At each stage of his career, Dr. Heath Morrison has been described as “a teacher on special assignment.”  Beginning as a social studies teacher in Virginia and Maryland, he quickly moved into administration, becoming principal of both a middle and high school, and he was selected as NASSP’s Maryland Principal of the Year in 2004.  He went on to serve as a Community Superintendent in Montgomery County, Maryland, before being selected as Superintendent of Washoe County School District in Reno, Nevada. Additionally, he served as Superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in Charlotte, North Carolina, and after five years in the private section, returned to the superintendency during COVID to lead Montgomery ISD in Texas. Under his leadership, all school districts saw rapid gains in state test scores, graduation rates, and participation and performance in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses. He has led efforts to promote personalized plans of instruction for every student and utilize technologies to inspire innovative teaching and learning. At the local, state, and national level, he has actively championed the importance of teachers and principals. In 2011, Morrison was named AASA’s Nevada Superintendent of the Year, and in 2012, he became AASA’s National Superintendent of the Year.

Over the past decade, he has also served in private sector — first as the Senior Vice-President of Government Affairs at McGraw-Hill Education, before being promoted to President of the School Group. In this role, he has continued to impact education by delivering innovative products, tools, and solutions to improve student learning. In 2023, Morrison became CEO of Teachers of Tomorrow, the largest provider of certified educators in the nation. Through all these positions, he has worked with legislators to ensure the passage of policy supporting teachers, students, and high-quality education.

He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Planning and an M.S. in educational administration from the University of Maryland. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in government from the College of William and Mary. Family is foremost to him. He married his high school sweetheart, Jennifer, who is currently an associate professor in education. They have two children, a foster daughter, three dogs, and a cat.

Leon is an award-winning educator; exemplified by his selection as the 2025 PA Teacher of the Year. Cabrini University’s Center for Urban Education awarded Leon with the High Impact Moral and Courageous Teacher Award in 2024. In 2020, he was named a Claes Nobel Educator of Distinction by The National Society of High School Scholars. Recently, he was profiled on the TODAY show for his commitment to recruiting the next generation of educators.

He is grounded in a strong belief in the important impact a highly qualified and diverse educator can have on all students. From 2022 to the present, Leon has served in multiple roles with Teach Plus, whose mission is to empower teachers in leading change that advances student success. From 2022-2023, Leon served as a Pennsylvania policy fellow, and was named Teach Plus PA Fellow of the Year. He was selected to serve as a Senior Fellow from 2023-2024 where he co-led a group of teachers. In these roles, Leon advocated for policies and programs to expand and diversify the educator pipeline to legislators and members of the PA Department of Education. In 2024, he was selected to the inaugural Regional Advisory Board for Teach Plus PA supporting its mission of transforming education policy, advocacy, and instructional practice in Pennsylvania. In January of 2025, Leon was selected to serve on the National Teacher Policy cabinet, a highly- selective federal policy fellowship comprised of 15 educators from across the country.

His contributions to the field of education extend to leadership roles with organizations advocating for educator diversity and equity. Leon is a Board member with the Pennsylvania Educator Diversity Consortium whose goal is to increase the number of teachers of color and culturally relevant and sustaining educators in classrooms across the Commonwealth. Additionally, he currently serves as a College Board AP workshop consultant for the new AP African American Studies course where he supports national and international educators as they prepare to teach the class. He also enjoys coaching and has coached freshman basketball for over twenty years.