UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Tony B. Watlington Sr., superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia, will be the commencement speaker for the College of Education’s spring 2023 commencement ceremony at 9 a.m. Sunday, May 7, at Pegula Ice Arena on the University Park campus.
Appointed to the role in April 2022, Watlington leads the eighth-largest school district in the nation, with more than 197,000 students.
Watlington is a visionary educator with nearly three decades of experience, who began his career as a history teacher in 1994 in Guilford County, North Carolina. Before joining the School District of Philadelphia, he served as superintendent of Rowan-Salisbury Schools, North Carolina’s only Renewal School District. He previously served as chief of schools in Guilford County Schools, the third-largest school district in North Carolina and the 47th largest among 14,000 school districts in the U.S.
Watlington is focused on improving systems that lead to an equitable and extraordinary education for every student every day. A first-generation college graduate and a champion for equity, he is committed to building collaborative school and community teams accountable for creating life-changing opportunities for all children while significantly reducing achievement and opportunity gaps.
He received his undergraduate degree in history education from North Carolina A&T State University, a master’s degree in American political history from the Ohio State University, and a master’s degree in school administration and a doctoral degree in educational leadership from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a North Carolina Principal Fellow. Watlington also holds training certificates from Harvard and Yale universities and is a member of the National Urban Superintendents Academy sponsored by the American Association of School Administrators.