34th Annual Benjamin E. Mays Lecture Focuses on Lifelong Learning, Educational Research

ATLANTA—Na’ilah Suad Nasir, president of the Spencer Foundation, will deliver the 34^th annual Benjamin E. Mays Lecture on Feb. 22 at 6:30 p.m. in a virtual format.

At this event, hosted by Georgia State University’s Alonzo A. Crim Center for Urban Educational Excellence, Nasir will give a presentation entitled, “Learning is Life-Long and Life-Wide: Reflections on Learning, Leadership and Education Research.”

Prior to joining the foundation, Nasir held a faculty appointment in education and African American studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where she also served as the chair of African American studies, then later as the vice chancellor for equity and inclusion. She also served on the Stanford Graduate School of Education's faculty.

Nasir’s research examines the racialized and cultural nature of learning and schooling, with a particular focus on the experiences of African American students in schools and communities. She recently co-edited "The Handbook of the Cultural Foundations of Learning" (Routledge) and "We Dare Say Love: Supporting Achievement in the Educational Life of Black Boys." She is the author of "Racialized Identities: Race and Achievement for African-American Youth," published by the Stanford University Press in 2012. She is a member of the National Academy of Education and a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association. Nasir formerly served as president of the American Educational Research Association (2021-2022).

Benjamin E. Mays was a minister, educator, sociologist, social activist and president of Morehouse College in Atlanta from 1940 to 1967. He also was president of the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education and supervised the desegregation of Atlanta’s public schools. The annual Mays Lecture encourages the discussion of issues facing urban educational leaders, honors the memory of Mays and promotes his philosophy of excellence in the education of those typically least well served by the larger society.

For more information about the lecture, visit https://crim.education.gsu.edu/get-connected/benjamin-e-mays-lecture.