Thompson Lecture series

The Charles H. Thompson Lecture-Colloquium was initiated in 1980 by the Editorial/Advisory Board of The Journal of Negro Education under the sponsorship of the Howard University School of Education. The Lecture-Colloquium was developed as a living memorial to Professor Thompson, founder of The Journal of Negro Education . The purpose of the lecture-colloquium is to present a leading scholar to lecture and discuss issues and problems “incident to the education of Black people.” During the first Wednesday of November, the Lecture-Colloquium is held annually and seeks to continue the systematic exploration of the wide-ranging issues and problems related to the education of African Americans and ethnic minorities, to which Dr. Thompson dedicated his laudable career. 

• 1980, Dr. Stephen J. Wright, The Tragic Waste of the Black Mind and Talent. 
• 1981, Dr. Allison Davis, Leadership and Aggression. 
• 1982, Dr. Bernard W. Harleston, Higher Education for Minorities: The Challenge of the 1980s. 
• 1983, Dr. Floretta McKenzie, Education, Not Excuses. 
• 1984, Dr. Edmund W. Gordon, Social Science Knowledge Production and Minority Experiences. 
• 1985, Dr. Bennetta Jules-Rosette, The Dual Vision: Insights and Applications of Cross-Cultural Research. 
• 1986, Dr. Herman R. Branson and Dr. Luther H. Foster, The Hazards in Black Higher Education. 
• 1987, Dr. Kenneth B. Clark and Mr. Roger Wilkins, The Constitution and Black Americans. 
• 1988, Dr. James P. Comer, Child Development and Education. 
• 1989, Dr. Faustine C. Jones-Wilson, Dr. Elzee C. Gladden, Dr. J. Jerome Harris, Dr. Vincent E. Reed, and Dr. Walter G. Daniel, Race, Reality, and American Education. 
• 1990, Mr. Robert K. Goodwin, Roots and Wings. 
• 1991, Dr. Lisa D. Delpit, Education in a Multicultural Society: Our Future's Greatest Challenge. 
• 1992, Dr. Donald M. Stewart, Education, Race, and Class: A New Calculus for the 21st Century (Respondents: Dr. Carol Camp Yeakey and Dr. Donald H. Smith). 
• 1993, Dr. Charles V. Willie, Black Colleges Are Not Just for Blacks Anymore. 
• 1994, Dr. Shirley A. Thornton, African Americans Moving into the 21st Century: Accepting Responsibility for Our Own Destiny. 
• 1995, Dr. James A. Banks, Multicultural Education, Transformative Knowledge, and Action. 
• 1996, Dr. David Levering Lewis, The Promise and Peril of Class in the Problem of the 20th Century. 
• 1997, Dr. Antoine M. Garibaldi, Four Decades of Progress and Decline: An Assessment of African American Educational Attainment. 
• 1998, Dr. Manning Marable, What Black America Thinks: Affirmative Action and the Pursuit of Equality. 
• 1999, Dr. Jacqueline Jordan Irvine, The Education of Children Whose Nightmares Occur Both Day and Night. 
• 2000, Dr. Edmund W. Gordon, Assessing the Achievement of Black Students: Should Reducing the Gap Be Our Goal? 
• 2001, Dr. Howard Fuller, The Continuing Struggle of African Americans for the Power to Make Real Educational Choices. 
• 2001, Dr. Nat LaCour, The Successes of Public Schools in Educating Children - Against Vouchers.
• 2002, Dr. Mwalimu J. Shujaa, The Widening Gap between Education and Schooling in the Post 9/11 Era. 
• 2003, Dr. Beverly Lindsay, An Educational and Diplomatic Legacy Fostering Innovative Domestic and International Paradigms. 
• 2004, Dr. LaRuth Hackney Gray, No Child Left Behind: Opportunities and Threats. 
• 2005, Dr. Marian White-Hood, Schools at Work: Targeting Proficiency with Theory and Practice. 
• 2006, Dr. A. Wade Boykin, Providing a World-Class Education for Our Children and Youth: Shifting the Schooling Paradigm. 
• 2007, Dr. Pedro Antonio Noguera, The Significance of Race in the Racial Achievement Gap. 
• 2008, Dr. Carol D. Lee, From Du Bois to Obama: The Education of African Americans in a Changing World. 
• 2009, Dr. Margaret Beale Spencer, Truths and Facts about Urban Youths’ Achievement Patterns. 
• 2010, Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond, The Flat World and Education: How America’s Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future. 
• 2011, Dr. M. Christopher Brown II, The Declining Significance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Relevance, Reputation, and Respect in Obamamerica. 
• 2012, Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, “Stakes Is High,” Educating New Century Students. 
• 2013, Dr. Ronald F. Ferguson, Elements of a 21st Century Movement for Excellence with Equity. 
• 2014, Dr. Vanessa Siddle Walker, School “Outer-gration” and “Tokenism”: Segregated Black Educators Critique the Promise of Education Reform in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 
• 2015, Dr. Tyrone C. Howard, “Why Black Lives Matter”: Race, Gender, and Freedom Schools in the Quest For Educational Equity. 
• 2016, Dr. Joyce E. King, Education Research in the Black Liberation Tradition: Return What You Learn to the People. 
• 2017, Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, Broadening Participation in American Higher Education -- A Special Focus on the Underrepresentation of African Americans in STEM Disciplines. 
• 2018, Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, Decriminalizing the Imagination: Schooling Toward A World Without Prisons. 
• 2019, Dr. Shaun R. Harper, Why More Black Students Must Choose Black Colleges. 
• 2020, Dr. Bettina L. Love, Abolitionist Teaching, Co-Conspirators & Educational Justice.

• 2021, Dr. Ivory A. Toldson, Black Scholar Activism in the Post-Education Reform Era. 

  2021, Dr. Ivory A. Toldson, Black Scholar Activism in the Post-Education Reform Era. 

  2022, Dr. Jennifer Randolph, Reparations, We Got Next: 

  2023, Nikole Hannah-Jones- Knight Chair of Race and Journalism. 

  2024, Dr. Greg Carr, Mining for the Momentum of Memory: Black Institutions, Black People, Black Possibilities. 

  2025, Dr. David Stovall, “We Cannot Forget the Assignment: Educational Freedom Fighting in Perilous Times”. 

*Professor emeritus