark Warner to promote Career and Technical Education in the Commonwealth. In addition, Brewster currently serves on the Local Advisory Board for Southwest Virginia Community College.

Brewster recently served on the Board of Directors for the National Association of State Boards of Education as the New Member Representative. In addition, Brewster served on the Commonwealth Roundtable, a group responsible for monitoring the implementation of new licensure and approved regulations of school administrators, reviewing and evaluating policy for educational leadership, and providing a forum for educational leaders to report the challenges and effects of their work. Brewster also served as President of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind Education Foundation.

As a member of a team of school leaders from the Commonwealth of Virginia, Brewster attended the Annual Leadership Forum, convened by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Learning Centered Leadership Program in May, 2007. The forum focused on the progress and challenges in achieving the SREB Challenge to Lead goal for school leadership. Brewster was also a member of a team from the Commonwealth of Virginia attending the Wallace Foundation’s national education conference, titled “A Bridge to School Reform,” held in New York City in October, 2007. Participants included governors, mayors, legislators, educators, and other key leaders in the field of education. Brewster represented the Virginia Department of Education as a participant in the 2008 Executive Leadership Program For Educators sponsored by the Darden/Curry Partnership for Leaders in Education (PLE) at the University of Virginia (UVa) and the Wallace Foundation. Last year, he served as chair of a nationwide study group titled, “The Power of Partnerships: Supporting Student Learners to Improve Graduation Rates” for the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE).

Brewster was born and raised in Virginia and educated in Virginia's public schools and universities. He holds degrees from Bluefield College, Radford University, and completed his doctorate from Virginia Tech in 2000. In 2005, Brewster was honored by Bluefield College with the Distinguished Young Alumni Award for his contributions to the field of public education and his local community. Last year, Brewster was nominated for the Chairman’s Award for College Board Member Exemplary Service by the Local Board at Southwest Virginia Community College. Recently, he served an appointed term on the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors. Brewster resides in Falls Mills, Virginia, with his wife, Debra, and three daughters.