Black Women’s History Month: Trailblazers in education making strides

Every April, Black Women’s History Month invites us to recognize and celebrate women who create meaningful change in their fields. It also accompanies a need for reckoning, as their achievements took years of resilience, even when the systems around them were not designed to support them.

In education, particularly, Black women have embodied architects of opportunity for their peers and those who come after them. 

History reminds us that Black women educators’ feats, like Septima Poinsette Clark’s citizenship schools during the Civil Rights Movement and Mary McLeod Bethune’s Bethune-Cookman University, with $1.50, were always destined to make life better for generations to follow.

Today, the legacy of extraordinary women lives on through a new generation of Black women who are making strides in education.

They are leading HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities), writing research papers, teaching students, and changing education policies at the local and national levels.

This year, we shine a spotlight on five trailblazing women whose dedication to education is noteworthy.

1. Dr. Serita R. Whiting, Assistant Professor, Department of Justice Studies, Prairie View A&M University

Whiting earned her Ph.D. in Juvenile Justice from PVAMU, where her research centers on juvenile justice and reentry, as well as social inequality. Her scholarship, published in the Journal of Criminal Justice Education, Race and Justice, and Feminist Criminology, examines the intersection of criminality and the lived experiences of marginalized youth. Whiting leads projects on school discipline reform, homelessness and crime, and welfare-fraud sentencing disparities, advancing evidence-based and socially just approaches to justice policy and education. She also serves as a research fellow with The Center for Justice Research. Some of her research focuses on juvenile delinquency and crime, including aggravated assaults. Her scholarship seeks to advance social justice for marginalized individuals through research and social activism.

2. Melinda Spaulding Chevalier, Vice President for Public Affairs at Rice University

Melinda Spaulding Chevalier is an Emmy Award-winning communicator and brand strategist. She was named vice president for Public Affairs in August 2023. Spaulding Chevalier is responsible for building support for the university across a wide network of stakeholders, including the campus community, local, state, and federal policymakers, alumni, donors, media outlets, and the public. She is part of a 50-member Public Affairs team, which leads key initiatives spanning creative services, government relations, marketing and digital strategy, multicultural community engagement, news and media relations, university relations, and campus events. Spaulding Chevalier most recently served as vice president of communications and advancement at Texas Southern University and executive director of the TSU Foundation. Prior to her work at TSU, she spent more than two decades in print and broadcast news. She spent 13 years as a news anchor and reporter at KRIV Fox 26 in Houston, and previously worked as a reporter for ABC affiliate WGNO in New Orleans and as a producer for KTLA News in Los Angeles. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Howard University and a master’s degree in mass communication from Louisiana State University’s Manship Graduate School of Mass Communication.

3. Dr. Margaret Ford Fisher, chancellor of Houston City College

Dr. Margaret Ford Fisher serves as the ninth chancellor of Houston City College, leading a sprawling seven-college system that educates more than 88,000 students annually across 22 campuses. She was named the inaugural president of HCC Online College, leading to the establishment of more than 60 fully online degrees and 70 hybrid programs, and building enrollment to 62,000+. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Master of Arts in the Teaching of English from Wichita State University and a Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Houston. Fisher has been an advocate for education and currently serves on the boards of the Greater Houston Partnership, the Texas Association of Community Colleges, the Global Community College Leadership Network, and the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce. She has also been recognized with awards and honors, including being named one of the 50 Most Influential Women of 2023 by Houston Woman Magazine, the World Affairs Council Jesse Jones Award for Global Education & Institutional Leadership, the Lifetime Achievement Award from late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee at the Rice University Community Forum, and the W. E. B. DuBois Award from the National Alliance of Black School Educators. She has authored more than 50 publications and four books.

4. Cynthia Lenton-Gary, Houston City College Board Trustee for District VII

Dr. Cynthia Lenton-Gary, a longtime educator and civic leader, serves as Trustee for District VII on the Houston City College Board and made history as the first African American woman to serve in city government for Missouri City and on the Fort Bend ISD Board. A former chemist turned community advocate, she has led initiatives to support youth employment and held national leadership roles with organizations such as the Association of Community College Trustees. As a city council member, Lenton-Gary created a Youth Council in her district, which provided high school students with summer jobs and was honored by her sorority as “A Woman of Change-Making a Difference in the Community.” She has also been recognized with numerous honors, including the YMCA Minority Achievers Award, the NAACP President’s Award for Community and Civic Engagement, and the National Forum for Black Public Administrators’ Outstanding Success and Invaluable Contributions Award. She was also named as one of Houston’s Top 30 Most Influential Women. Lenton-Gary continues to blend public service and faith-based leadership to shape opportunities for students and communities across the Houston region.

5. Dr. LaTanya Jones Love, Executive Vice President of Student and University Affairs and Dean of McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston

Dr. LaTanya J. Love oversees university-wide education and leads the medical school’s strategy and operations. A double board-certified physician in internal medicine and pediatrics, Love has spent more than two decades advancing student success and health care education. A graduate of the University of Texas Medical Branch, she completed her residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at McGovern Medical School in 2004, followed by a chief residency in 2005, later rising through leadership roles focused on student affairs and wellness. She pioneered initiatives like the McGovern Societies mentorship program. Her first leadership position was as medical director of student health services, and she then joined the leadership team in McGovern Medical School’s Office of Admissions and Student Affairs before serving as the first dean of education from September 2022. She became dean on Sept. 10, 2025. She also served as interim president of UTHealth Houston from March 1, 2025, to Sept. 9, 2025. Beyond campus, Love has expanded access to care through mobile clinics and early telemedicine programs in underserved communities. A recognized leader in medical education, she has held national roles, serving on the AAMC Group on Student Affairs’ National Committee on Admissions, and has also served as Faculty Accreditation Lead for the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) and participated in LCME accreditation survey teams across the country.