Ronald Pearson is a retired U.S Bankruptcy Judge and former West Virginia State Treasurer, whose career spans over five decades of public service, law, and civic leadership. He brings deep legal expertise and a lifelong commitment to public accountability and educational advancement.
From law school he began practice with the Charleston Legal Aid Society. It was a Civil Rights Law suit the Society brought to challenge federal funded construction of the interstate highways through Charleston that resulted in the major bridges over the Kanawha and Elk rivers and several major elevated sections to ensure many black city residents would not be dislocated or cutoff by interstate construction through Charleston.
He served in the Arch Moore Administration from 1970 through 1973 and as Deputy Tax Commissioner established the standards and methods to determine assessed values for all public utility and mineral reserves that have generated hundreds of millions of funding for public education in West Virginia.
Judge Pearson spent over thirty years serving on the federal bench as a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge. Prior to his judicial appointment, he was a partner at the Charleston law firm Cecil, Pearson & Barth, which firm brought the law suit to stop Consol Coal from mining Stern Brothers Coal without a lease that resulted in the income stream that now supports the Interactivity Foundation.
In addition to his legal and governmental career, Judge Pearson served many years as Chairman of the National Youth Camp that has for sixty-three years brought outstanding youth from across the nation and other countries to a remote rustic camp in West Virginia to encourage them to excel in science and technology. In the last several years the National Youth Science Foundation has been conducting programs for West Virginia students to encourage them to become the next generation of scientific leaders.
Judge Pearson as been active in supporting fiber internet development in West Virginia for fifteen years. Judge Pearson earned a Juris Doctor from the WVU College of Law and holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from West Virginia University. He serves as a Trustee of the Interactivity Foundation, contributing his extensive experience in governance and community outreach to support the Foundation’s mission of fostering thoughtful, inclusive dialogue on public issues.
