Dr. H. Richard Milner

Ready or Not: Diversity in Education

In the keynote address, Professor Milner shares perspectives on the urgency to understand and address the enormous range of diversity in education.  He makes clear connections between and among matters of diversity in society and in education.  Drawing from a body of research related to diversity and education, the address focuses mostly on the diversity that educators face in schools currently and also the diversity that educators will face in the future.  How do educators provide culturally responsive learning environments that place students' diverse needs at the center?  What is the state of diversity in education and how can educators prepare to meet the increasingly diverse needs of students, all students?  The discourse of diversity as dilemma is reshaped by one that presents the "diversity dilemma" as one of opportunity and possibility.

Biography

Dr. H. Richard Milner, IV (also known as Rich Milner) is the Betts Associate Professor of Education in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Vanderbilt University.  He has been on the faculty at Vanderbilt since 2001.  Dr. Milner earned a Doctor of Philosophy Degree and Master of Arts Degree in Educational Policy and Leadership from Ohio State University.  He also earned the Master of Arts in Teaching Degree and Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from South Carolina State University.  Beginning in the spring of 2008, Dr. Milner began serving as a visiting faculty member at Fisk University in the department of teacher education.  A Former high school English teacher, his research, teaching, and policy interests are urban education, race and equity in education, and teacher education.

He has published more than 50 journal articles and book chapters, and has published three books.  He has made almost 40 presentations at national and international conferences and has been invited to give more than 30 keynote addresses.

Dr. Milner has consulted about issues of diversity, the achievement gap, curriculum development, goal setting, developing leadership skills, and effective teaching on numerous projects in public and private schools, universities, and organizations.

Dr. Milner's research and service have been recognized with the Scholars of Color in Education Early Career Award (2006) and the Vanderbilt University Affirmative Action and Diversity Initiative Recognition (2005).