UW–Madison’s Gloria Ladson-Billings received another major honor today when the Horace Mann League presented her with its 2022 Outstanding Public Educator Award.
The Horace Mann League, which is marking its 100th year of existence, recognized Ladson-Billings during the organization’s annual luncheon at the Omni Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee.
“Throughout my life I have seen public education as the key to true democracy,” says Ladson-Billings, a professor emerita with the School of Education and the former Kellner Family Distinguished Chair in Urban Education with the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. “When we retreat from public services — health, housing, transportation, education, and more, we retreat from an investment in the public good. To be named, ‘Public Educator of the Year’ is an amazing honor that reinforces my commitment to stay engaged in democratic, diverse, public discourse.”
The Horace Mann League is an honorary association of leaders who believe that the public school system is the cornerstone of our democracy. The League was founded in 1922, and since then has continued to be a leader in promoting the beliefs of Horace Mann.
Ladson-Billings’ research examines the cultural foundations of teaching and learning that leads to educational improvement for students who are most marginalized in schools. She also investigates critical race theory applications to education.
Ladson-Billings is also the author of the critically acclaimed books, “The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children,” and “Crossing Over to Canaan: The Journey of New Teachers in Diverse Classrooms.”
She was the first Black woman to become a tenured professor in UW–Madison’s School of Education in 1995. In 2005-06 she served as president of the American Educational Research Association, and in November 2017 was elected to a four-year term as the president of the National Academy of Education.
Ladson-Billings formally retired from the university in 2018 after being on the UW–Madison faculty for more than 26 years. But she has continued to be highly engaged in important work across the nation and remains a leading voice in the field.
This past summer, Ladson-Billings was elected as a fellow to The British Academy. Founded in 1902, the British Academy is the United Kingdom’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. It is a fellowship of over 1,400 of the leading minds in these subjects from the UK and around the world.
This past fall, she completed her four-year term as president of the National Academy of Education.
Most recently, Ladson-Billings in January 2022 was ranked No. 2 in the annual Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings that are designed to spotlight top education scholars across the nation “who move ideas from academic journals into the national conversation.”