Clayton Wilcox

Dr. Wilcox believes America’s schools must serve all kids well, regardless of our students’ backgrounds, experiences, or individual circumstances. 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 superintendents 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 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. Over his forty years in public
education and the private sector, he has coached and mentored hundreds of
teachers, principals, sales team members, C-suite executives, and central office
leaders.
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 and has two grown children. He and his wife, Julie, live in
Charlotte.