Dudley Flood, Ed.D., who played an important role helping North Carolina schools adopt racial integration plans during the 1960s and ’70s, will be the UNC School of Education’s graduation speaker on May 7.
The ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. in the Dean E. Smith Center.
Flood, through his work with the N.C. Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), is widely credited with helping ease tensions in communities across the state as school districts were compelled to integrate schools in the years after the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision that ruled “separate but equal” schooling unconstitutional.
“Dudley Flood is recognized and appreciated across the entire state of North Carolina for his commitment to pursuing educational opportunity for all children,” said Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, dean and professor at the UNC School of Education. “He has continued to advocate for our schools and our students. It will be an honor to hear from him at our graduation ceremony.”
Flood, who is Black, partnered with White colleague Gene Causby, the two of them traveling together to towns and cities across the entire state to speak with people concerned, and often very bitterly divided, over the racial integration of their schools. The two were frequently credited with smoothing tensions that allowed school integration work to move forward.
Flood worked at NCDPI for 21 years, rising to associate state superintendent. He then worked for five years as executive director of the N.C. Association of School Administrators. He co-founded the Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity and Opportunity, an arm of the Public School Forum of North Carolina.
Flood, who celebrated his 90th birthday in 2021, earned his bachelor’s degree from N.C. Central University, a master’s degree from East Carolina University, and a doctorate in educational administration from Duke University. Early in his career, he worked as an eighth-grade teacher of mathematics, science, and English. He served for three years as a school principal before joining NCDPI.
He served for 12 years on the UNC System’s Board of Governors.
Flood has spoken or given workshops in 48 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Germany, and Bermuda. He has been published in more than 25 journals and has written three books.
Flood has received more than 350 awards for his public service. He was honored last year with the North Carolina Award, the state’s highest civilian honor. He has been presented with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by three different governors. He has received the Outstanding Alumni Award from both N.C. Central University and East Carolina University. The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation awarded him its 2020 Friday Medal. He has received honorary degrees from N.C. Central University and the University of North Carolina at Asheville.
Flood was honored by the UNC School of Education in 2015 with its highest honor — the Peabody Award — given to him and posthumously to his partner in school integration work, Causby.