Dr. Clayton M. Wilcox
Superintendent Emritus
Dr. Wilcox believes America’s schools must serve all kids well, regardless of our student’s backgrounds, experiences or their individual circumstance. He believes that great leadership, great teaching, equity and access coupled with big-picture literacy and a guaranteed/viable curriculum are the building blocks of great schools. Dr. Wilcox has championed the funding necessary to create these conditions for success for nearly four decades. He has been a champion for literacy as a civil right in the twenty-first century and is a recognized leader in creating more compelling literacy plans leading to great outcomes for all. The work led by Dr. Wilcox creating more equitable schools was recently awarded the prestigious Outstanding Equity Achievement Award by the Council of Great City Schools, where Dr. Wilcox was also recognized as one of the leading superintendent’s in America.
In addition to his K-12 work in education, he has also served on the Pre-K-20 Council at Frostburg State University in Maryland, the board of advisors for the University System of Maryland in Hagerstown and on the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Education Advisory Board. Dr. Wilcox has also served on the University of Northern Iowa’s College of Education Dean’s Advisory Board. He has served on the Leadership for Opportunity Council in Charlotte a group focused on Charlotte’s most pressing problems of income inequality, opportunity, race and privilege. In addition, he has served on the Charlotte City Center Partners Board of Advisors. Dr. Wilcox has taught at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida, and Jacksonville University in Florida. He has also been a frequent guest speaker and lecturer to community-based groups and organizations, while also serving on a number of boards and advisories.
He has been a member of multiple state and national education groups, including the Council of Great City Schools, the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents, the American Association of School Administrators, the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development and the Education Research Development Institute. He was a governor’s appointee to the Maryland Longitudinal Data Board and the legislative task force to study 21st-century school construction and an invited faculty member of the Aspen, Education Institute.
A native of Iowa, Dr. Wilcox began his career as a teacher in the Tri-Valley Community School District in Illinois in 1979. A year later, he moved to Waterloo Community Schools in Iowa, where he taught in elementary and middle schools before working in human resources, as a middle school assistant principal and as an elementary principal.
In 1994, he joined St. Johns County School District in Florida as director for personnel services, subsequently becoming executive director for human resources and staff development. Since then, he has served as superintendent for school districts in East Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Pinellas County, Florida, Washington County Public Schools in Maryland and in Charlotte North Carolina. He has also worked as a vice president and senior vice president for education and corporate relations at Scholastic, Inc.
Dr. Wilcox is a gifted and sought-after public speaker. He has keynoted local, state, regional and national events, treating audiences with a compelling message delivered with passion, humor and a sense of joy. He has coached and mentored hundreds of teachers, principals, sales team members, C- suite executives and central office leaders over his forty years in public education and the private sector.
Dr. Wilcox received his undergraduate degree and his master’s degree in education at the University of Northern Iowa. He received his doctorate in educational leadership from NOVA Southeastern University in Florida. He has also studied strategic planning, instructional design information management, instructional assessment and employee performance management.
Dr. Wilcox is married with two grown children. He and his wife Julie live in Charlotte.