Blondean Davis

School superintendent Blondean Y. Davis was born on August 5, 1949, in Chicago, Illinois, to Beulah and Willie Harmon. In 1965, Davis graduated from Francis W. Parker High School in Chicago, Illinois. Davis received her B.S. degree in history in 1970, her M.Ed. degree in administration and supervision in 1975, and her Ed.D. degree in 1983, respectively from Loyola University in Chicago, Illinois.

Davis joined the Chicago Vocational High School as a coordinator for attendance and discipline in 1976 and worked there until 1983. From 1984 to 1993, Davis served as the principal of Gompers Fine Arts School in Chicago before becoming the superintendent of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) District 10. In 1995, Davis was promoted to deputy chief education officer and then rose to chief of schools and regions in 1997. Davis served at the Chicago Public Schools for over thirty years. In 2001, Davis worked as a consultant to Chicago City Colleges and St. Xavier University in training prospective school principals. In 2002, Davis became the superintendent of Matteson School District 162 in Matteson, Illinois, where she oversaw six elementary schools and a middle school and led each school to an Illinois Academic Improvement Award. In 2010, Davis became the founding CEO of Southland Prep Charter High School in Matteson, the first public charter high school in the Chicago suburbs.

Davis served on the board of directors for Governors State University, the National Conference for Community and Justice, the Lincoln Park Zoo, and as the Chicago citywide chair of the United Negro College Fund. Davis also worked as a member of The School Superintendents Associations (AASA) beginning in 2007.

Davis has received numerous awards and honors, including the Diversity Inc. Outstanding Administrator Award in 2006, an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Governors State University in 2009, the Ida B. Wells Risk Taker Award from the National Alliance of Black School Educators in 2017, and the School Superintendent Association’s Women in School Leadership Superintendent Award in 2018. In 2008, she was named Superintendent of the Year by the Illinois Association of School Administrators.

Davis lives in Orland Park, Illinois.

Blondean Y. Davis was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on January 28, 2023.