Maryland State Board of Education

Dunbar Brooks, (President) is Director of the MetroResearch Division of the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, a long-range regional planning organization for Greater Baltimore. He is also a guest lecturer and presenter on demographic and educational issues. As an adjunct faculty member, he teaches urban planning and computer science at two colleges. Mr. Brooks served for ten years on the Baltimore County Board of Education, ending his tenure on the board as its president. He has served on numerous boards and committees, including the Maryland Association of Boards of Education, U.S. Selective Service Board, Visionary Panel for Better Schools, Achievement Initiative for Maryland's Minority Students Council, and Associated Black Charities.

Lelia Thompson Allen is presently a Psychology Professor at the College of Southern Maryland. Dr. Allen has extensive professorial, multi-disciplinary educational administration, consulting, and motivational speaking experiences on a national level from Head Start, public school and higher education. Her educational administrative experiences have also encompassed non-traditional alternative schools for youth, and adult education programs including Opportunities Industrialization Center, Inc., Job Corps, Urban Talent Development and State Corrections Institution of Pittsburgh. Her commission and board experiences have been national, state, and local, including the Charles County Rural Commission, the National Commission for African-American Education, C.A.S.E./Carnegie Foundation Professor of the Year judge, Co-Chair of the National School Funding Support Program, and the KDKA Television Advisory Committee. Dr. Allen received her Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.

Richard L. Goodall is a resident of Kent County. He graduated from VMI and served in the US Army. In 1970 he joined Dixon (a manufacturing and distribution company) and became President of Dixon in 1990. Presently he is CEO of DVCC, the parent company to Dixon. Married with two children, he currently serves on the Character Counts MidShore Board, co-chairs the Kent County Chamber of Commerce Education Committee, and is a Character Counts Coach for Garnett Elementary School. In the past he has served on the Board of Directors for the Kent County Chamber of Commerce, American Cancer Society of Kent County as President of Board, American Red Cross - County Chapter, Chestertown Volunteer Fire Company; Kent County Educational Partnership, Upper Shore Manufacturing Business Council as President, and the Washington College President's Advisory Board. He was also a youth basketball coach, high school swim team coach, and high school Sunday school teacher.

Dr. Charlene M. Dukes is the incoming president of Prince George's Community College and has twenty-six years of progressive leadership experience and administrative responsibility in higher education. From 2002 through 2006, she served on the Prince George's County Board of Education and chaired the Student Support, Student Appeals, and Personnel Committees. In addition she holds membership in a variety of professional organizations, including the National Council on Student Development, an affiliate of the American Association of Community Colleges; the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators; the Council of Law in Higher Education; and the Maryland Network, an affiliate of the Office of Women in Higher Education/American Council on Education.

She has participated in the Executive Leadership Institute sponsored by the League for Innovation, Women in Leadership sponsored by the Office of Women in Higher Education/American Council on Education, and the National Leadership Seminar sponsored the Association of Community College Trustees.

Dr. Dukes has a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education with an English concentration from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Master's and Doctorate in Administrative and Policy Studies from the University of Pittsburgh.

Blair G. Ewing served for 22 years (1976-1998) on the Montgomery County Board of Education, and was twice its President.  From 1998 to 2002 he served on the County Council, was its President for a year, and was also chair of its Health and Human Services Committee.  His Board of Education tenure coincided with 22 years as a Senior Executive at the Justice Department, OPM, OMB and Defense.  He received Distinguished Service Awards at OPM and Defense and a Presidential Rank Award at Defense.  He taught at the State U. of NY at Binghamton (1962-1967), and since 2003, has taught at Montgomery College. He is married to Martha Brockway and has two children.  Holding a bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri, where he was Phi Beta Kappa, he also has a master's from the University of Chicago where he received a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. He studied at Bonn University in Germany on a Rotary Foundation Fellowship. He is the author of a book, Peace Through Negotiation, and several articles.

Nancy S. Grasmick was appointed Maryland State Superintendent of Schools in September 1991, the culmination of a 30-year career in education as a teacher, principal, associate superintendent and public administrator. She is the first woman to be Maryland State Superintendent. Under Dr. Grasmick's leadership, Maryland has set a new course in school reform, early childhood programs, academic intervention, service learning, and teacher education. One of Dr. Grasmick's greatest accomplishments has been the implementation of a comprehensive school reform effort that includes state performance standards, performance assessments, and accountability for all schools. Dr. Grasmick holds degrees from Towson, Gallaudet, and Johns Hopkins universities. She is a board member and participant in many organizations and has earned numerous awards for her visionary and consistent leadership. In 2000, she received the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education. She has also received awards from a host of civic, business, and professional organizations, including The Baltimore Sun's Marylander of the Year and the American Academy of Pediatrics Child Advocacy Award. She was inducted into The Daily Record's Circle of Excellence, an honor bestowed only on those named to the newspaper's Top 100 Women list more than three times. Her expertise in the areas of teacher education and teacher quality is often tapped, especially as a member of the Association of American Colleges and Universities Greater Expectations National Panel and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

The Maryland State Department of Education does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, disability, or sexual orientation in matters affecting employment or in providing access to programs.