Ronald W. Whitaker II, EdD
Culturally Responsive Assistant Professor of Education
Associate Dean, School of Education
Chair, Educational Policy and Leadership Department
Director of District and School Relations
Director of the Center for Urban Education, Equity, and Improvement
Known as an Equity and Anti-Racist Freedom Fighter, Ronald W. Whitaker, II, EdD, is the appointed Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Assistant Professor of Education and the Director of the Center for Urban Education, Equity, and Improvement (CUEEI) at Cabrini University. Further, Whitaker also holds the distinction of being a Schouver Fellow at Duquesne University. As a Schouver Fellow, he engages in improvement projects that seeks to build system capacity within organizations.
Whitaker completed his Doctoral Degree in Educational Leadership at Duquesne University. He also earned a Master’s Degree in Education at the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in Business Administration at Eastern University, and two undergraduate degrees from Geneva College where he graduated magna cum laude. Additionally, he earned a Certificate in Culturally Sustaining Teaching from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC), and a Certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University.
As a researcher and scholar, Whitaker publishes articles that focus on the psychology of race and racism, issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogy, and the societal and educational disenfranchisement of African American males. His scholarship has been included in Books and Handbooks such as:
- The Ultimate Guide for Teachers to Multicultural Literature (Rowman & Littlefield Publishing)
- The Beauty and the Burden of Being a Black Professor (Emerald Publishing)
- The Handbook on Promoting Social Justice in Education (Springer Publishing)
- Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (IGI Global Publishing)
- Social Justice and Education and Putting Theory into Practice in Schools and Communities (IGI Global Publishing)
- The Handbook of Research on Black Males: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Multidisciplinary (Michigan State University Press Publishing)
- Handbook of Urban School Leadership. New York (Roman & Littlefield Publishing)
Whitaker presents his research at both national and international scholarly conferences, and within K-12 educational milieus. He is revered amongst colleagues for engaging in “tough conversations” in a respectful manner. Whitaker was a 2018 Delta Eplison Sigma Faculty inductee, a 2017 Black Theology Fellow at Princeton Theological Seminary, a 2016 America Educational Research Association (AERA) Asa Hilliard/Barbara Sizemore fellow, a 2014 Phi Kappa Phi inductee, and a 2012-2014 University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Barbara L. Jackson Scholar Fellow.