Dr. Blondean Y. Davis is a nationally recognized educational leader who has been changing lives of Illinois students and future generations for five decades.
Raised in Englewood, Dr. Davis earned Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctorate degrees from Loyola University Chicago and honorary doctorates from Governors State University and Tougaloo College.
For Chicago Public Schools, she went from history teacher to Chief of Schools and Regions responsible for daily management of 601 schools. As a Saint Xavier University faculty member, Dr. Davis mentored underperforming Illinois schools. As superintendent of Matteson District 162, she brought educational excellence to the south suburbs, including one school earning National Blue Ribbon School recognition from the U.S. Department of Education.
Dr. Davis is the founder and CEO of the predominantly African American Southland College Prep Charter High School, the only charter high school to earn the state’s highest designation of “exemplary.” The school has 100 percent college acceptance for its eight graduating classes whose members earned nearly $300 million in merit-based scholarships.
She has raised millions for the United Negro College Fund and earned scores of awards including the Illinois Association of School Administrators Superintendent of the Year; National Alliance of Black School
Educators Ida B. Wells Risk Taker Award; and the National School Superintendents Association Women in
School Leadership Superintendent award.
None, however, she cherishes more than her induction into the Illinois Black Hall of Fame which she accepts
on behalf of teachers who make an indelible difference in the lives of their students every day